Ashton McCullough – Mount Victory, OH

This past year I created and chaired our school’s first ever Teen Dating Violence Awareness Week, which included the topic of human trafficking.  The awareness and prevention week lead up to our Winter Sweetheart Dance, which our FFA organization has turned into a fun night for youth to come and celebrate in a teen friendly way with a dance, video games, and board games.  During the Teen Dating Violence Awareness Week I worked with my school guidance counselor and FFA advisor to create a Teen Violence Jeopardy game, which we played a lunch and the Awareness Assembly.  Also, during lunch I created a Spin the Wheel of Music game, where students spun a wheel and identified if the song they landed on promoted or combated dating violence and human trafficking.  I developed this program in collaboration with Crossroads Crisis Center, our local women’s shelter for victims of domestic violence.  They supplied me with a display, hand-outs and numerous visual aids to heighten the impact of the week’s activities.  I also assisted in Bully Prevention Week and our Walk-A-Mile in Her Shoes Event to bring awareness to our students of what other face on a daily basis.  These events have bolstered our FFA to receive recognition as the top FFA Chapter in Ohio for two years in a row and for our FFA to be named the number one FFA Chapter in the Nation, out of 7,500 chapters!  I am proud of our FFA accomplishments and awards they received out of these activities, but I am more moved by the fact that my fellow classmates have a greater understanding of domestic violence, human trafficking, and how to seek help if they are in that situation.  All of these experiences are attributes that I can add as a member of the board and I look forward to being able to bring my experiences home to further expand our programming and share it with other schools.