The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG – When asked to pick one word to describe their experience attending last month's National FFA Convention, all four WHS attendees agreed that "breathtaking" best described the experience.

"It was just amazing to see that huge sea of blue and gold jackets and to be reminded that we're a part of something bigger than what we're used to. And to know that, as members, we're contributing something to society through FFA," said Chapter FFA President Emily Adams.

On Oct. 17 Adams, Loren Negron, Tom House, Seamus House, and advisor Nicole Abel landed in Indianapolis, Ind. where they joined more than 60,000 fellow FFA members at the 2016 National FFA Convention & Expo.

WHS graduate and Montana State University student Mikala DeRuwe was unable to attend but earned her American FFA Degree in beef during the convention. The degree is awarded to less than 1% of FFA members and recognizes students who have demonstrated the highest level of commitment to FFA and have made significant accomplishments in their supervised agricultural experiences.

"When a student attends Nationals for the first time they are in shock and wonder when they see the magnitude of the event.  Over 60,000 blue corduroy jackets congregated in five city blocks.  The National FFA Convention is an opportunity to really see what the organization has to offer. It is also an environment to see how different and similar FFA members are across the country," Abel said.

Freshman Loren Negron took first place in Creed at the Washington State FFA Convention last May and had spent countless hours preparing for the national competition. Negron was disappointed that she failed to place at the national level, but said the experience was life-changing.

"I cried, of course, when I found out I didn't get into the finals. But a speech given by retiring national officer Sarah Draper titled 'I Went through All That for This' was really inspiring. I didn't make it but the memories will stay and I'll use the skills I learned as I go through life," Negron said.

"Although she did not make the semi-finals I could not have asked more from Loren. She worked very hard to make it to the national level and I hope the rest of her chapter learned from her about the work ethics and dedication it takes to be that successful," Abel said.

Senior Adams and Junior Tom House attended as representatives of Waitsburg's gold star National Chapter Award application. The pair was assisted by Jared Farley in preparing the application which documented and evaluated activities performed by the chapter over the prior year.

Waitsburg's application ranked in the state's top ten percent of gold star awards, making it eligible to compete for the National Award. The application earned two stars at the national level where competitors vie for one, two, or three star rankings.

During the convention members attended workshops, a career expo, a science fair, Hall of States (a showcase of each state's agriculture), general sessions, a rodeo, and individual touring of Indianapolis and Chicago. Negron and Abel also squeezed in a tour of the Purdue campus and the Fair Oaks Farm in Indiana on their way back to the airport in Chicago.

Tom House, who is considering a career in food science, attended an eye-opening army food workshop where he learned what is involved in ensuring the safety of the food that makes its way onto army bases and Seamus House was encouraged by a Be The Difference workshop that trained attendees in becoming leaders in their community.

The group also served as part of the "courtesy corp" which is made up of FFA volunteers that help operate the entire workings of the convention. The students spent several hours working in the massive FFA store and had fun meeting and talking with the people they met there.

Adams said they made it a personal challenge to fill in the back pages of their convention manuals with signatures from one person from each of the states and territories represented. Seamus collected the most and only lacked signatures from Maine and the Virgin Islands.

Courtesy Photo

Seamus House, Adams, Negron, and Tom House represent "the Burg" at the RFD TV photo booth.

The students said they were fascinated by the differences in agriculture and FFA throughout the country.

"It was really cool to see the differences between the states. Connecticut only had about 20 FFA chapters but Texas has about 15,000 members, about one sixth of the entire FFA association," Adams said.

The students gathered sponsorships to help pay for the trip with the largest contributions coming from the Waitsburg High School ASB and the Waitsburg Lions Club.

"We are very fortunate to live in a community that is so supportive," Abel said.

All four students look forward to attending another national convention in the future.

"It was amazing to be with so many people that share the same passion that I do for agriculture. We are the future of our country. We are going to be what allows our country to move forward," Adams said.