Ten Mid-Prairie students were recently able to spend a week in Indianapolis for the National Future Farmers of America Convention, and they received high praise for their efforts. The Mid-Prairie FFA was awarded with a two-star rating for the National Chapter application process. This places the Golden Hawks among the top 10% of FFA chapters in the nation. They were given the chance to attend the convention after being recognized as a gold-rated superior chapter in the National Chapter Program at the state convention in March. It was the 20th straight year the chapter has been able to attend the national convention, and Elsa Schmidt, Mid-Prairie Agriculture Instructor and FFA Advisor, is hopeful they’ll be able to attend future conventions as well. She feels the event is a great opportunity for the students to travel and see something bigger than what they experience on a day-to-day basis.

Schmidt says the students enjoyed the convention and she hopes they take away good lessons from the speakers. One of the speakers spoke about perseverance and not giving up on dreams, and she hopes they take those words to heart. Another spoke about how it’s those who work in agriculture’s responsibility to make sure everyone has enough to eat, and she feels that’s an initiative they can bring back to their local chapter and work on moving forward. If any students are interested in joining FFA, Schmidt encourages them to come to one of their monthly meetings to give it a try.