FFA Members Earn Honors at 89th Texas FFA Convention

Pictured are (from left): Gracie Clifton, Jaylee Sims, Carsen Vickers, Madison McMillian, Maddie Russell, and MaKayla Mayo.

August 11, 2017 - Thousands of Texas FFA members converged on Corpus Christi, Texas, this year during the week of July 9-14th to attend the 89th annual Texas FFA Convention.

Center FFA had eight students make the trip to convention to participate in workshops, business sessions, the FFA state rodeo, and to receive awards they earned on the state level.

On Sunday July 9, the FFA state rodeo kicked off with Blake Griffin and Whitlee Reed representing Center FFA.  Both students competed well and made Center FFA proud.  Whitlee Reed competed in barrel racing and, at the time of publication the overall results have not been posted from the rodeo.  Blake Griffin made it to the short-go (final round) in team roping and placed 2nd in the standings.  He and his partner, Shane Martin, had placed 2nd in both the first and second rounds of the rodeo.  They would not catch in the short go but were in the top ten competitors in the state.  Blake Griffin represented Center FFA well in the rodeo and plans to return next year to compete for his senior year.  

The other six students in attendance for the actual convention were Makayla Mayo, Carsen Vickers, Gracie Clifton, Madison McMillian, Maddie Russell, and Jaylee Sims.  All six were able to participate as voting delegates for our chapter and did an excellent job representing us.  

Madison McMillian, a senior this year at Center High School, also received her Lone Star Degree while at state convention.  The lone star degree is the highest state level degree that can be awarded to members.  To qualify they must have been involved in FFA for at least 2 years, had a successful supervised agriculture project, hold a greenhand and chapter degree, and have taken four semesters of ag courses after the freshman year.

Texas State FFA Convention is the highlight of the year for many students and includes public speaking competitions, Spanish creed speaking competition, state business to be taken care of, state level awards for both chapters and students and even a concert night.  Our students enjoyed the opportunity to meet new people from across the state, network with colleges and experience the business sessions conducted by fellow students using parliamentary procedure.  

If you would like more information about Center FFA and Jr. FFA or how to become a part of this organization, please contact an ag teacher at the high school.

Submitted by Ashley Cooper, Ag Science Teacher, Center High School.

Pictured are (from left): Jaylee Sims, MaKayla Mayo, Maddie Russell, Texas FFA Foundation board member Victor Guerra, Madison McMillian, Gracie Clifton, Carsen Vickers.