FFA is primarily driven by student leadership, where members can learn a variety of skills and positive qualities. Yet, even though it is based on student leadership, every FFA member has at least one adult who helps show them these opportunities: their FFA advisor. Between the time spent with their students and the time they are out of the class with members on trips, FFA advisors sacrifice so much for their students.
This past week during the 97th National FFA Convention I had the privilege of talking with Jen Westwall who is the advisor from the Calamus Wheatland FFA Chapter in Iowa.
Westwall grew up in Grand Mound and still lives in the area, but she has lived in Texas, Illinois, and Kansas. She has been an agriculture teacher and FFA Advisor for the past 11 years.
Westwall went to Western Illinois University and has two Bachelor of Science degrees — one in agriculture studies and the other in elementary education — and has two advanced degrees: an MBA from St. Ambrose University and a Masters in Science from Iowa State University. She was at a different school up until last year when she moved to the Calamus Wheatland FFA Chapter.
I was exciting to hear her talking about attending national convention. She brought a group of students on an almost five-and-a-half-hour drive to get to Indianapolis. She said her favorite part of the convention was being able to see all of her advisor friends and being able to mingle with other people and share experiences.
It was also great that so many of the Calamus Wheatland FFA members were recognized with honors. At the national level, the Ag Issues team received a silver rating and were in the top 16 teams in the nation.
The chapter also had a member who got her American Degree, which is the highest degree an FFA member can get. To earn this degree, an FFA member has to have their state degree, as well as hold an active membership for the past three years, complete secondary instruction in an agriculture pursuit, and have a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) that they have dedicated hundreds of hours toward. They also need to do community service, have leadership abilities, and outstanding scholastic achievements. On Saturday morning, recipient Megan Forett put on her jacket for possibly the last time and walked across the stage while getting cheered on by her chapter.
When I asked Westwall what a defining moment was for her as an FFA advisor, she said, “It would be the students working so hard to get to where they are today. When I got to my school, I inherited the chapter and just watching the kids and the progress they have made.”
For example, she recounted a Career and Leadership Development (CDE) competition they have in Iowa where students have to create a website for their chapter. A student signed up for it — one who she said hasn’t been someone who hasn’t really done much prior. But he did it and had a lot of fun. It was a huge accomplishment for him.
I also asked her what it meant for her to be in Indianapolis at the convention, and she responded, saying, “It means so much as last year my old principal at my last school didn’t want us to travel as much, so we weren’t able to go to National Convention. And it was the first time in my entire teaching career I wasn’t able to go. A few years ago, when I took a group of students to the concert there was a student who had never been to a concert and she had so much fun with her friends and they had fun helping her have a good experience at their first concert.”
As I was talking to Westwall, I could tell that she cared so much about her students, and she really wants them to be happy and make memories that will last a lifetime. From the long drive to making sure a student had fun at their first concert and everything in between, she cares so much about giving her students the best time they can have. That is an amazing quality a teacher and advisor can have.
Thank you to her and all of the advisors out there who put in so much work so students can have a great time at events like this!
