News : National Convention: National Chapter Award, American Degrees for VSHS FFA

VS FFA members visited many unique sites during their annual trip to the FFA Convention.

On October 28th, 2015, fifteen Vinton-Shellsburg FFA Chapter members and six chaperones loaded up three vans at 5:00 am to leave for Louisville, Kentucky where the 88th National FFA Convention was held. On the way to Kentucky the members made a small detour so that they could go to Fair Oaks Dairy Adventure in Indiana.

The tour was around 4 hours and gave the members the time to experience the one of the largest dairy farms as well as seeing what modern pig farming involves. It was an amazing adventure that the students went on and all had a blast seeing the animals as well as going on the rope course.

The next day, Thursday the 29th, started the members three days at convention. The Vinton-Shellsburg FFA Members went to the first session of the National FFA Convention, which contained Keynote Speaker Rick Rigsby. This man is a motivational speaker and really motivated everyone in the audience to listen to there “mama, daddy, and ag instructor.”

The rest of the day the members spent time in the convention hall; shopping in the mall, going through the career fair, and exploring different workshops that were held throughout the day. The members even got to watch Katie Isbell (V-S FFA President) and Drew Wiley (V-S FFA Vice President) walk across stage to accept the National Chapter Award.

Thursday night the members got to enjoy a Kip Moore and Clare Dunn concert, but it was a late night with another early morning the next day.

Friday the members attending the morning session were members listened to their second keynote speaker, Amberley Snyder. Amberley is a motivational speaker talking about the challenges that she has had to overcome after a car accident left her paralyzed. The members also got the chance to listen to Stephen McBride’s Retiring Address.

Instead of spending the entire day at convention the members had the chance to go on another tour. This tour was at Barton, a bourbon factory in Kentucky. It was a great experience for everyone that had the opportunity to go because they had the chance to learn how the bourbon was made, the difference between bourbon and whiskey, and how they store the bourbon.

After the tour the members got something to eat and made it back to convention just in time for the last keynote speaker. The last keynote speaker was Brad Montague, the creator of Kid President. The audience went wild as he discussed the choices everyone gets to make in like. The three choices are to choose to be awesome, to choose people over things, and to choose joy. It was an inspiring speech on how to be the good in the world and to remember to always look on the bright side of every situation.

The last day of convention was spent in Freedom Hall watching the American Degree Recipients go up on stage. This year, the Vinton-Shellsburg FFA Chapter had four American Degree Recipients: Abby Beahm, Dillion Brummer, Kyle Henkle, and Caleb Svoboda. When the Degree Ceremony was done the member got back on to the road to be home by 7 pm that night.

Overall it was a great four days in Kentucky. The trip inspired students to be the best that they can be and to be the change in the world, as well as helping them increase their knowledge in different agricultural fields.