What’s better than one FFA Regional Officer? Two FFA Regional Officers! Minarets FFA just had two members who have been selected to serve on the 2019-2020 Regional Officer team. The Regional Officer Team is the second highest officer position an FFA member can hold. The different tiers of office are as follows, freshman year you can run for Greenhand office. You can continue your growth in the FFA by becoming a Chapter officer. The next highest is the Section which includes fourteen other high schools that can apply to be on this team. The next step of this process is Regional office. Our Region, the San Joaquin Region, is the second biggest region in the state only falling to the Central Region. The San Joaquin Region has six Sections in it which means competition for a spot on the team is very fierce. That’s why it is such a great accomplishment for our Minarets Mustangs. The final two steps after Regional Office include State and National Office.
Junior Reiley Stenberg and sophomore Jake Dowell were the two members who became officers. These Mustangs went through a rigorous application process which both stated while being interviewed that countless hours were spent on those applications. After the application is submitted the applicants are selected to part take in an interview. Depending on how the interview goes determines if you will be “Slated” or not. The word slated means that you and another person have been selected for an office position and it will go to an election to see if they are selected. Prior to election however the slated members are asked two questions where they have to answer the question in under two minutes. After this candidates are let outside for open questions from delegates. This is what Jake said the funniest part of the whole process was, “The funniest part of the Regional meeting was the question delegates asked, I was even asked what part of a bicycle I would if I had to choose”. Reiley also had a similar experience saying that, “During the questions outside a member asked if they could, ‘Persuade me into believing water was sticky’ that was pretty interesting”. Following the questions the delegates vote and then the results are announced. Leaving some candidates dreams recognized and others dreams crushed.
Jake Dowell in an interview following being elected stated that, “My devotion to the FFA and how I wanted to be in something bigger is what drove me to run for office”. Jake, who will be serving during his junior year as the Regional Sentinel, is prepared for his year of service. Saying that “I’m most excited to meet new people, getting my name out there and growing as a leader”. Reiley Stenberg who is the
East-Fresno Madera Vice President elect, during an interview stated that she wanted to become a Regional Officer, “Because I wanted to take the extra step and incentive to become more of a servant leader and impact more people on a different level than I am now”. She continued later in the interview about how excited she was to serve saying that, “I’m excited to bond with my team and meet new people from the region”. FFA adviser Jessica Sweet spoke for the whole chapter when she stated that, “I’m extremely proud of everyone who ran, and congratulations to Jake and Rei on becoming officers”.