Respectfully written by: Avery Noblitt, Chapter Vice-President
The 2019-2020 Chapter Officer team started off the year with a chapter retreat on August 11th and 12th. As tradition, the details and events of the retreat were kept a secret from the officer team by the advisors. The major goals of the day were for the team to bond, create goals, and plan the year out, including coming up with the theme.
The team first met in the morning in full official dress to take care of the first item of business: take team pictures. After many snapshots, the officer team grabbed coffee and were told to change into “active clothes” for the first bonding experience of the day. The team patiently waited in the car on the way to the first location and thought of what their theme of the year could be. Many ideas were thrown out in the open, but the team decided on the overall theme of the Olympics from the games happening in 2020. They were now determined to find the right wording for an exact theme. Finally, they arrived at their first location, Vista Lago Adventure Park at Lopez Lake. Here, the team participated in various rope courses and zip lines, as well as shared their strengths and weaknesses as individuals and how they should work together as a team this upcoming year.
After the workout on the rope courses, the team headed to grab pizza in Arroyo Grande. At lunch, they talked about each team members goals in FFA, in their personal life, and for this team. They discussed what each team member wants to get out of this experience and what they think this team should focus on this year. After pizza, they went to grab some ice cream before their next activity.
The advisors then drove the team back to SLO for their next team building exercise. Each team member drew a number, either one or two, to determine what team they were going to be on. The officers then found out that they were going to be doing an escape room against one another. The “red” and “blue” team were put on different sides of the same escape room to try to beat one another in escaping first. With this activity, the members were able to work on teamwork with one another in a fun and competitive environment.
Problem solving, team work, communication, and laughter create a winning team!
After they escaped, the team headed to the Ag department to further plan this year. The team picked out photos to use, went through each month, and planned specific events and meetings for the year. After figuring out some logistics, the advisors put the officers back in the car, but this time with blindfolds on.
Reflecting on officer roles and goals for the year.
The advisors spent the next 45 minutes driving the officers around to try and throw them off on where they were headed by driving down bumpy roads, backing up private roads, and various tricks. They ended up in the driveway of the chapter vice president’s house where the team ate and went over chapter officer roles. In a year leading up to the summer Olympics, the them of “Let the Games Begin” was created. The officers had time to bond, play pool, and relax in the hot tub for the rest of the night. In the morning, the team headed out for some breakfast where they discussed team and chapter apparel for the year. They spent the rest of the day at the Agriculture department working on various projects and assignments to get ready for school to start. The retreat was helpful for the team to be able to bond, set goals, and plan for an amazing year. We will be following up with an all committee chair “Bond-Fire” next month. This officer team is ready to serve!
2019-2020 Chapter Officer Team
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