The 2022 North Dakota FFA Convention took place at North Dakota State University the first full week of June, bringing FFA students from around the state to compete and connect. A highlight of convention each year, is the selection of the seven new members of the FFA State Officer Team.

The state officers for 2022-23 include:

Amy Klain, president. Klain is a member of the Turtle Lake-Mercer FFA Chapter. She will attend North Dakota State University in the fall to major in nursing.

“I’m most looking forward to meeting and encouraging FFA members,” she says. “In North Dakota alone, there are over 7,000 members, so I certainly have an abundance of people to interact with.”

Klain says her FFA experiences has had a significant impact on her future. “I have learned leadership skills that I can carry into my future, as well as to have confidence in myself and to work towards my goals.”

Hailey Maddock, vice president. Maddock is from the Maddock A.S. Gibbens FFA Chapter. She will be attending NDSU in the fall and is planning to major in communications, with minors in English and journalism.

“I’m looking forward to the growth that being a state officer will bring but also to the connections I hope to make,” she says.

Maddock says her favorite experience in FFA was attending the first FFA camp. “Through camp I was able to form connections with people I now consider some of my closest friends and also got to know and create relationships with a few of the previous state officers.”

Katelyn Duchscher, secretary. Duchscher, a member of the Rugby FFA Chapter, is attending NDSU in the fall to study marketing.

“My favorite experience during my time in FFA was my trip to the National FFA Convention during my senior year,” she says. “Seeing blue jackets from all across the country was such an eye-opening experience and a bonding experience for my whole chapter.”

Duchscher says that she’s most looking forward to connecting with the members within the state FFA.

“Without FFA I would not have found my love for marketing and my future career in marketing,” she says. “FFA prepared me for my future in numerous ways, and I would not be the person I am today without the blue jacket.”

Regan Jones, treasurer. Jones, with the Fesseden-Bowden FFA Chapter, will attend NDSU in the fall, studying crop and weed science, and biotechnology.

“FFA has grown my appreciation for agriculture as a whole,” she says. “You really don’t understand how big it is until you acknowledge all of the areas, not just farming and ranching.”

She says she is excited for the opportunities brought on by being a state officer. “I want to get to know as many FFA members as I can throughout my year as a state officer,” she says. “I’m also looking forward to expanding my leadership skills and increasing my confidence when it comes to public speaking.”  

Faith Norby, reporter. Norby, a member of the Killdeer FFA Chapter, plans to study English education in the fall.

“I’m looking forward to getting to know more members of [North Dakota’s] FFA and to help inspire younger members to compete in different CDE and LDE events,” she says.

CDEs, or Career Development Events, have been one of Norby’s favorite parts of her time in FFA. “I have participated in Parliamentary Procedure and Agricultural Sales, and loved preparing for these events because of all the time I got to spend with my team practicing.”

She says that she has benefited in many ways from her time in FFA. “I’ve gained a greater level of confidence by competing in public speaking events and have also discovered my passion for interacting with students, which lead me to my future career plan of being a high school English teacher.”

Jakob Van Berkom, sentinel. Van Berkom is a member of the Des Lacs–Burlington FFA Chapter. He will attend NDSU in the fall to study horticulture.

“I’m most looking forward to getting to know members of North Dakota FFA and seeing what they accomplish,” he says of his year as a state officer.

His favorite experiences in FFA were competing in the national nursery and landscaping competition. “My involvement in FFA is what sparked my interest in pursuing a career in horticulture,” he says. “It started when I joined the nursery and landscaping event in seventh grade and developed the interest to work at a nursery where my interest [in horticulture] has developed even further.”

Wyatt Kersten, parliamentarian. Kersten, originally from Max, is a member of the Max FFA Chapter. He will be studying meat processing in the fall, and says that FFA helped him in choosing his career path.

Spending time with friends and building new friendships is what he says has been among his favorite experiences during his time in FFA. Like the rest of the state officer team, Kersten is looking forward to going on chapter visits and meeting other FFA members from across the state.

Nikki Fideldy-Doll is the FFA advisor for the North Dakota FFA State Officer Team.