Covington, Ga.—Chelsea Kornse, a member of the Bainbridge FFA chapter, began her term as the Area 5 officer on Aug. 7-8 when the Georgia FFA area officers met for the Area Officer Training Conference.

Fifty new area officers from each of the six areas of the state attended the two-day training conference, held at the Georgia FFA/FCCLA Center near Covington.

The objective was to orient the new officers to their position as area leaders. Each area team met with a member of their regional agricultural education staff, as well as the Georgia FFA leadership program specialist and the FFA executive secretary, to discuss their roles and responsibilities. The officers discovered what it means to be an ambassador for the FFA and began setting goals for the coming year.

Throughout the school year, Kornse and her fellow officers will have the opportunity to represent Area 5 FFA members at a variety of teachers meetings, career development events, leadership conferences and area training activities.

The first assignment given to the new area officers was the FFA Day at the Fair.

On Oct. 13, approximately 1,500 middle school students will meet in Perry to attend FFA Day at the Georgia National Fair. Their hosts for the morning program will be the area officers. Each officer team has been charged with creating booths and displays that exemplify the benefits of FFA and agricultural education.

Next spring, each area officer team will be responsible for conducting their respective area banquet and award assemblies. The officers will also represent the FFA at the capitol in February and serve as courtesy corps at the 82nd State FFA Convention in Macon on April 22-24, 2010.

The Georgia FFA Association has a membership of more than 29,000, making it the third largest association in the nation. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.