Charles City FFA makes high marks at national convention

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City FFA class took part in the 95th National FFA Convention & Expo last week in Indianapolis, highlighted by five local FFA members receiving their American FFA Degree, and the chapter being named a national Three-Star Chapter.

Eighteen Charles City students joined more than 70,000 FFA members from across the nation for the convention, where they were able to meet up with other FFA students, take part in workshops, hear from guest speakers, and share information about agriculture in their respective parts of the country.

“Going to the National FFA Convention has been an amazing learning and growing opportunity for me,” said Delaney Ruzicka. “It puts me in situations where I am meeting and talking to new people, learning about agriculture all over the United States, and gaining skills from some of the best leaders in the nation.”

“My favorite part of going to the convention was spending time with my fellow FFA members and advisors,” said Lukas Vance.

The Charles City FFA was chosen to host the Iowa Booth in the FFA Hall of States, highlighting agriculture in different parts of the country. The local chapter was given that honor as part of being named the Supreme FFA Chapter in Iowa at the Iowa FFA Leadership Conference back in April.

Completely planned and organized by the FFA members, the booth highlighted Charles City and how local members of the community contribute to Iowa’s agriculture industry.

“The highlight of the booth was the FFA Plinko Board, which was built by the members,” said FFA Advisor Bret Spurgin.

The convention started on Wednesday, Oct. 26, with the FFA members setting up their booth at the Career Expo. From there they enjoyed the opening session and heard from keynote speaker Tamika Catchings, a former WNBA player, about the importance of being bold.

On Thursday, FFA members Taylor Quade and Jada Litterer gave a presentation about Iowa Agriculture at the FFA Student Showcase, a new event for the convention which gives members a chance to use their speaking skills at a national level.

The Charles City Chapter was also honored on Thursday for being one of the rare chapters in the country be recognized as a three-star chapter. Only 3.3% out of the nearly 9,000 FFA chapters in the country are recognized as such.

On Friday, before closing up the Hall of States, the FFA members were able to explore the NCAA Museum and the Indiana Native American Art Museum.

That evening, the Charles City chapter celebrated as Blake Frascht was recognized as a finalist for the FFA American Star Farmer Award, one of only 16 finalists nationwide. Frascht’s parents, Rod and Amy, were also present to receive their own Honorary FFA American Degrees at the convention.

Finally, on Saturday, the convention wrapped up. Five Charles City FFA members received their America FFA Degree, an honor that fewer than 1% of all FFA members achieve. This year’s recipients were Maxwell Deeter, Bronson Forsyth, Blake Frascht, Tanner Heitz, and Lynn Hoeft.

“It demonstrates the effort FFA members apply towards their supervised agricultural experience and the outstanding leadership abilities and community involvement they exhibited through their FFA career,” said Spurgin.