NATIONAL FFA CONVENTION
12 Students To Indianapolis
by Matthew Hansen
At 6:30 a.m. on a cold Tuesday, October 23, 12 Pender FFA members departed for Council Bluffs. After arriving, they met a charter bus and spent 13 hours watching movies, sleeping, or doing anything to keep busy while traveling to Indianapolis, Indiana for the 80th National FFA Convention. The Nebraska bus finally arrived at the Sheraton Hotel by 10:00 that night. Throughout the week students either competed in contests or attended demonstrations of other chapters and various leadership workshops.
Trisha Simonson competed in Senior Public Speaking and gave a speech on Xeno Transplantation. Her speech was "Are You Willing To Be Part Pig". Her speech about using pig organs to sustain human life was awarded a bronze at nationals. Hannah Bowder took part in the National FFA Chorus again for a second year in a row. The Pender Dairy Team, which consisted of Tara Baker, Melissa Roeber, Shandi Thomsen, and Kelci Wichman, also received a bronze as a team. Individually Shandi received a silver for judging and Jordan McKay also received a silver for being a dairy handler.
The attending members that were not competing went to different demonstrations to see how other chapters competed. Some contests that Pender members attended were Senior Parliamentarian Procedure, Creed Speaking, Extemporaneous Speaking, Agricultural Procedure (better known as Ag Sales), and Senior Public Speaking.
On Saturday, October 27 three former Pender FFA Members were awarded the American FFA Degree for their past achievements in the FFA. Those three members were Gage Bowder, Nolan Fillipi, and Andrew Gatzemeyer.
After the Nebraska Degrees were awarded by the National officers, the Nebraska bus departed for Council Bluff. Although most people were exhausted and ready for sleep, they still had plenty of energy knowing they were on their way home. The bus stopped every few hours, but the FFA members still returned back in Pender by 11:00 Saturday night.
