How many major state FFA officers does Illinois FFA have?

What are the official FFA colors?

How many members are there in Illinois Association FFA?

Those are the favorite FFA trivia questions of Natalie Pratt, Illinois FFA state president; Jack Heinzeroth, Section 2 FFA president and Kyle Bradshaw, Illinois FFA state secretary.

The answers?

• Six. (The office of state sentinel was added at the Illinois FFA Convention in June 2025, increasing the number of major state offices to president, vice president, reporter, secretary, treasurer and sentinel.)
• National Blue and Corn Gold.
• Over 42,000.

The three state FFA officers visited Julie LeFevre’s agriculture classes Thursday at Challand Middle School in Sterling in preparation for National FFA Week that runs through Friday.

“We played FFA Trivia Bingo today with Ms. LeFevre’s classes to set the stage for next week and we had a really good kickoff for National FFA Week,” Heinzeroth said.

For LeFevre, the visit was a follow up to a visit that the new state officers have always made in the fall.

“We have chapter visits in the fall but they are usually only able to come to maybe one or two classes. I really wanted all of my students to have the experience of meeting some of the state officers. Today just happened to coincide with the Section 2 barn dance so we were able to get two state officers and the Section 2 president,” LeFevre said.

For the seventh-grade students in LeFevre’s ag classes, having Pratt, Bradshaw and Heinzeroth in their classes was a chance to see Illinois FFA officially.

“It’s a chance for all the students to experience something FFA, to get to see official dress and see someone older in it and to meet the people who are the state officers,” LeFevre said.

Pratt was a member of Amboy FFA at Amboy High School, Heinzeroth was a member of LaMoille FFA at LaMoille High School and Bradshaw was a member of Pittsfield FFA at Pittsfield High School. While none of those programs had middle school ag education or FFA programs, Pratt said that starting early to learn about agriculture and FFA gives students a head start on learning the opportunities that agriculture and FFA offer.

“When you are in middle school, you really start deciding what you want to do with your future. You are deciding if you want to play sports or do theater or band. Having the opportunity to have ag classes and learn about this blue jacket and learn about FFA in middle school gives students more of an idea of what the opportunities are in ag and FFA. These students already are invested, they know what they can put into it, they know what the benefits are, so they are ready to jump into it in their freshman year,” Pratt said.

Heinzeroth said his favorite FFA trivia question is one about the national FFA colors.

“People say blue and yellow or blue and gold. It’s Corn Gold and National Blue. It’s very specific and those are our colors. I like it because it is so specific,” he said.

Bradshaw said he is excited about the growth of more middle school ag and FFA programs because students learn the basics of something that affects them every day.

“Every day everyone is in contact with agriculture through the food we eat, our transportation, what we wear and many other ways. Teaching people where their food comes from is such a vital thing. Even if they have no interest in agriculture after that, learning the basics of where the food you eat comes from is so important to learn at a young age,” Bradshaw said.

Pratt, who intends to major in agriculture education at Oklahoma State University, said she would urge LeFevre’s students to stay in ag and FFA when they get to Sterling High School.

“Nothing else is going to give you the opportunities that agriculture and FFA can,” Pratt said. “You can play a sport, go to a game, go to a training session but nothing else will teach you leadership, public speaking, how to build a resume, how to be a leader and how to have a good handshake like a blue corduroy jacket can.

“Those are the skills we are missing in the world today and if you have those skills, you are going to be moved to the top of lists of candidates for jobs, for scholarships and other opportunities.”