High School Teachers Develop Leadership Potential
Twenty high school agriculture educators from across Illinois recently participated in a leadership seminar conducted by the Illinois Agricultural Leadership Foundation (IALF). The program, Advantage: Leadership – Developing Your Potential, was held at the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Uptown Normal on Friday, November 18 in cooperation with the Facilitating Coordination in Agriculture Education (FCAE) project. The seminar was sponsored by the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA).
FFA teachers participate in an exercise to better understand the food and agriculture supply chain.
The program was designed to give FFA educators valuable skills including seeing their own leadership potential, utilizing their strengths to educate and inspire students and broaden their understanding of agriculture issues and discussions.
Exercises and discussion focusing on leadership and self-evaluation were conducted by IALF staff members Don Norton, President and CEO, Alison Myers Jefferson, Program Director and Todd Lowery, Advanced Leadership and Alumni Relations Director. Guest speakers included Lori Laughlin, Director of Issue Management and Multi-Media with the Illinois Farm Bureau, discussing the relationship between agriculture and the consumer. Dan Kelley, IALF Chairman of the Board, also addressed the group with a presentation stressing the integrity of leadership.
High School FFA educators participate in a leadership self-evaluation exercise led by IALP Program Director Alison Myers Jefferson.
“This was our second seminar held this year with FFA educators to help give them the tools to not only improve their own leadership skills, but inspire their students to become the agriculture leaders of the future,” said Don Norton, IALF President and CEO. “We are planning more leadership program opportunities as we reach out to other agriculture organizations and groups throughout Illinois.”
The seminar was the latest in a new initiative by the IALF to foster leadership skills in agriculture outside of its traditional 19-month program, which has graduated nearly 500 leaders since its founding in 1982.
