Olympia FFA attends 2021 National Convention

Recently 12 Olympia FFA members traveled to the 94th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Those that attended all three days included: Kailey Little, Kari Simpson, Tarah Hilt, Isabelle Forrest, Brooke Rogers, Cheyenne Hanlin, Brandon Wood, Reed Naughton, Anna Kindred, Thea Nienhaus, Aime Witham, and Libby Shaffer.

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FFA members attended two general sessions, a student workshop that interested them, explored the career and college fair, visited the FFA shopping mall and took in some of the sites of Indianapolis. The members attended the opening session where they heard from speakers like the United States Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, and key-note speaker Courtenay DeHoff.

Each day FFA members got the opportunity to learn about businesses and were able to talk to colleges with good agriculture programs in the career and college fair.

One evening the group traveled to Hannah’s Haunted Acres. There the members rode on a haunted hayrack ride, walked through several haunted houses and enjoyed the scares of a lifetime.

FFA members not only learned about agriculture and leadership but also about Indianapolis itself. One morning the group was able to tour the NCAA Hall of Champions. They were also able to tour the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum and track.

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According to Olympia FFA advisor Bryce Hoffman the Speedway tour was a memorable experience.

“Everyone in attendance was able to kiss the bricks!,” wrote Hoffman.

FFA members were able to attend workshops that were focused on more specific ideas like motivation or how to become a veterinarian. The Olympia FFA Chapter treated the 14 attendees to a steak dinner at Bynum's Steakhouse.

In their final session they heard from Miriam Hoffman, Eastern Region Vice President, who is also from Illinois. Her message was, “Make Changes that Honor Tradition.” The speech motivated students to strive to make the world better, whether it is through agriculture or anything else.

Reed Naughton stated, “The retiring address was really inspiring because we are all here together as part of a big family to make the most of our abilities.”

Many of the Olympia students thought the National FFA Convention was an awesome experience for FFA members to grow as leaders and bring these messages from the speakers back to their chapter.

This article originally appeared on Lincoln Courier: Ag students from Olympia attend National FFA Convention