FFA Officer Retreats on a Budget

Officer retreats are my FAVORITE type of meeting/leadership event/planning/event of awesome things! I used to tell my students “Let’s do this!” Then they would roll their eyes at me, but they knew they were always in for a good and eventful time of leadership, planning, and team building!

When planning officer retreats, I like to think of a few things –

1. Budget

2. Leadership

3. Comfort level of students

4. Best use of resources

Now, let’s dive into each one! But I want to start backwards.

Number 4 – Resources

What is the best use of resources? I like to think of resources as more than just what plates and transportation do I have. But as things such as time and mental capacity of my students. During finals week of school is NOT a good time to have an officer retreat. They will not be able to focus or plan or be successful. That is NOT setting your team up for success. Also, do your officers work? Will they be able to take off a full day? Do all your officers drive? What burden are you putting on parents if they expect their child to have other responsibilities when you have your officer retreat. There are so many things you need to think about when it comes to resources available to you.

Number 3 – Comfort Level of Students

I am not sure how you feel about this topic, but as a female advisor I DESPISED officer retreats that included swimming. Not all high school students are comfortable swimming or being in swimwear. And if you make it mandatory, will they even be able to focus on the leadership activities you have them complete if they are just worried about being seen in their swim suit? Comfort level also needs to be considered when you think about heights, different food, and maybe even personalities. Some of these can be overcome with leadership and team building, but it is your job as an advisory to make students WANT to work together and with YOU as the advisor. Not to put them in situations where they want to never come back.

Number 2 – Leadership

I think it is important to let the officers have some say in the type of leadership they engage in during the year of their service as well as the entire chapter. They ran for office for a reason. Give them the time and space to be able to voice their concerns and become leaders within their own chapter.

Number 1 – Budget

The driving force behind all or most of your activities within your chapter! You can do fun things with a small amount of money. We have gone to places that did a ropes course and we have been to places that did leadership activities, but the BEST officer retreat I ever did was in my OWN room. It was also the CHEAPEST! It was during the last week of school during finals make up day. The students were so excited to be in the Ag Classroom with just the officer team! We called them out at 10 and I got to keep them until 3. We split into groups and each group was in charge of making a portion of their lunch. It was EPIC! The team building and communication that had to happen was BETTER than I could have planned!! I highly suggest this! Then after lunch we went over duties and expectations and did some more team building and ate some more food. It was truly the BEST and the cheapest. These officers still talk about it today!

Officer retreats are exactly what you want to make them and can go in any direction you want them to. These students ran for office for a reason. Give them the chance to flourish and they will do wonderful things for you!