Leading the way in FFA Phillipsburg High Grad Alyssa Mottram leading statewide group. Sunday, January 20, 2008 • BY LYNN OLANOFF • The Express-Times PHILLIPSBURG | Alyssa Mottram used to be terrified of public speaking and meeting new people. That was BFFA, as in before she joined FFA. Now that she's the group's president, she does it regularly and with ease. The 2005 Phillipsburg High School graduate said she's gotten a lot out of being an FFA member, a group of 1,843 students in New Jersey she's led since May. "I've had a great chance to grow as a person and leader," Mottram said. "I have never been put into a position that required such a high amount of leadership, and it is something that I constantly have to work at." Mottram, 21, started with the group seven years ago when she was a high school freshman. Growing up in Phillipsburg, she didn't have any direct farming experience but was a big animal fan. While in high school, some of her favorite opportunities were working with chickens and with flowers in the school's floral arrangement class. Now that she's starting at Rutgers University on Tuesday, Mottram is heading in a different direction. She'll be enrolled in the university's school of environmental and biological sciences pursuing a career in conservation. She graduated from Warren County Community College with an associate's degree in December. As FFA president, Mottram said one of the greatest opportunities has been being able to attend leadership conferences. She attended three this summer, including one in Washington, D.C., where she got to meet President Bush. Besides the conferences, her duties as president include working with the state's 37 FFA chapters. She's remained active with the Phillipsburg group since her graduation. Nationally, the FFA is working toward a goal dubbed "10-15," as in having 10,000 chapters by 2015. Right now there are between 7,000 and 7,500 chapters. "We try to promote membership in New Jersey, but it's hard because there's a shortage of agriculture education teachers," Mottram said. That's not the case in Warren County. Five high schools have the program and a total membership of 648. Reporter Lynn Olanoff can be reached at 908-475-8044 or by e-mail at lolanoff@express-times.com.