Empower-State Presidents' Conference 2008

About two and a half weeks ago Katie Zenk and I had the opportunity to attend State Presidents' Conference in Washington, D.C.  with 2 delegates from every other state association.  At State Presidents' Conference (SPC,) we worked on delegate issues, toured our nations capitol, went on capitol hill visits, and even had the opportunity to see the President himself.  Before I go on I would like to apologize for not having any pictures posted.  I forgot my camera during this trip.  See Katie's Blog for pictures from this event.

The main reason that we were in D.C. was to work on delegate issues for National Convention.  We voted on issues submitted by others states, then the national officers put together 5 issues that we will be further discussing and working on at National Convention.  Here are the 5 issues:

1. Having a Goat Proficiency

2. Having optional officer parts in the Manual (Historian, Parliamentarian, and Chaplain)

3. Going Green through the FFA

4. National FFA Greenhand Award

5. American Degree Changes

These will all be discussed more in depth at the National FFA Convention and voted on.

Katie and I then had the opportunity to meet with other states and to tour the capitol.  My favorite site, by far, was the WWII Memorial.  This was my second time to D.C. but my first time seeing this memorial.  It really brought me back to how fortunate we are as a nation to be free.

We also had the opportunity to meet with some of our Senators and Congressmen.  Katie and I spoke with Staff from Colin Peterson's Office as well as Senator Klobuchar's Office.  We also, as a delegation, had the opportunity to meet with another important political person, the President.  George Bush welcomed the FFA to D.C. and answered some of our questions.  He was happy to spend 31 minutes of his time with us.

State Presidents' Conference was a great time for both Katie and I.  We learned, through the conference them "Empower," how to further serve and empower throughout our year as officers.

Stationed by the Rising Sun,

Derek