The National FFA President Paul Moya, of Los Lunas, N.M., visited Logan County High School to speak and to motivate the Logan County FFA Chapter. Being a student at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., Moya is a Gates Millennium Scholar, a Notre Dame Class of 2011 Council Leader, a member of the Notre Dame High School Ambassador Team, and an American Legion Boys’ Nation Senator. He is also a former New Mexico State President and a National Beef Ambassador. He is a former New Mexico State FFA Champion in prepared public speaking and extemporaneous public speaking. When Moya applied for the National FFA President position he went through five rounds of interviews during which he was interviewed 450 times. While being the National FFA President, Moya will travel more than 100,000 miles, and he will meet top leaders in business, government and education, visit 40 states, participate in an international experience tour to Japan, and travel 320 days out of the year. His responsibilities as the National FFA President include: providing personal growth and leadership training for students, setting policies that shape the future of the organization and promoting agricultural literacy. As the National FFA President, he will motivate and inspire more than 500,000 fellow members.

While Moya was at LCHS he spoke to the Logan County FFA Chapter of 250 members on the National FFA Motto: Step up, Stand out. He talked to the members about setting goals and being able to reach those goals in life. He also talked about stepping out of your comfort zone and doing things that you normally wouldn’t do. Then Moya talked to the executive committees on leadership skills and working together as a team. He prepared a workshop and let the teams work together on team building activities. After that, Moya had lunch with the administrators of LCHS, thanked them for supporting the Logan County FFA Chapter, and for letting him come to LCHS. Members of the FFA Alumni and supporters of the FFA also attended the luncheon. Moya was a different kind of person because if you watched him whenever he talked to the kids he pays attention to what they have to say and looks at each one of them in their eyes. Peter Dreisbach, the director of Kentucky FFA Leadership Training Center, said he thinks that because the FFA members could meet Moya it lets them see that National Officers are regular people just like them. Moya helped inspire the younger FFA members by fixing another workshop and letting them get to know what FFA is all about. The workshop helped show the FFA members how the FFA program works and how it is run. While Moya was with the FFA members the only difference between him and them was the giant symbol on his matching jacket. He really cares about the kids that he’s talking to. He’s not just here to give a speech and go home; he’s here to make a difference in the Logan County FFA Chapter. After school Moya mingled with FFA members in the Ag Shop and learned more about Kentucky. FFA members gave him a tour of the Greenhouse and showed him how to play corn hole. The Logan County FFA had members of the Barren River FFA Region come to hear Moya speak about his life and how he got started in FFA. Moya told the members about his life and told them that anything is possible because when he was a sophomore in high school he was just like him.

“I went to my first state convention when I was 8 months old because my dad was an FFA advisor,” Moya said. He has grown up with this program and is dedicated to promoting FFA throughout the world.

“The good thing about the FFA is that no matter what your skills are, you always have an opportunity to be a leader,” Moya said.

Peter Dreisbach picked Logan County High School, one of five schools in Kentucky, for the National FFA President to visit. This is the first time ever that the National FFA President has come to LCHS. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet and talk to the National FFA President.