11 MU Students serve as official delegates to the 81st National FFA Convention
by Beverley Kreul, posted Nov. 7, 2008
Eleven students helped decide the future direction of the National FFA Organization at the 81st National FFA Convention. Attracting more than 50,000 members and guests, it’s one of the world’s largest annual student conventions.
Twenty delegates from all over Missouri, including 11 from MU, represented the Missouri FFA Association. This included agricultural education majors Megan Westhoff from Princeton, Jared Henderson from Salsibury, Jacob Thompson from Silex, Shane Kinne from Eagleville, Aimme Gutshall from Trenton, Kabel Oaks from Grundy County; plant science major Brandon Thiel from Marshall; biological engineering major Dustin Mareth from Purdy; agricultural economics major Sarah Downing from Warrensburg; animal science major Seth Lee from Couch; and me, agricultural journalism major Beverley Kreul from Republic. We joined other FFA members in conducting the business of the National FFA Organization during special sessions through out the convention.
Closely reflecting the operation of the U.S. government, we as delegates were afforded the opportunity to experience government in action. The experience began this summer, with the State President’s Conference. During this event Walter Redden and I, along with two FFA state officers from each state, discussed issues that needed to be addressed at the convention. Those issues were forwarded to the full-delegate body during the 81st National FFA Convention. Based on population of FFA members in the National FFA Organization, 475 members of the FFA were representing the organization as delegates.
“It was a great experience being able to attend this year’s convention and meet at least one person from every state in the United States,” Henderson said. “I feel like I have been a part of something historical by participating in the delegate process.”
At the convention, we broke into committees, heard testimony on five different issues and addressed the whole delegate body with their findings. All the delegates then debated multiple issues including the addition of a goat proficiency, a type of class project students can have, and increasing the cost of dues for FFA members. The next step will be to forward the issues and delegate recommendations to the National FFA Board of Directors who will address them in January.
The National FFA Organization, formerly known as the Future Farmers of America, is a national youth organization of 507,763 members. All members are preparing for leadership and careers in the fields of science, business and technology in the agriculture industry. These students are part of 7,439 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, according to the 2008-2009 Official FFA Manual.
“This is a very exciting time to be an FFA member,” Downing said. “We are only 2,000 members short of having a record breaking membership.”
The National FFA Organization changed to its present name in 1988, in recognition of the growth and diversity of agriculture and agricultural education. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education, according to the Official FFA Handbook.
