Day 1 of the Indiana FFA State Convention is in the books as students from around Indiana made their way to Benton Central High School Monday morning for their Career Development Events.
“For example, food science and veterinary science, they get a chance to take what they’ve learned in the classroom all year and put it into a contest,” says Ethan Wolheter with the Prairie Heights FFA Chapter. “So, not only are they learning those things, but they get a chance to compete and put their knowledge to the test.”
Wolheter is on the “Convention Crew” this week, helping things run smoothly as he is one of twelve candidates seeking a state officer position.
“I think it’s always kind of been in the back of my head to be a state officer ever since I joined FFA my freshman year. I thought that was kind of neat thing. I didn’t really know much about it, this whole state officer process, but last year another person from our chapter, Conner Keeslar, he made it onto the state officer team, and so getting to kind of see what his year was like and the involvement he had in it and being a state officer kind of just showed me a little more about it, and that kind of helped me finalize, hey, this is something I’d like to do.”
Wolheter says he joined FFA because of family tradition.
“Freshman year I moved to Prairie Heights High School where my dad had gone to high school and he was involved in FFA when he was in school. His dad, my grandpa, was also involved in FFA when he was in school. Both of them did lots of contests, competed on various levels, and they just learned a lot from it and both of them have been involved in the agricultural industry at some point in their life. And I definitely want to be involved in the agricultural industry also. And I knew that FFA helps you with your agricultural knowledge, but it also helps with leadership skills, and that’s something that’s been instilled as a huge value in my life and through my family. And just hearing all the stories my dad told me from FFA, I knew that it was an opportunity I can’t miss out on.”
We’ll have much more coverage throughout the week from the Indiana FFA Convention on radio and on social media, including the state officer announcement Thursday afternoon. McDonald’s of Indiana is a proud supporter of this year’s coverage of the Indiana FFA Convention and is excited to usher in the next generation of Hoosier farmers!
