Owen Allen and Elijah Assisi represented Mount Markham FFA, along with Sr. High FFA advisor Mr. Bugbee and Sr. High participation in government teacher Mrs. Bukovsky, at the NYS FFA State Leaders’ Experience in Albany, NY.

The State Leaders’ Experience is intended for elite student leaders interested in learning more about advocacy and how they can have an impact on agriculture, agricultural education and FFA. FFA members participating in the State Leaders’ Experience connected with legislators, agricultural leaders and had the opportunity to hear from Governor Hochul.

Prior to the conference, Owen Allen made appointments to meet with Assemblyman Brian Miller, Assemblyman Brian Maher and New York State Senator Peter Oberacker. Each visit was around 30 minutes and students were able to ask a range of questions and converse about current agricultural topics.

Students also had the opportunity to participate in cold calls which entailed going to the representative’s office and speaking with a staff member about agricultural education. On one of these cold calls, Owen Allen was able to give an elevator pitch on agricultural education to the Speaker of the New York State Assembly Carl Heastie.

Mount Markham FFA plans to host Assemblyman Brian Miller in early spring for a forum with government classes and FFA students.