A local high school student will help lead and promote agricultural youth events across the state for the next school year.
Katielyn Yates, a rising senior at Portal Middle High School, is the new Central Region Area 4 Vice President for the Georgia FFA Association. Elected to the role by her area FFA peers, Yates will represent members of Portal’s National FFA Organization chapter and all other high school chapter members in Area 4. She will help lead large events and promote agriculture and FFA throughout Georgia during the upcoming school year.
As a candidate for the post, Katielyn and the other candidates had to complete a detailed application and submit a resume. They also had to take a test about FFA facts. During the area awards banquet in May, Yates campaigned and gave a speech to those in attendance. Students chosen as delegates from each school in the area then voted for their favorite leaders. The adult leaders picked the winners by combining the scores from the application, resume, test, and the final vote.
Georgia FFA divides its schools into North, Central, and South regions. Each of those three regions has two smaller sections called areas. Yates already has a lot of leadership experience in her hometown. She served as the Portal FFA Parliamentarian from 2024 to 2025. She was the chapter President from 2025 to 2026, and members elected her as president again for 2026-2027. Yates has also worked to earn multiple FFA degrees and honors: Greenhand Degree; Star Greenhand; Chapter Degree; and Chapter Star Farmer; and she placed fourth in the state in the Agricultural Education Career Development Event.
Yates also holds a perfect 4.0 grade point average.
Outside of the classroom, Yates stays busy with her own farming project, which is called a supervised agricultural experience. She raises and shows Market and Breeding Lambs and Goats at shows all over Georgia. This year, she will care for three sheep and two goats. Yates also shows great talent in agricultural competitions, placing fourth in the state for the Agricultural Education career development event this year.
This is a press release from Bulloch County Schools.
