Aaron Alejandro sits down with Kat Villarreal, an agricultural science teacher and FFA advisor in South Texas, to trace her journey from a non-farm kid to building a thriving IDEA Public Schools FFA program (now ~350 members). Kat shares how mentorship, grit, and student leadership took her chapter from zero to state-level achievements.

What You’ll Learn

• Three leadership skills Kat drills into students: confidence, responsibility, vulnerability
• How to build a program from scratch in an urban, non-traditional ag setting
• Why mentorship and access (college visits, contests, public speaking) unlock opportunity
• Practical ways FFA shapes real-world skills: handshakes, advocacy, communication, teamwork
• The mindset that it’s “okay to win”—and how to earn it

Learn more at MyTexasFFA.org