Jacksonville FFA students earn top state and national honors

Morgan County families are seeing Jacksonville High School’s FFA chapter do more than hand out medals. Addie Taylor and Alex Lansaw earned the chapter’s highest honors, putting Jacksonville students into elite state and national company and showing how the program continues to produce agriculture leaders from inside the community.

Taylor earned the State FFA Degree, the highest honor from the Illinois Association FFA. The distinction goes to only about 2 to 3 percent of Illinois members and will be recognized at the Illinois State FFA Convention in Springfield in June. To qualify, students must already hold the Chapter FFA Degree, have at least two years of active membership, complete at least two years of agricultural education with a supervised agricultural experience, meet SAE benchmarks, participate in leadership and chapter activities, and complete 25 hours of community service.

Lansaw received the American FFA Degree, the top honor from the National FFA Organization and one earned by fewer than 1 percent of members nationwide. He will be recognized at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis in October. National FFA says recipients must hold a State FFA Degree, complete three years of active membership, pursue secondary agricultural education, maintain an outstanding SAE program, show community service, leadership ability and scholastic achievement.

The chapter’s younger members also filled out the awards list, underscoring the depth of Jacksonville’s program. Brayden Richardson was named Star Greenhand, a recognition for strong initiative in the first year of participation. Carsyn Delong and Abby White received Blue Jackets, Gold Standards awards, which honor students who show dignity, leadership, compassion and a strong work ethic. Braden Hutchison earned the Fortschneider Agriculture Award, named for former Jacksonville High School agriculture teacher Bill Fortschneider and tied to his passion for agriculture.

Jacksonville also awarded Greenhand Degrees to first-year members Kole Law, Kruz Law, Eva Jenkins, Brooke White, Austyn Lakamp, Grayce Chambers, Sophia Tobin, Beckham Oldnettel, Spencer Vedder, Wyatt Conover, John Harper, Emrick Davidsmeyer, Lexi Frost and Lily Jones, along with Richardson. The range from Greenhand to state and national degrees shows a chapter that is building its own pipeline, one step at a time.

Jacksonville High School lists FFA as one of its student clubs and identifies Mark Dyer as the advisor. The next milestones are already on the calendar, with the 98th Annual Illinois FFA State Convention set for June 9-11 at the Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield and the national convention scheduled for Oct. 21-24 in Indianapolis, where the American Degree ceremony is set for Saturday, Oct. 24.