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 Top to bottom: Luke Brill, Jake Davis and Brett Sheets. Three North Union FFA Members earn the coveted American FFA Degree By James Anderson The American FFA Degree is the highest degree of membership which a member can attain, and only about one half of one percent of the 500,000+ national membership of the organization attains this high honor. This final step in the FFA Degree system encourages students to grow and achieve personally toward establishing themselves in an agricultural career. Attaining the American FFA Degree requires a solid commitment to agriculture and FFA. The American FFA Degree recipients were recognized at the 81st National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana on Saturday, October 28th. Each received a special certificate in a leatherette frame and the coveted Gold Key, symbolic of this high degree of membership. Recipients were also honored at a reception held to recognize the achievements of these exceptional members. The recognition was sponsored as a special project of the National FFA Foundation by Case IH; Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. and National FFA Foundation. To attain the degree, the members had to earn or invest at least 7500 dollars from their Supervised Agricultural Experience projects and be actively involved in their local FFA program. The members also had to meet thirty other state and national requirements to qualify. Fewer than one in 200 FFA Members advance through their local chapters and state FFA degree programs to earn the American FFA Degree.
Luke Brill, son of Gary Brill and Becky Brill, had Supervised Agricultural projects that included raising market hogs, home improvement, job placement at his family farm and Parrott Implement Company. In the FFA, Luke was involved in the career developments events of agronomy, rural soils, general livestock, tractor trouble shooting, and farm business management. He attended both national and state FFA conventions and the Washington Leadership Conference. Luke was part of the 2005 state winning agronomy team, placing 1st in the state and was 7th individual nationally where the team placed second. Luke continued his excellence in FFA by earning 2nd place at state tractor trouble shooting contest, 6th in farm business management, and 11th in general livestock CDE’s. Luke served the chapter as FFA Treasurer and Sentinel. Luke was also active in many school and community- related organizations such as varsity football, member of National Honors Society, North Union band and student council. Luke is continuing his education at The Ohio State University majoring in agriculture engineering.
Jake Davis, son of Butch and Luanne Davis, had Supervised Agricultural projects that included raising steers, production of soybeans and job placement at Davis Farms and Kale Marketing. Jake was involved in the agronomy contests, rural soils contests, small engine contest and attended both national and state FFA conventions. Jake was part of the 2004 state winning Agronomy Team, placing 1st individual in the state and won 10th individual in the nation. He also earned 5th place in the rural soils CDE and 2nd in small engines CDE. Jake served the FFA as Student Advisor in 2005 and 2006. Jake was also active in many school and community- related organizations such as ski club, prom committee and office aid. Jake is continuing to work for the Ohio Department of Transportation and working at Davis Family Farms.
Brett Sheets, son of Jim and Paula Sheets, had Supervised Agricultural projects that included raising market hogs, 13 acres of soybeans, 11.4 acres of wheat, and 10.6 acres of corn. In the FFA, Brett was involved in the Washington Leadership Conference, agronomy CDE, rural soils CDE, farm management CDE and attended both national and state FFA conventions. Brett was part of the 2004 State Winning Agronomy Team, placing 2nd individual in the state and at national he won 4th individual. Brett was also active in many school and community- related organizations such as varsity football, and baseball. He was a member of National Honors Society. Brett is continuing his education at The Ohio State University majoring in agriculture. |