Future Farmers of America students earn state degrees

(Photo Left to Right) Jessie Eastman, Emma Drivdahl, Ally Newton, Tristan Case, Maddie Fenton

Five students have earned their state FFA degrees which will be awarded at the Washington FFA State Convention in May. These students are Maddie Fenton, Tristan Case, Emma Drivdahl, Jessie Eastman and Ally Newton. This requires students to have earned their greenhand and chapter FFA degree, be enrolled in at least two years consecutively of agriculture education classes, be active FFA members and invest/earn at least $1,000 from their Supervised Agriculture Experience Project (SAE). All students enrolled in agriculture education courses must complete an SAE project, and projects can vary in size, scope and type. These students can apply for their American FFA degree in the next two years. The American FFA degree is the highest degree and award an FFA member can attain.

Maddie and Tristan also won awards for their SAE projects at the state FFA level. Both students completed an application which details their SAE project including goals, challenges, lessons learned, impacts for their future, connections to AFNR education standards and detailed financial records of their project. Maddie placed first in the Goat Production category, and Tristan placed first in Diversified Agriculture Production. Both received cash awards and will submit their applications to the National FFA Organization. The applications will be scored in June and if they place in the top four in the nation in their category, they can attend the National FFA Convention in October to compete for awards at the national level.

Maddie is also a finalist for the Washington FFA Star in Agribusiness award. This award is also based on her SAE award and her state degree application. The star awards are the highest honor for FFA members at the state level. Maddie can also compete for the Star in Agribusiness Award at the National level, if she is chosen as the state winner.