FFA And Camp Couchdale

Many of our conferences and travel opportunities within the FFA take us to a small pocket of land in southeastern Hot Springs known as Camp Couchdale.

The camp has hosted various FFA events for years now, with the highlights being Summer and Winter Leadership camps, and Arkansas FFA State Convention. The trips to Couchdale are always an excellent opportunity for members of our chapter to grow as individuals as well as a group. My first trip to Camp Couchdale was State Convention of 2017. State Convention hosted a variety of inspirational speakers who all had something unique and interesting to say, most of which has stuck with me to this day. It isn’t all business and formalities at Camp Couchdale, though. The most enjoyable thing to do is to socialize with members of other chapters as well as our own. The camp provides the perfect atmosphere for meeting new people and spending time with known friends.

The time we get to spend at Couchdale not only allows us to enjoy some friendly conversation, but also helps develop leaders within our chapter. Just recently we attended Winter Leadership Conference at Camp Couchdale. While there we were treated to a host of activities that taught us the fundamentals of leadership in addition to teamwork. Leadership doesn’t necessarily mean taking charge and rallying groups of individuals. It can be as simple as being willing to take a risk, or being purposeful in every action. All who attended are definitely better off for having done so. Our chapter’s secretary, Ali Edgar, describes her trips to state leadership conferences as “eye-opening,” and something that she has “remembered for years,” after she had attended them.

Overall, I am incredibly grateful for having attended events at Camp Couchdale and look forward to the educational and recreational opportunities that await me in the future. Our chapter will continue to learn and grow as we continue to attend events at Camp Couchdale.

“The camp provides the perfect atmosphere for meeting new people and spending time with known friends.”

Clayton Weyl Prairie Grove FFA