Multi-Cultural Moment - National FA Convention

Excitement filled me this year as I attended the 2014 National FFA Convention.  This was my seventh year in a row to attend and this year I viewed the convention from the eyes of a teacher.  I attended with Penn State’s Pesticide Education program and helped to facilitate a workshop related to pesticides and chemical safety as well as Integrated Pest Management techniques.  When I was not presenting I was observing and here are some of the things I noticed:

Monday: Prior to attending National Convention I was walking on Penn State’s campus I became upset as I overheard people complaining about their food.  Comments like this make me think that people are simple minded and fail to realize that others are hungry.  I found myself to be really bothered. 

Tuesday:  As I was driving out to Kentucky I joined in on stereotypes about WV because at 7:00 at night the neighborhood had no open restaurants in a college town.

Wednesday: In my hotel an agriculture teacher from a different state shared with me that the hotel overbooked rooms and as a result five agriculture teachers were sharing one room!  Yikes!  I understand the logic behind what the hotel did claiming that there were “maintenance issues” however, I do not agree with the ethics.

Thursday:  There was a high school student from an urban school who stole a cell phone charger from another student and then proceeded to lie to her advisors about it.  This students feeds into bad stereotypes of urban populations but her actions also defy the whole purpose of leadership that is taught through the FFA.

Friday:  This was my last day of National Convention and on my way home I reflected on what a student said to me throughout the week.  They said “Ms. Moser, there should not be two nights of country concerts.  There should be a night that has R&B or something different because FFA is not all farm.” 

The most interesting observation was from Friday when students pointed out that FFA stereotypes itself and does not even realize it.  This is a stereotype the organization should strive to overcome.

The most uplifting was from Wednesday because even though the five teachers had to share a hotel room they were able to adapt to that environment and make the best of the situation because they had to.

The most depressing thing was when the student stole the cell phone charger because she could have simply asked to borrow it instead.  I do not understand why she thought that was okay and I wonder what her home life is like.  Are there deeper issues than what was presented?

 

Overall, my experience at National Convention was a positive.  I was able to develop more as a person and look at some situations from a teaching perspective!