Delta High School attends the National FFA Convention

The National FFA Convention is the biggest in-school youth convention. 33 attendees from 18 states took part in the very first convention in 1928, and since then the attendance has grown to 65,000 people from around the country.

FFA students from around the nation gather in Indianapolis, Indiana every year to learn about careers in agriculture. The National FFA Convention happens every year, but Delta High School participates every other year. A few selected Delta High School FFA students attended the convention.

High school students Paige Kehmier, Bailey Martinez, John Dexter, Anysia Hovel, Wyatt Kendall, Brooklyn Mininger, Pearl Burruss, Julia Nelson, and Hayley Burwell all attended. 

This convention is an opportunity for FFA students around the country to come together and learn about the opportunities of agricultural life and find colleges they may attend in the future.

At the convention, they have a schedule. “There is a giant career and college expo, so they have different booths from people in the industry and colleges that are there,” said Kendal Bradley, Delta High School’s agriculture teacher.

Every day they attended sessions along with other FFA kids around the world “… which are like giant meetings and they have inspirational speakers and different awards they hand out,” said Bradley. These sessions also had workshops that the students participated in to increase their knowledge about agriculture.

These workshops also improve leadership skills and life skills. “… and their leadership ability. That’s like mainly the convention,” said Bradley. 

This convention was a learning opportunity for all the students who attended. “I learned a lot of career opportunities that I could go into in the future,” said Martinez. 

Other students took advantage of this opportunity to learn about the options available for their future. “I learned about colleges and what colleges have to offer and what college I would like to attend, “ said Nelson. Everyone there seemed to find a college that interested them. 

      They didn’t just attend the expo and the lectures, they also attended several Indiana attractions. “We go on industry tours, so this year we went to a fish hatchery and then we went to a honey farm. And then we went to a horse track, like a racing track, Indiana Downs…” said Bradley.

        Each student had different favorite parts of the trips.  Julia Nelson’s favorite part was the sessions. “The sessions because they were just fun and everything.”

Every year these conventions are different. They have different speakers and go to different places around Indiana. “In years prior we have done tours of feed mills. We’ve done tours of horse farms,” said Bradley. 

The convention was filled with learning opportunities and memorable experiences for the students of Delta High school, and they encourage others to participate in the future. “You should definitely go. It’s a lot of fun. You get to meet a lot of new people and have really cool experiences,” said Martinez.