Amelia Hayden an award finalist and candidate for national officer team
By Cathy Kozlowicz
Correspondent
With Sharon native Amelia Hayden being one of only 16 finalists for “American Star” in FFA as well as the Wisconsin candidate for the National FFA Officer team, she is adding to her list of achievements.
But Hayden feels a large part of the credit belongs to the outstanding training she received as being a member of the Big Foot High School FFA club.
“This is really a testament to how big the Big Foot agricultural science is,” Hayden said. “They trained me.”
The “American Star” awards recognize FFA members who are the best in their field, from outstanding agricultural skills to those who have mastered skills in production, finance, management and/or research.
A panel of judges will interview the 16 finalists and select one winner for each award at the 92nd National FFA Convention & Expo, Oct. 30-Nov. 2 in Indianapolis.
The four American Star categories, with each having four finalists, are Farmer, Agribusiness, Agricultural Placement and Agriscience. Hayden is in one of the Agriscience finalists and the four winners will be announced during an onstage ceremony at the convention on Nov. 1.
Hayden was also recently selected by Wisconsin FFA as the state’s candidate for National FFA Officer. FFA members from other states, there are 44 others in all, are competing to be one of the six officers.
The primary responsibility of a national officer is to serve the organization in local, state, national and international activities in a way that will inform, motivate and inspire FFA members, advisors, state staff, teachers and others to achieve the mission, strategies and core goals of the organization.
The candidates will be evaluated through seven rounds on five national officer competencies: character, influence, areas of knowledge, communication, and being a team player.
All rounds provide candidates the opportunity to show who they are on a personal level. Specific rounds are also designed to enable candidates to show their skills in preparing and delivering speeches, facilitating workshops, advocating to stakeholders, and creating quality written content.
Hayden said she’s looking forward to the process.
“I am more excited than nervous. It is such a cool opportunity to be nominated. I will meet a bunch of people who have skills and I will build skills in leadership,” she said.
In her final year
This will be Hayden’s last full year in FFA as FFA membership is extended to three years past high school. Hayden took a year after high school as a gap year to gain life experience – which she spent sharing FFA information and issues related to FFA throughout the state – and now is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying microbiology.
She has quite the resumé with regards to her involvement with FFA including:
- Serving as state president for thee years after serving as vice-president;
- Was a camp counselor in agri-science camp;
- Helped with various local fundraisers such as Casino Night;
- Has done numerous community service activities.
Hayden said being involved with FFA allowed her to compete in interviewing and communication.
“Everyone needs those skills,” she said.
She also received the following titles and accolades while involved in FFA competitions in high school: 2015 Agriscience Fair Winner for Animal Systems Division 2; 2016 State Agriscience Fair Winner for Food Products and Processing System Division 2; and, 2017 State Agriscience Fair Winner Food Products and processing Systems Division 5.
Hayden said she liked the challenges projects presented, in part because she could follow them through to the end and apply them to realistic situations.
“I found lots of opportunities in research because I enjoyed the challenge of having to design my own project, conduct research and then analyze the results to develop conclusions,” she said. “I also love seeing how concepts I learned in the agriscience classroom applied to real world problems.”
A passion for research
Research was a field she was always interested in, according to Hayden, who said when she was just 5 years old, she told her parents she wanted to be a zoologist.
“I loved research and asking questions and being able to have a competition for that challenge. I wanted to do it as a career,” she said.
One of the highlights for Hayden was a peanut allergy research project that she completed in high school, titled: “Blocking Immune Response through the Formation of Plant Polyphenol and Peanut Allergen Complexes.”
In her research with that project, Hayden wanted to see if specific compounds could be added to peanuts and then people could eat them without having an allergic reaction. To test that, she had to create an assimilation that represented a human body because from an ethical standpoint, a human obviously could not be used. Hayden found in her research that it worked 60 percent of the time.
Hayden said the resources and the staff at Big Foot made FFA an experience that is now helping her excel in college.
“Big Foot really made it into a community and I loved being a part of that,” she said.
She said from where she grew up to her involvement with FFA, she appreciates all the opportunities afforded to her.
“Sharon was a great town to grow up in. FFA really helped me feel a part of something bigger and better,” Hayden said.
For more information about the National FFA Organization visit ffa.org or call 1-888-332-2668.
