Mizzou FFA Alumni members help out
at National FFA Convention

Melissa Buckman, Corner Post Staff

Nov. 2, 2002 - Around 40 College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources students drove to Louisville, Ky., to work at the 75th National FFA Convention Oct. 29-Nov. 2. The students, all part of the MU FFA Alumni chapter, assisted in the FFA Mega Store in the convention's shopping mall.

The students alternated six-hour morning shifts and seven- to eight-hour evening shifts. Their responsibilities included folding shirts, keeping the store straightened and running cash registers.

"It was really neat (working at Convention) because I got to meet a lot of great FFAers," Laura Shafer, agricultural journalism major, said.

Although they were not paid for the job, the workers did receive a 50 percent discount for all products in the store.

The convention set a new attendance record of 51,025 FFA members present.

On Halloween, MU FFA Alumni members stuck out in the large crowd of students wearing FFA uniforms. They wore costumes, including tiger ears, whiskers, Tinkerbell and a French maid.

"It was interesting to see how the students reacted to us bring dressed up while they were all in their own matching costume," Julie Mette (a.k.a. Tinkerbell), food science major, said.

During their time at the convention, the CAFNR students met high school students from all over the United States and also some from Puerto Rico. They also had opportunities to tour the career show, which featured hundreds of exhibitors, and to attend concerts and leadership sessions.

National FFA is the largest youth group in the country with more than 460,000 members. It was founded in 1928 by a group of students in Kansas City. It is an organization that focuses its attention on leadership and career development in agriculture for high school students.


Story originally posted 11/13/02

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