Russell County FFA member Katie Dalton was elected as the 2011-12 Kentucky State Reporter earlier this month at the 82nd Kentucky State FFA Convention in Lexington.

Katie was one of eleven students chosen to lead the Kentucky FFA Association for the coming year. Fulfilling her role will require traveling across the state; meeting top leaders in business, government and education; visiting Kentucky's 11 regions, meeting the over 14,700 members and participating in events like the Kentucky FFA Leadership Training Center and the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Katie's responsibilities will include providing personal growth and leadership training for students, conducting workshops to each chapter, setting policies that shape the future of the organization and promoting agricultural literacy.

The state FFA officer selection process is a very intense process, and represents an assessment of years of academic and extracurricular accomplishments made by each student. Nominees submitted an application detailing their accomplishments and agriculture program, as well as their contributions to their chapter and community. Once at the convention, candidates participated in five rounds of interviews, testing their knowledge on FFA matters and history, agriculture current issues and demonstrating their leadership and career skills. The officers are selected by a panel of FFA members across the state.

Katie was one of the many students running for state office. Her state officer year will begin with traveling all over the state of Kentucky and participating in conferences and trainings. Katie's FFA advisor is Ms. Bethany Garmon who has always had a helping hand in helping her achieve her goals in the FFA.

The Kentucky FFA Association is part of the National FFA Organization, formerly known as Future Farmers of America. This national youth organization has 523,309 student members as part of 7,487 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.