Kahealani Garcia attended the 2019 Washington Leadership Conference last month.

LAHAINA – Kahealani Garcia, a junior and chapter secretary for the FFA (Future Farmers of America) at Lahainaluna High School, participated in the 2019 Washington Leadership Conference from July 15-21.

The conference held in Washington, D.C., was attended by FFA members from various schools across the U.S.

The purpose of the conference was to give students opportunities to learn leadership skills and to help make their FFA organizations stronger at the state and chapter levels.

Garcia traveled with 15 FFA members to meet Hawaii senators and representatives to advocate for the agriculture industry and FFA programs.

She made many friends with other FFA members from around the country. Her roommates were from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri.

Students met with Hawaii senators and representatives to advocate for the agriculture industry and FFA programs.

They toured various monuments, memorials and museums around our nation’s capitol, including the Washington Monument, Korean War Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery and the Smithsonian Museums.

They did a fun service project with the Meals of Hope program, assembling over 5,000 boxes of fortified macaroni and cheese meals, assembly line-style, to ship to people in need.

They also learned about various service projects that FFA members did in their communities.

“My favorite part of the trip was visiting the Holocaust Museum. It was thoroughly informative but very shocking and emotional. It was more interesting to learn about the Holocaust seeing actual artifacts and powerful displays instead of learning from a textbook and photos.”

“My WLC experience made me see how I can impact our school and community. It motivated me to do more this year.”

Lahainaluna Future Farmers of America is currently recruiting students for the program. They only need to be currently taking an agriculture/natural resource class to qualify to be a member.

There are many opportunities with FFA memberships, such as travel, competition, awards, recognition, community service, scholarships and making new friends.