Freshman members of the Righetti FFA chapter attended and participated in its Greenhand Bootcamp on September 26, 2022. Over 100 Greenhands took part in five workshops hosted by the agriculture leadership class taught by Amy Guerra. Each workshop included engaging, hands-on activities to teach freshmen about the FFA organization and how they can get involved.

The five workshops at the boot camp included tote bag designing, where every participant decorated their bag for their future use. Treasurer Chloe Hightower, Vice President Carlos Gonzalez, and leadership class member Emma Taylor facilitated the activity for the members. For many freshmen, this was their favorite workshop, as they also got to learn about further Greenhand opportunities like becoming a Greenhand officer and attending Greenhand Leadership Conference.

Greenhands also got to take part in a mock career development event hosted by Historian Erin Trathen, Sentinel Sam McDonald. This workshop was hands-on, as they all got to design a bouquet and have it judged just like the Floriculture career development event. Members observed carrots and evaluated them based on their quality and eye appeal, based on the Vegetable Crop career development event.

For many freshmen like Javier Alvarado, this was their first FFA event. Alvarado mentions “The event was very cool, and my favorite part was judging carrots in the CDE workshop. I liked how I got to play a Kahoot about LDEs and design my tote bag. It was a good atmosphere to be in with the chapter officers.”

The combined enthusiasm of the Greenhands, leadership class, and advisors have created a confident mindset of FFA and produced great success at the boot camp. With the high amount of Greenhand engagement, they have become more knowledgeable about FFA and motivated to participate in future events hosted by Righetti FFA