Cove FFA recruits more than 100 new members through retreat

By MYA ROGERS AND AMANDA JONES
Special to Leader-Press 

Recruitment and retention involves attitude as much as activities and Copperas Cove High School FFA officers had plenty of both at its Greenhand Retreat.  
An FFA Greenhand is any new member to the organization regardless of grade level. The retreat is an opportunity to educate students on what FFA has to offer. CCHS FFA Chapter President Naysa Anzaldua said selling the FFA program to students, parents, and the community doesn’t just happen. It requires hard work and dedication. 
“It was really nice to see such a large turnout of kids interested in our organization,” Anzaldua said. “It really comes to show that our hard work as officers is paying off.”
More than 120 potential new members were split into six groups to give them the opportunity to mingle. The groups then rotated through different stations that were led by FFA officers. Each station had an activity that encouraged them to get involved, work together with their fellow group members, and be active. Having one officer at every station allowed the prospective members to become familiar with them, ask questions to further understand the organization, and to see the students’ perspective of FFA.
As students, the FFA officers were able to create approaches that were non-threatening to their peers to share the mission of FFA. Additionally, the FFA officers expanded their own learning and leadership skills while serving the agricultural education program.
CCHS student and prospective FFA member Laikyn Cornet was surprised by the many opportunities that the organization has to offer. 
“I never realized how much the FFA actually is,” Cornet said. “I talked to tons of new people and learned about so many different aspects of the FFA.”
The Copperas Cove High School FFA Chapter was honored with a Two-Star National Chapter Rating at the Texas FFA Convention in July and is ranked as one of the best chapters in the United States. The chapter is under the advisement of teachers Kristin Kasper and Katherine Grigsby.