The co-advisers and members of the Clarke Central High School National Future Farmers of America Organization chapter pose on the Macon Coliseum stage at the 98th Georgia FFA Convention in Macon, Ga., on April 24. CCHS senior Quinn Pendley delivered his retiring address as the Georgia FFA’s Northern Region State Vice President at the convention, and valued the experience. “I’ve put in a lot of work into the speech,” Pendley said. “While that is my job, it feels really good, the support you get back from Georgia FFA after giving it, and the people that come up to you and tell you, ‘I’m so grateful that you did this. This is really impactful for me.’” Photo courtesy of the Clarke Central Agricultural Education Facebook page
Members of CCHS’ National FFA Organization chapter returned to Athens, triumphant after attending the 98th Georgia FFA Convention in Macon, Ga., from April 22 to 25.
Twenty-nine members of Clarke Central High School’s National Future Farmers of America Organization chapter climbed off their bus on a Sunday, exhausted and exhilarated after their trip to the 98th Georgia FFA Convention held in Macon, Ga..
At the convention, the members joined thousands of other agricultural education and FFA students across the state from April 22 to 25 to attend a variety of workshops, speeches, and competitions where they could expand and demonstrate their knowledge in different fields, from agriscience to leadership to parliamentary procedure.
“(Sessions are) a great experience for students to see (what) they want to be passionate about and achieve,” retired Georgia FFA’s Northern Region State Vice President Quinn Pendley, a CCHS senior, said. “For me, back in sixth grade, I was looking at (the convention), and I’m like, ‘Oh, man, the (veterinary) science competition seems like something that I could excel at,’ (so) now, (in high school), I went and did that.”
And with great success, Pendley, along with his three other team members, earned a third-place state finish in the Nursery and Landscape Career Development Event. However, they weren’t the only CCHS chapter members to win a significant award.
Along with new knowledge, the team returned to Athens with several Career and Leadership Development Event awards, State Proficiency placings and scholarships. A one FFA chapter out of the hundreds of others in attendance, and an urban one at that, CCHS Career, Technical and Agricultural Education department teacher and FFA co-adviser Levi Carr-Brooks saw the achievements as a triumph for the program.
“I’m super thrilled (about the convention). I think (CCHS FFA has) the hardest-working students in the entire state, students that come from not-your-typical agriculture background,” Carr-Brooks said. “To know that we have students getting recognized among students (where agriculture) is what they are surrounded by all day, every day, is an incredible feeling.”
A gallery of pictures taken during the Clarke Central High School National Future Farmers of America chapter’s trip to the 98th Georgia FFA Convention, which took place from April 22 to 25 in Macon, Ga., is shown. There, thousands of FFA and agriculture students across the state gathered to attend workshops, sessions and competitions, including CCHS FFA member Callie Ivey, a freshman. “This was my first going to (the) state convention. I was very overwhelmed in a good way,” Ivey stated. “There were a lot of people, and it felt very much like a community. Even if you didn’t know everybody, you spoke and interacted with one another.” Photos courtesy of the Clarke Central Agricultural Education Facebook page
Six members of the team also received State FFA Degrees, the highest state-level agricultural degree a FFA member can be awarded, based on the extracurricular hours a student spends on their Supervised Agricultural Experience project.
“Keeping the word ‘agriculture’ alive in (SAE) projects (at CCHS) is difficult, especially (when) finding different projects for students to complete and obtain the number of hours that is needed,” Carr-Brooks said. “The degree is a milestone for these students, (and) we are very proud of (them), as they have all worked tirelessly their FFA career to obtain (the award).”
CCHS freshman and FFA chapter member Callie Ivey attended the state convention for the first time this year and enjoyed bonding with and celebrating her fellow members.
“This year, we brought the most students to (the) state convention that we’ve ever brought. Then, (the students) getting to see the amazing things (at the convention is) part of what’s motivated me to get to this point.”
— Quinn Pendley,
retired Georgia FFA’s Northern Region State Vice President and CCHS senior
“In FFA for Clarke Central, it feels like a family, so when I saw members from our school win awards, we all stood up shouting and clapping,” Ivey stated. “The significance of this event for me was spending time as a group with my fellow members. It’s not every day that we get to spend time all together and just have a moment to be silly.”
However, beyond awards, this convention was especially important for Pendley, after climbing the ranks for the past four years in the CCHS FFA chapter and at the convention. There, he delivered his retiring speech as vice president, “The Distance.”
Listen to Pendley’s speech here.
“(A retiring speech) is a 10 to 15 minute speech where you share some stories and you try and impart some wisdom and motivate the students that are in the audience,” Pendley said. “The session that I gave mine, there were about 7,000 students, and that was really an amazing moment. Seven years of work through the FFA lead up to that.”
As a convention leader, Pendley was proud of organizing and speaking to the convention attendees. But as a graduating senior and a fellow CCHS FFA chapter member, he’s seen his peers’ growing enthusiasm for the program, which he hopes will only grow in the future.
“(Over) the past years, (the CCHS FFA chapter has) just continued to grow, and with that, you get more leadership roles (and) success in events,” Pendley said. “This year, we brought the most students to (the) state convention that we’ve ever brought. Then, (the students) getting to see the amazing things (at the convention is) part of what’s motivated me to get to this point.”
