On Tuesday, Oct. 26 selected members of FFA will head down to Indianapolis, Indiana to attend the 94th National FFA Convention. Members attending the convention will participate in different activities until Saturday, October 30th. This event is all about growing the next generation of leaders and is an amazing opportunity for all involved in FFA, the convention combines a fun experience along with informational sessions that members can attend to learn about different skills. The week-long convention will have different workshops and sessions where students will meet fellow FFA members from all across the nation. 

 Amber Samson who is the Agriculture teacher and FFA advisor for PCM described the convention.

¨ A leadership conference where FFA members from around the U.S., all 50 states and the two U.S. territories [Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands] come together and they have the national competitors and all the contests, so every state has a winner in all the contests and the top 52 compete to be the top in the nation,” explained Samson. 

There are different types of contests participants can do throughout the convention.

 “There’s LDE’s and CDE’s, LDE’s are leadership development events and CDE’s are career development events. Basically the difference is LDE’s are public speaking and the CDE’s are hands-on contests where the kids make or build things,” said Samson.

Students will get to interact with not only students from their schools but students from around the country as well as adults. This is also a great opportunity for FFA members looking for their next step after high school. There will be industry tours where students will be able to see actual employers and businesses so they can hopefully broaden their horizons with agriculture.

Trey Voeller, President of FFA, is very excited to attend the convention.

“Since we aren’t going to the Rodeo this year we are going to do chapter bonding and do laser tag and just get to know each other better, so I’m really excited for that.” said Voeller.

Voeller hopes to gain some insight into his plans for life after high school.

“As far as agricultural things and experiences, I’m really looking forward to the convention hall where there are a lot of different colleges and businesses. [I hope] to get a feel of the environment of those places and hopefully find some answers for college,” explained Voeller.

With the pandemic last year, students were not able to attend the National Convention. They hope this year’s experience will make up for the lack of one last year.