South Tama FFA?members attending the National Convention in Indianapolis included First row: Haley Shope, Skyler Steveson, Taylor Lekin and Laney Princehouse Second Row: Garrett Princehouse, Abby Sandvick, Nate Drummer and Derek Novotny. -Photos provided

The South Tama County F F A Chapter made a trip to Indianapolis, Indiana for the 90th National F F A Convention from October 24-28th.

The F F A members that attended the convention were Derek Novotny, Laney Princehouse, Skyler Steveson, Taylor Lekin, Abby Sandvick, Nate Drummer, Garrett Princehouse and Haley Shope, advisor Taylor Zobel and chaperone Lucas Shope.

The first stop on the way to Indianapolis was the Ropp Jersey Cheese farm in Normal, IL. The members were able to tour the facility, learn how they process cheese, and try samples of their homemade cheese curds. A few members were given the opportunity to bottle feed some of their calves. When they finished the tour they continued on to Martinsville, IN.

Wednesday morning the FFA chapter started the day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. They loaded a bus and were taken for a lap around the track where they learned about the history of the track and made a stop at the Start/Finish line where they were able to look around and kiss the bricks. They were then taken back up to the museum and got to look around at different makes and models of winning racecars.

After the speedway, the chapter made their way to downtown Indianapolis where they climbed 330 stairs to the top of the Soldiers & Sailors Monument. The monument is Indiana’s official memorial to the Hoosiers that served in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Frontier Wars and the Spanish-American War.

RIGHT- South Tama FFA?members Haley Shope and Garrett Princehouse were awarded the American Degree, the highest degreee given to FFA?members. They join only four other South Tama?members who have received the honor.

It has come to symbolize the City of Indianapolis and the state of Indiana. After the memorial they headed to Bankers Life Fieldhouse where they attended the first Opening Session of the 90th National FFA Convention. They were greeted by David Townsend, the National FFA President and were able to listen to the keynote speaker Laila Ali. Ali is an undefeated boxing champion, TV host, author and speaker. They finished the evening with a concert by Runaway June and Rascal Flatts.

Day two started out at Ozark Fisheries. Ozark Fisheries is a family owned and operated ornamental goldfish and koi farm. They ship quality koi and goldfish to retailers around the world. During this tour they learned the breeding and hatching processes of fish.

They got to interact with the fish and actually touch them. They also learned how they ship them to retail stores.

The students then headed to the Convention Center where they attended a workshop on picking the right career path, and then made their way to the 2nd General Session. Here they witnessed the Recognition of the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees and listened to Retiring Address of the Central Region Vice President. They finished the night with the Cinch’s World’s Toughest Rodeo.

“I really enjoyed attending the workshop, the leaders gave us some general career areas in the ag industry and then we took a quiz to see which one we would fit into best. It was very educational and I really enjoyed talking with other FFA members about our futures in agriculture,” said Taylor Lekin

The Fourth General session was attended Friday morning followed by time at the Convention Center.

They listened to Mick Ebeling, Motivational Speaker, from Not Impossible Labs give a speech on commitment. There was also a guest appearance by Mandy Harvey from America’s Got Talent who was the deaf singer in the final four in the most recent season.

Eberling helped engineer the technology she uses in order to sing, even though she’s deaf. The rest of the day included workshops, career and college expo, pizza and a trip to Hunter’s Honey Farm. At Hunter’s Honey Farm they toured the facility, learned about all seven of the products we receive from bees and were able to bottle their own honey to take home as a souvenir. While the Chapter was at the Honey Farm. Two of our members attended their American Degree Recognition Dinner as well.

On Saturday, October 28, 2017, two of South Tama FFA members, Garrett Princehouse and Haley Shope were presented with the highest degree given to FFA members, the American Degree.

The American Degree is awarded to members who have demonstrated the highest level of commitment to FFA and made significant accomplishments in the supervised agricultural experiences (SAEs).

This award is given to less than 1 percent of all FFA members in the country.

In addition to the degree, each recipient receives a gold American FFA degree key. Requirements to receive this degree are having received the State FFA degree, been an active member for the past 3 years, have participated in Chapter and State level activities, have been graduated from high school for at least 12 months and have participated in at least 50 hours of unpaid community service.

They also need to have a scholastic record of “C” or better and have in operation and have maintained records to substantiate an outstanding SAE program.

There are only four former members of the South Tama FFA Chapter to ever receive the American FFA Degree; formerly named The American Farmer Degree, LaVerne Novotny 1963-1964, Gary Hoskey 1965-1966, Terry Goodhart 1976-1977 and Joe Mattingly 1979-1980.

The Chapter members that attended National Convention, their advisor Taylor Zobel and chaperone Lucas Shope along with the recipients parents, Chad and Angie Princehouse and Stacey and Tod Zeman, were there to witness this event.