Concordia FFA Attends National Convention
Recently six
members of the Concordia FFA made the trip to Indianapolis, Indiana
to participate in the 80th National FFA convention. Those
representing Concordia included Rebecca Charbonneau, Paige
Charbonneau, Heath Ramsey, Erynn Cory, and Carlee Baumann, along
with their adult sponsor Michelle Charbonneau and advisor Joe
Fisher.
While in Indianapolis these students had
the opportunity to learn about agriculture all over the country, as
representatives from all 50 states and the territories of Guam and
Puerto Rico were in attendance. In addition to meeting people from
all over the country, the students had the pleasure to tour the
Trader Point Organic dairy and learn about the innovations that
where being made by that company to enter the Organic niche market,
such as developing their own product line of whole milk cheese as
well as yogurts, and designer milks.
Their agriculture experience did not stop
there. They also toured the Integrity BioFuels plant and learned
about the process of turning soybean oil into a product that could
be used in our cars and some of the restrictions with that product.
Did you know that 100% biodiesel will freeze into a gelatin form,
but if you mix it with diesel at 20% it is good to run all year
long?
As an added bonus to all of the agriculture
experience they where able to learn about, these students also
attended many different leadership activities such as the Opening
Session where they heard a speech by keynote speaker Dr. Rick
Rigsby about the most important lessons he has learned from a third
grade drop out. Dr. Rigsby is recognized as one of the most dynamic
speakers in America. His speech both encouraged and rang true in
the minds of the Concordia FFA members.
With all this activity you may ask, did
these students get to do anything fun outside of tours and
leadership? The answer is yes. They also attended a Montgomery
Gentry concert with Danielle Peck opening and a PRCA Extreme Bull
Riding that was recorded to be aired on ESPN on November 13,
2007.
These members would like to thank the
community for all of the support that they have given to the FFA
program in the past years and look forward to working with them in
the future. As our motto says, “Learning to Do, Doing to Learn,
Earning to Live, Living to Serve.”