Six recent Ernest Righetti High School graduates who earned the American FFA Degree will be honored at the 2015 National FFA Convention and Expo in Louisville, Ky., during October.
All of them are working on their college agricultural careers. The group includes Michael Guerra (Fresno State), Ellen Blackwell (Kansas State), Emily Flores (Chico State), Andrew Reade (Cal Poly SLO), Nick Maldonado (Allan Hancock College), and Jessica Wilkin (Hancock).
Less than 1 percent of the FFA’s total membership earns the degree, which is known as the Golden Key. In order to qualify for the FFA’s highest degree, students must first meet the qualifications and submit an application. Some of those qualifications include, but aren’t limited to, investing more than $10,000 into their supervised agricultural experience, 50 hours of non-FFA related community service, and receiving a state FFA degree.
“The FFA teaches you how to work hard to achieve your goals,” Guerra said. “It opens many doors for students and offers opportunities to be involved and be successful no matter what interest you have. At Righetti FFA I was able to serve as a leader, give back to the community, and also become very knowledgeable on the agriculture industry through hands-on experiences raising livestock that I have continued to use in college and life.”
The National FFA Convention and Expo will feature dialogue from National FFA officers, keynote speakers, networking opportunities with many business and industry leaders, and other activities. More than 60,000 FFA members are expected to attend.
This article appears in Jul 9-16, 2015.
