The Eads FFA chapter had nine FFA members attend the Made for Excellence and Advanced Leadership Development conference in Colorado Springs over the weekend. Jonah Schofield, a sophomore at Eads High School, described his favorite part, “My favorite part of the trip was being able to share your FFA experiences with other chapters.”
Other Eads students had similar experiences. Zach Haase, a senior at Eads High School, and a Chapter Officer described what he saw at the leadership conference, “One thing that I learned that really stuck with me was the BOLD method. The BOLD method is an acronym that stands for Be here, Open, Listen like a leader, and Do leadership daily. What it means to be here is very simple; it means to be present with a can-do attitude to get done what is needed to get done. Open means exactly what it sounds like. It means to be open to any ideas that may be presented to you no matter what it is. You can always not use the idea, but always listen to them fully and don't brush off anyone's idea. To listen like a leader is a very important skill to have and it truly makes a great leader. In today’s society we listen to reply instead of listening to understand. To listen like a leader one must listen to everyone and remember what they said and try to incorporate everyone's thoughts into what is at hand. To get people to care about what they do and want to come back to help they have to feel like they are heard and that they aren't just there to be labor. If you take their ideas and use them in every opportunity possible they feel like they are a part of what is going on and want to contribute more. The last phrase of the acronym is ---do leadership daily. As an upperclassman in the school it is cool to see all the little kids looking up to you and want to be just like you. They copy everything you do, and, whether you see it or not, they say and act just as you do. So doing leadership daily makes you shoot for a goal to be the best person that you can be. By being a good leader you make good choices and be a person the little kids can look up to and emulate.”
During the conference, all the Eads students who attended learned how to prepare for their future careers either through hands-on experience or advanced education. Students also took the opportunity to polish their leadership and communications skills and learn how to utilize those skills through community service and volunteerism efforts.
Sponsor Lindsey Todd was impressed with the programming and also found something that stuck with her. She said this quote was one that means a lot to her and her students: "Do what you have to do when you have to do it so one day you can do what you want to do when you want to do it."
