The Adair – Casey / Guthrie Center FFA Chapter held its annual banquet on May 4th.

During the event, the chapter officers from the 2024-25 year stepped down, and the new group of officers for the 2025-26 year. Senior Gavin Sloss was the 24-25 chapter president, and the newly appointed chapter president is junior Lucy Knutter. Knutter tells Raccoon Valley Radio what she’s hoping for in the coming year.

“Some of the things that I’m most excited and looking forward to is just taking that step, becoming a more prominent officer role. I think that as secretary, I did have a little bit of leadership opportunities and was able to provide a key role for our chapter. But I think as president, I’m going to be more involved with our younger chapter members, and I’m hoping to get everyone in the chapter involved, really showing them that FFA is something that they can kind of have fun with.”

The AC/GC FFA Chapter has several different events that they host throughout the year, including their car show and BBQ cookoff, tractor ride, and plant sale, along many others, and the officers are the ones behind the scenes who get everything set and in place for these events. With Sloss graduating at the end of this school year, he shares a tip for anyone looking at joining FFA.

“Get out of your comfort zone. Don’t stay in your typical area of like, ‘Okay, I’m just going to join FFA just for the fun of it.’ Like go run for officer, or go to state convention, go to national convention, get to learn other people’s backstories and all that stuff. I joined FFA when I was in seventh grade. That was the first year I could join it. And, you know, I just kind of laid back, didn’t really do a whole lot in the chapter yet, but coming into high school with Skie (Shull), the new advisor, I was able to get out of my comfort zone with her help and I was the treasurer in 2024 and I was the president in 2025.”

Both Sloss and Knutter mention that being able to work with their chapter members, and participating in events like the Iowa State FFA and National FFA Conventions are some good memories that they have from their time in the organization. Sloss also shares that he’s looking forward to seeing what new and fun things the chapter will do in the coming years after he graduates, and seeing how they grow. Knutter mentions that there are several areas that individuals can get involved in with the organization as well, not just with ag related fields.