With the conclusion of National FFA Week, thousands of FFA members across the country have formed new memories that they will cherish for years to come. Even as National FFA President, Thaddeus Bergschneider reflects on some of the memories he has had in FFA in his home chapter in Franklin, Illinois.
“Before I was in FFA, I remember FFA Week. And the reason is I used to come to Alexander Junior- High School, and we’d make these dirt dessert cups, and they turn it into a soil lesson. So, I always remembered FFA Week is like chocolate pudding and gummy worms,” says Bergschneider. “Then as I moved into high school, I was not on the receiving end of those dirt dessert cups as much as I was now going taking the visits, teaching the lessons about soil, taking younger students through the greenhouse. We’d always have a day on Friday, usually our Ag Day during FFA week, where we bring out equipment. Those connections, those assemblies where we dress up for things, those connections where we really start to show what, what all AG is about in the Franklin area, and then the Franklin FFA chapter.”
He adds that each chapter of his FFA career, FFA Week has garnered a new meaning.
“As I shifted into state office, I just remember FFA week being a whirlwind. I traveled to a handful of chapters across the state, and got to take part in those school celebrations,” says Bergschneider. “And then, of course, National Office looks completely different. I’m not driving chapter in Illinois anymore. I’m getting on a flight. And, now I’m not visiting four or five chapters. I’m visiting maybe 10. So I think it’s really just scaled up over the years.”
In 2024, the National FFA Organization announced a record-breaking milestone of over one-million members.
