Back in June, Williamsfield’s Sidney Stiers was elected to the 2024-2025 Illinois State FFA Officer Team as the team reporter. Stiers grew up in a farming family which is what got her involved in FFA when she was in 7th grade.
“I’m very, very lucky to have a chapter that had a middle school program because it’s really where I got my footing. Most people joined their freshman year of high school, and kind of only have four years to do it,” says Stiers. “So I started in seventh grade. I was sitting in ag class, and my ag teacher was like, hey, I need one more person for the conduct and meetings team. And I was like, Okay, I’ll do it, but I’ll do the easy part. So I got the secretary position, which only had like two sentences in the opening ceremonies- but, that is what got me hooked was that contest.”
Even in middle school, Steirs took advantage of the leadership opportunities available through FFA, serving as the green hand president. She also held leadership positions within her chapter including reporter and president.
“I got involved with Section level FFA. I’m from Section 4, and I was the section vice president in my junior year of high school, I would say that was one of the best decisions that I’ve made in FFA because I got to be more involved at a bigger level. I got to go out and see the schools and the members that I was competing alongside- that was part of the reason I was inspired to run for Section president,” says Stiers. “My senior year, served as the section for President. What was so different about that is that I was not only serving the section, I was a part of the state officer team, so I got to interact with 24 other section presidents across the state.”
After completing her term as State FFA reporter, Stiers hopes to attend Iowa State University to study agronomy and horticulture; hoping to continue her FFA experience on a collegiate level.
