Losing her vision, but finding her voice
Colorado FFA President Teagan Joseph reprises performances at National Western Stock Show
story by Jayme DeLoss
published Jan. 4, 2024
Teagan Joseph credits the National Western Stock Show with launching her singing career. She sang the national anthem before three events at the 2022 stock show, which led to a TV interview and an invitation to sing the anthem at the Rocky Mountain Country Music Awards. Acclaim for that performance enabled the 18-year-old to crowdfund an album that she recorded in Nashville and released in May.
Joseph, who goes by the stage name Liza Jo, has put her music career on hold while she serves as Colorado president of FFA – a youth development organization formerly known as Future Farmers of America.
“I am so passionate about FFA, and I want to give my all to this association while I’m serving as a state officer,” Joseph said.
Joseph and her nine fellow state officers are living at Colorado State University’s Spur campus, part of the National Western Center in Denver, for a year, thanks to a partnership between FFA and CSU, the state’s land-grant university.
Joseph rooms with her closest companion, her seeing-eye dog, Astro, who is somewhat of a celebrity himself, with 364 followers on Instagram. Astro helps Joseph manage her rare, progressive eye disease called Leber congenital amaurosis. She said every day brings more challenges, but her visual impairment has made her adaptable, and grateful.
“I’ve been so blessed with an amazing support system. My family is phenomenal. My teammates are phenomenal. And I have such an amazing community behind me,” Joseph said. “I wouldn’t trade the cards I was dealt for anything because I know God has a plan for my life.”
The team of officers has bonded while living together in the Vida building dorm rooms. Like Joseph, who is from Eaton, they all hail from small towns around the state, but the big city of Denver isn’t overwhelming because they have each other.
Most days the team travels across the state to educate about agriculture and conduct leadership workshops for other FFA members. A few days every month they help facilitate hands-on activities for Spur visitors.
Spur offers free, interactive learning experiences about topics important to all – food, water, and animal and human health. Campus visitors can observe drinking water quality testing, watch equine therapy – both for horses and people, and learn where their food comes from, a topic near and dear to FFA.
National Western Stock Show
Teagan Joseph will perform the national anthem for the 4-H and FFA rodeos, Jan. 12 and 17.
FFA state officers will be at the stock show Jan. 6-21, giving tours of the National Western Center grounds and Spur campus and educating visitors about animals and animal care in the nursery.
4-H Day – Jan. 12
CSU Day – Jan. 13
FFA Day – Jan. 17
‘The Vida experience’
State FFA Advisor Kenton Ochsner said it’s fitting that the officers live in the building called Vida, which is Spanish for life. Ochsner oversees personal and professional development training for the officers there every Monday, often in partnership with faculty from CSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
“We try to better prepare them for whatever the next chapter in their life is, whether that’s going to school, furthering their education some other way or going into the workforce,” Ochsner said. “We want to make sure that they have the skills to be an adult and to be future leaders for agriculture or in their communities.”
Officers are elected by their peers in June each year, and they typically have just graduated from high school or are a year or two into college. They travel to all parts of the state, visiting FFA chapters about 200 days a year.
Prior to the Spur residency, officers would live at home. Spur provides a central base for their activities, with easier access to many chapters and commodity group meetings, as well as more opportunities to interact with the public.
“The really cool thing about Spur is we have the opportunity every day to engage with people who want to learn about agriculture,” Ochsner said.
“I don’t know of anywhere else in the world that has a partnership with their major metropolitan city, their land-grant university, one of the largest stock shows in the world, along with FFA, to create this unique opportunity for these students,” he added. “We call it the Vida experience, the life experience for state officers.”
After completing the yearlong leadership program, officers are guaranteed College of Agricultural Sciences scholarships.
More than ag
Joseph said she has been singing since she was able to talk, and FFA encouraged her passion. Performing “Walking After Midnight” during a talent show at the FFA state convention in 2022 sparked her interest in pursuing a career in music.
FFA’s goal is to help young people develop leadership skills and grow as individuals. You don’t have to grow up on a farm to join the club, just enroll in a high school ag class and join a local chapter.
“The blue jacket is for everyone,” Joseph said, referring to FFA’s signature attire.
Joseph grew up showing horses and lambs in 4-H and joined FFA in high school. The programs complement one another and have many members in common.
At this year’s National Western Stock Show, Joseph will sing the national anthem before the 4-H and FFA rodeos. She and her fellow state officers also will carry a roughly 30-by-40-foot U.S. flag into the arena to honor service members ahead of the Military Appreciation Rodeo.
The state officers will be at the stock show every day, giving tours of the National Western Center grounds and Spur campus and educating visitors about animals and animal care in the nursery.
What’s next?
Joseph will release two more songs this spring. When her tenure as FFA president ends the first week of June, she plans to return to Nashville to record another album. If a music career isn’t in the cards, she is equally enthusiastic about her backup plan.
“I would love to become an equine-assisted therapist and focus on people with disabilities, as well as veterans and first responders with PTSD,” Joseph said. “My goal is to get a degree that will help me accomplish that dream.”
Check out Teagan Joseph’s music at lizajomusic.com and her music video for “Now I see” on Facebook.