Greenville FFA Attends National Convention

Recently eight members of the Greenville FFA attended the 85^th National Convention with their advisor, Mr. John Guttadore, and chaperone, Luann Mann. The convention was held in Indianapolis, Indiana for the 8^th year.

The theme for this year’s convention was GROW. Students experienced, through different key note speakers, how to grow in our chapters, communities, states, country and world. Campbell’s Soup is partnered with the National FFA organization. They’ve said, “FFA members help keep good things growing in more than 300 essential careers in science, business and technology of agriculture-our nation’s largest employer. Deeply rooted in the best agricultural traditions, FFA members have a profound respect for the land and those who work it.” You can visit their website at www.helpgrowyoursoup.com/ffa.

Students got to listen to several national officers speak and other great speakers throughout the convention. Members visited the National FFA Career Show where they could visit colleges, agribusinesses, and other educational booths. Many of the booths had hands on experiences such as welding, rope climbing, or science experiments while others had fun activities such as trivia contests or sumo wrestling. There were also companies where members could sample their products such as Spam, Florida Citrus and apples, Wisconsin Cheeses and sausages, and others. Members also had the opportunity to meet with the representative and sampled products from one of the companies that we work with on our annual Citrus Sale- Florida Farm Bureau.

Thomas Shaw had the opportunity to work with the Ohio Ag Net as a student reporter for the convention. Shaw said, “It was a huge honor working for our local radio station, The Tiger, to get to work with the Ohio Ag Net in such a large, incredible event.” During the time Thomas was working with them he filmed and recorded recaps of each session along with interviews of several students from Ohio about their experiences with the convention.
 Members attending the 85^th National FFA Convention form the Greenville FFA Chapter included Thomas Shaw, Trevor Mann, Kyle Huston, Patrick Garber, Emily Vanhorn, Rachael Schmitmeyer, Catherine Gibson, and Ciara Byrd.