More than 60,000 young people, several thousand of them from Texas, are making a difference in agriculture through their energy, involvement and hard work as FFA students.
They are among those attending the 2016 National FFA Convention in Indianapolis this week. Various activities, events and awards programs are on the agenda for the attendees sporting blue and gold corduroy jackets.
One group in attendance from Central Texas includes two teachers and nine FFA officers from Waco Midway High School.
Agricultural science teacher Makenzy Antis explains the importance of the convention as it relates to her local FFA chapter in Texas.
“We compete at district and state levels. Getting those students here and allowing them to see what it’s like to compete at a national level is one of the reasons why we are here,” she told the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Radio Network. “Another reason is the quality, to show them what it means to be the best. Our students do really well at the state level and we are trying to build them up (to what it takes) to be at the national level.”
The Waco Midway FFA Chapter is receiving the National Chapter Award for accomplishments throughout the year.
“It’s an award that highlights our chapter for things that we’ve accomplished throughout the year as far as community service and acts in our community along with agricultural services that our students perform. And how this works is we are basically evaluated across the state and we are highlighted as one of the top chapters in the state,” Antis said.
Also in attendance is another Texan who is the reigning 2015 National Tractor Restoration champion. Matt Mahler from Fort Worth reflects back on his year of travel and what he has learned from his experience.
“Throughout the year, we’ve been to several large ag expos, including the World Ag Expo at California,” Mahler said. “I think one of the biggest things that it has taught me and shown me over the last year is that the diversity in agriculture kind of opens your eyes to what’s going on around the world.”