The first time Jaylene Everhart slipped on her dark blue FFA jacket embellished with her name and the FFA emblem in bright yellow, she felt a pull to follow in the footsteps of the FFA leaders around her and give back to the organization bigger than herself. And on June 11, 2025, about two years after the MidWinter Convention where she first received her jacket, and just days after her graduation from State High, Everhart was elected Pennsylvania FFA State Chaplain.
FFA, Future Farmers of America, is a national organization with the goal to help students develop leadership potential, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education.
The organization is made up of state associations, which are in turn made up of local chapters. Each state association has seven elected state officers: president, vice president, chaplain, treasurer, reporter, secretary and sentinel.
An FFA Legacy
FFA has been part of Everhart’s life since she was born. Her mother, father, grandfather and older sister were all involved in the organization, so Everhart called her decision to join as a sophomore at State High “just a natural next step.”
She was heavily involved in the agriculture program at State High, expanding her knowledge and experience by diving into a variety of classes, such as Food Production, Agriculture Mechanics, Plant Science and Animal Science.
Everhart was a role model in school even before being elected State Officer.
“Jaylene was always a leader in class and in FFA,” State High’s agricultural sciences teacher and FFA advisor Morgan Inhoof said. “I saw a lot of potential in her from the get-go, and I think that she wasn’t afraid to take initiative, and she wasn’t afraid to step up and do the extra work that sometimes is needed.”
After joining FFA and taking agriculture classes, the positive examples of other FFA state officers inspired Everhart to pursue the position of state officer herself.
“Seeing the state officers and how excited they were for us made me really want to become one of them and become a state officer to have that same excitement for everyone,” Everhart said.
The importance of agriculture also inspired Everhart to apply for an FFA state officer position.
“FFA is agricultural-based, and so everything that we do relates back to agriculture in some way, shape or form,” Everhart said. “I wanted to be able to advocate and continue to advocate for the agricultural industry.”
Applying to be an FFA state officer is an intense process and includes a written application and an online and in-person portion. The online portion involves presenting a memorized speech and participating in rounds of Q&A with a committee of nominated students. The in-person portion consists of two impromptu speeches, one written and presented with a group, and the other done individually.
For Everhart, the intensive process was a test of her self-confidence.
“The challenging part [of applying for state officer] was not to look in the past. I would get caught up in what just happened in my interview and not focus on my next one. … I was stuck in what I did wrong and couldn’t figure out what I actually did well in the interview process,” Everhart said.
However, Everhart was ultimately able to overcome the challenges of the application process and was elected FFA State Chaplain.
Leading with Dedication
FFA organizes conferences, conventions and workshops to teach and strengthen student leadership skills. Everhart works with her team of other Pennsylvania state officers to organize and lead these events with a focus on building student leadership while still in high school.
“It [leadership] doesn’t have to be when you graduate college or whenever you get a big person job. It can start today,” Everhart said.
Another way Everhart helps students gain leadership is by encouraging them to join FFA. Senior and State High FFA President Katie Coopey was inspired to join FFA by Everhart during their shared time in agriculture classes.
“The first FFA meeting was coming up, and she [Everhart] was like, ‘you should join,’ and so I did. But from there, it just spiraled and became a big part of my life,” Coopey said.
In addition to the experiences of service and growth, the position of FFA State Officers requires significant sacrifices of time and energy. Pennsylvania state officers are away from home for about 180 days of the year, travelling to conventions and conferences.
“[Travelling] is a bit of a challenge because about a week into a week and a half, you’re like ‘wow, I really want to go home. I want to sleep in my own bed,’” Everhart said with a smile.
Despite the challenges, “it’s honestly an opportunity of a lifetime,” Everhart said.
Looking Forward
After she was elected, Everhart adopted the goal to impact at least one student during her time as state officer.
“All it takes is to influence one person, and then that person will influence another person, and it’s kind of a chain reaction. So my biggest goal is to just make sure that I can impact at least one student and member in FFA,” Everhart said.
She will continue to pursue her goal as she works with other state officers to connect with and help students.
Everhart encourages all students to explore agriculture education classes and FFA, even if doing so means taking a step out of their comfort zone: “Even if you’re uncomfortable, it’s ok because when you become uncomfortable is when you truly make a difference.”
