Conduct of Chapter Meetings: Where Teamwork, Civics, and Efficiency Collide
Deep Dives on Specific FFA Contests and What They Teach
A seventh grader running a meeting sounds like a stretch. FFA built a national contest around it. Conduct of Chapter Meetings puts a team of middle school and early high school members in the roles of chapter officers and asks them to run a mock meeting correctly. This article covers the event’s history, its format, what FFA says it develops and a practice plan. The title’s three words, teamwork, civics and efficiency, are this site’s summary of what FFA’s descriptions emphasize.
- Key takeaway: the event teaches the mechanics of orderly meetings to younger members, as a bridge to the high school Parliamentary Procedure event.
- Eligibility: grades 7–9.
- Team size: seven members, per FFA’s 2017 coverage.
What FFA Says It Is
FFA’s Conduct of Chapter Meetings page says the event introduces middle school FFA members, grades 7 to 9, to parliamentary procedure so they can conduct efficient meetings and improve communication skills.
How It Started
FFA’s 2017 report, Making a Motion for the First Conduct of Chapter Meetings LDE, gives the history:
- A National FFA subcommittee first proposed the event in 2008.
- An earlier version began in 2012 as the National FFA Novice Invitational Parliamentary Procedure Event, sponsored by the Society for Agricultural Education Parliamentarians.
- FFA piloted it as a demonstration in 2016.
- It became an official leadership development event in 2017, with teams from 39 states at the first national event.
The first national champion was Kingfisher FFA of Oklahoma, followed by Asotin FFA of Washington, Barrington Middle FFA of Florida and Litchfield FFA of Minnesota. The article says the champion took home a souvenir gavel and had its name engraved on a traveling gavel passed to each year’s winners.
How It Works
According to the 2017 report, teams of seven take the role of an officer team and perform opening and closing ceremonies and a mock meeting using correct FFA traditions and official parliamentary procedure. Teams also take a written exam at the start of the competition, which is used to seed them into preliminary rounds. One team per state is eligible, chosen in a manner determined by the state FFA association. Rules may have changed since 2017, so use the current handbook.
What a National Champion Chapter Reported
FFA’s 2024 feature National Team Cultivates Leaders for the Chapter follows West Holt FFA in Nebraska, whose team placed fourth at state as eighth graders in 2022, returned to win state the following year and then won the national event in 2023. It reports that team members then helped complete their chapter’s Program of Activities and the National Chapter Award Program application, which earned the chapter a three-star rating for the first time in its history. The article also says the team members reported that they had been waiting for a chance to lead and that the unit on the event in their agriculture class had appealed to them. This site does not name the student competitors.
Teamwork, Civics and Efficiency
- Teamwork: seven roles have to run smoothly together, each with specific duties.
- Civics: parliamentary procedure is a basic tool of democratic organizations. FFA’s 2023 article on its five skills says it helps groups handle disagreement fairly, which links the event to civic life.
- Efficiency: the event page names efficient meetings as its goal.
Practice Plan
- Learn the officer roles and ceremonies from the official FFA manual.
- Run a ten-minute mock meeting with one motion at a time.
- Rotate every member through every role.
- Review the written-exam topics weekly in short quizzes.
- Rehearse with an audience, including younger members who may join the team later.
The plan is a suggestion from this site, not an FFA requirement.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is it different from Parliamentary Procedure?
Conduct of Chapter Meetings is for grades 7 to 9 and centers on running a mock officer-led meeting. The Parliamentary Procedure event has five phases, including a written exam, team presentation, oral questions and two practicums, and participants are eligible for American Institute of Parliamentarians membership.
Who chooses the state’s team?
Each state FFA association decides, per FFA’s 2017 report.
Honest Limits
The event is an introduction, and FFA does not claim middle school participants master parliamentary law. The facts about history and format come from a 2017 report and a 2024 chapter feature, so details of the current format should be confirmed with the official page. The “civics” link is an interpretation; the event page itself speaks only of efficient meetings and communication. West Holt is one chapter’s experience, not an average.
Past presidents on this site with careers in public service, education or ranching include Doyle Conner, Travis Park and Kelli Evans. The event did not exist in their FFA years.
Sources
- National FFA Organization: Conduct of Chapter Meetings
- National FFA Organization: Making a Motion for the First Conduct of Chapter Meetings LDE (2017)
- National FFA Organization: National Team Cultivates Leaders for the Chapter (2024)
- National FFA Organization: 5 Skills Developed Through Parliamentary Procedure (2023)