Ten members of the East Knox FFA recently attended the 95th annual National FFA Convention held Oct. 26-29 at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis Convention Center and Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis where they attended sessions, received awards, listened to motivational speakers, attended workshops and took tours.
The opening session was highlighted by the National FFA President from Washington, Cole Baerlocher, who chaired the session. The keynote speaker was Tamika Catchings, a retired professional basketball player who spent her entire 15-year career with the Indiana Fever. Catchings is a four-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. She created the Catch the Stars Foundation in spring 2004 to help disadvantaged youth achieve their dreams.
The National FFA officers each gave their retiring addresses at various sessions. The six new 2022-2023 national officers were announced at the final session on Saturday, Oct. 29, with Andrew Seibel of Virginia elected as national president.
The members attended the Brett Young concert at Gainbridge Fieldhouse as part of the convention and watched the Cinches World’s Toughest Rodeo at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
The East Knox FFA state-winning Environmental/Natural Resources team competed Wednesday and Thursday at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and attended the awards ceremony on Friday, where they placed 13th in the nation.
The National FFA Convention had over 65,000 FFA members, parents and guests in attendance, marking the ninth time of breaking the 60,000 attendance mark. The National FFA Convention provides FFA members the opportunity to reach the goals of the National FFA mission statement, which is to provide premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.
