Fairfield FFA attends National Convention; 6 members earn American Degrees

The Fairfield FFA Chapter attended the 96th National FFA Convention and Expo Nov. 1-4.

Throughout the week, the chapter attended sessions where they listened to motivational speakers such as Juan Bendana, who talked about overcoming bad days and keeping on going, and retiring addresses from the 2022-2023 National Officer Team.

Also during sessions, the chapter watched as the National Career Development Experience, Leadership Development Experience and Agriscience Fair winners were announced. Students also explored the FFA Shopping Mall and the Expo Center.

While at the National FFA Convention, the chapter also toured Poe Hamps Farm, where they learned about the process of artificially inseminating and transferring embryos in sheep, their housing facility and breeding and market sheep at their facility. The chapter also toured Hunter’s Honey Farm, where they learned about the process of making honey and beeswax candles, and then got to fill their own honey bears and taste different flavored honey.

At the end of the week, the chapter watched as six of their members walked across the stage to receive their American FFA Degree. The members that earned this honor from the Fairfield FFA were: Shaleigh Duncan, Caitlin Campbell, Caden Shoemaker, Sophie Young, Reese Teeters and Zander Parshall.

As the highest degree achievable in the National FFA Organization, the American FFA Degree shows an FFA member’s dedication to his or her chapter and State FFA Association. It demonstrates the effort FFA members apply toward their Supervised Agricultural Experience and the outstanding leadership abilities and community involvement they exhibited through their FFA career.

American FFA Degree recipients show promise for the future and have gone above and beyond to achieve excellence. Less than two percent of FFA members receive this degree.

Congratulations to those members.