FFA Members Receive State's Highest FFA Honor
by Randy Morris
April 22, 2008
Three members of the Putnam County FFA chapter received the State FFA Degree, the highest degree members can receive at state level. These members were: Stacy H., Tanner O., and Jake S. Stacy is the daughter of Machelle and David R. and David H., Tanner is the son of Orin and Tammy O. and Jake is the son of Greg and Mitzi S.
These Putnam County FFA chapter members were three of 724 degree recipients receiving the honor during the State Degree Ceremony at the 80th Missouri FFA Convention. The annual convention was held April 17–18 at the Hearnes Center, in Columbia.
Awarding of the degree is based on a member's Supervised Agricultural Experience Program in agribusiness or production agriculture and leadership ability as demonstrated through involvement in FFA, school and community activities.
The State Degree award charms are sponsored by MFA Inc., Columbia.
Agricultural Education Supervisor Jim Bellis noted that the number of State Degree Recipients is up and the highest ever and that "FFA membership and the number of State FFA Degree recipients have reached an all time record high. The State FFA Degree is the highest recognition a state can award, representing 3 percent of the total Missouri FFA membership per year. Schools, communities and youth continually recognize the outstanding leadership opportunities through FFA and want to be a part."
"Blue Jackets, Bright Futures" was the theme for this year's state FFA Convention. Over 7,500 youth and guests were expected to attend.
The Missouri FFA has 24,137 members representing 311 chapters. The national organization has over 500,000 members representing 7,358 local chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands.
The FFA Mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.
