Abbotsford FFA attends National FFA Convention

Six members of the Abbotsford FFA chapter and their advisor attended the 94th annual National FFA Convention, which was held from Oct. 27 through Oct. 30, in Indianapolis, Ind.

Those attending the event included Aaron Dukelow, Khloe Frahmann, Abby Hovland, Jesse Kulesa, Halie VaLuven and advisor Mr. John Slipek. The members traveled to the conference with students and advisors from Amherst, Athens, Gilman, Medford and Mosinee on Krug Bus Company from Medford.

While traveling to the convention, the group had the opportunity to tour Heartland Farms in Hancock and the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Heartland Farms is a large 27,000 acre farm where 8,000 acres of potatoes are grown and the Shedd Aquarium, a large indoor aquarium, is located near Lake Michigan, and has in exhibit over 32,000 types of fish and other aquatic life from all over the world.

While at the convention, students had the opportunity to attend two general sessions under the leadership of the six national FFA officers.

Each session featured guest speakers, award presentations, entertainment by the national FFA band and chorus members, recognition of sponsors and student achievement recognition.

The Career Expo featured many companies promoting their products, and colleges offering information on their programs. Also, many workshops were held on topics related to FFA activities.

The FFA is the largest youth organization at the high school level where students from grades 7 until age 19 can participate. Over 60,000 members, parents and guests attended the convention this year, which was held at the Lucas Oil Stadium and Convention Center.

Students in the FFA can participate in activities at the local, state and national level. Students from every state were in attendance at the convention.

There were many highlights at the convention, with the biggest highlight being Cortney Zimmerman from the Spencer FFA selected as the Central Region National Vice President.

Zimmerman served as state vice-president this past year, and chose to run for the office where only six students throughout the United States are selected to represent the entire FFA membership, which consists of over 725,000 members.

Zimmerman will have a busy year representing the FFA, by giving speeches, making decisions, travelling, attending state conventions, meeting members from across the United States and planning for next year’s 95th convention.