Princeton and Milaca FFA chapters spent April 21-23 attending the State FFA Convention at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and Minnesota State Fairgrounds. They attended sessions, competed, and received awards for their teams and chapters overall.
Over 4,000 students from across Minnesota attend the event from the 220 chapters in the state.
Princeton High School sent 24 of its members to State and came home with an impressive lineup of awards.
Some of the awards the Princeton chapter received:
- Princeton was ranked 18th, a gold placing, in ranking of chapters, and is headed to Nationals.
- National Chapter Award: Application based on community service, development of members and teaching others about agriculture.
- Community Service Award: Princeton FFA counted up over 3,700 hours this past year and placed second in the state for service to others.
- Ag Literacy (hours spent teaching about Agriculture): Princeton FFA racked up hundreds of hours and reached thousands of people over the year teaching and spreading information about agriculture.
- Peter Skiba and Joseph Kreuser received their Minnesota State Degrees.
- Princeton had five teams attend: Four of those teams were in the top 10, and the fifth team placed in the top 15.
- The horse team placed fifth and got to go on the big stage to get their award, with Michelle Reynolds receiving fourth place.
- Sven Storbakken received fourth place in the Ag Mechanics contest.
Milaca High School sent 28 students to State. Their chapter also came home with a list of awards:
- Three students received Agriculture Proficiency Awards: Anna Kass in ag processing, Avery Beumer in diversified livestock, and Taylor Christensen in beef entrepreneurship.
- Coleton Kiel earned his Minnesota State Degree.
- The soils team ranked silver.
- The horse evaluation team ranked silver.
- The forestry team received sixth place.
- The farm business management team received 10th place.
- The dairy evaluation team ranked silver.
- The ag mechanics team ranked silver.
- The chapter received the National Superior Chapter award.
Q&A with FFA
After returning from the State FFA Convention, four of the Princeton FFA members shared their experiences at state with the Union-Times.
What grade are you in, and how long have you been in FFA? What did you attend the State FFA Convention for?
Peter Skiba: 12th grade student who joined FFA as a freshman. He attended State to receive his State Degree and to compete as a member of the ag mechanics team.
Alexis Hemish: 12th grade student who joined FFA as a freshman. She attended State to play in the State FFA Band as a percussionist.
Sven Storbakken: 10th grade student who joined his freshman year. He attended State to play in the State FFA Band as a trumpet player and to compete as a member of the ag mechanics team.
Joey Kreuser: 12th grade student who joined FFA as a sophomore. He attended State to receive his State Degree and to compete in the fish and wildlife competition.
What was your state experience like?
Skiba: “You get there and you wonder who you’re going to see this time, and get the chance to see all the friends you made from the past. Then that first day, I went to the first session and it was the opening of the state conference. The next day we did our conference. Me and Joey received two awards for the chapter - the gold award and the superior chapter award. That evening me and Joey received our state degrees, which was pretty awesome. The next day we went to the first session and received an award for the ag literacy and agricultural service hours. Then the last session is always filled with emotions because you never know when you will get to see all these fun people again.”
Hemish: “The day we got there, we went to band practice before the first general session. Then I got to go with another band member and we went to the exhibits around the Colosseum while the other teams were competing. Then we went and practiced during the second general session, then we did our concert before the third general session. Then we did a concert between the fourth and fifth general session and attended the fifth session.”
Storbakken: “My state experience was we did the ag mechanics contest the second morning, and it’s really neat seeing like in the band how all these kids come from all around the state. It’s really unique to see all these different chapters come together to listen to all the different things FFA has to offer.”
Kreuser: “My experience was very similar to Peter’s.”
What was your favorite part about attending State? What surprised you about attending this year?
Skiba: “My favorite part was seeing all my friends again that I haven’t seen for a while. One thing that surprised me is how well some people know me and how my name gets around. I guess it’s just a lot of things to take in and to reflect on. It always amazes me how not many people can say they’ve experienced this.”
Hemish: “My favorite part was seeing the retiring addresses from the state officers and the last speech from the public speaker that came. There were a lot more people in the stands this year than there was last year.”
Storbakken: “My favorite experience was meeting all the people that were there and talking tractors and stuff like that. I was surprised by how many people were there and how I was able to make friends and be interconnected to those people.”
Kreuser: “My favorite was getting to talk to friends I’ve met through FFA in the past. I was surprised by how we all come from different backgrounds yet there’s certain things that we all do the exact same.”
What do you enjoy about being in FFA?
Skiba: “I really enjoy the awesome connections I’ve made. One of my friends told me to take every opportunity you can take and you will have a lot of fun and go far.”
Hemish: “I like all the experience I get to experience, all the people I get to meet, and all the cool things you get to do.”
Storbakken: “Kind of the same things, like all the cool people you meet, but I really like doing the contests and hanging out with my friends.”
Kreuser: “All the experiences that I’ve gotten to do. You learn a lot seeing people from all walks of life.”
Seniors, what will you miss about FFA?
Skiba: “I will miss the internal connections of the chapter. It doesn’t stop, it just changes because FFA will always be with you and stay in your heart. It’s sad to think that you might lose your high school connections, but FFA will always be there to support you.”
Hemish: “I’m going to miss how interconnected we are in the chapter.”
Kreuser: “I’m going to miss the people I’ve met in this. I can’t tell you who I had in my freshman math class, but I can tell you just about every person in FFA.”
What are your plans for next year?
Skiba: “I plan to attend Ridgewater Technical College in the fall for dairy management and ag power technician. Then I plan to either do internships on farms or work in the area to save enough money and buy my own farm in the future.”
Hemish: “I plan to go to Bemidji State University to major in wildlife biology and minor in environmental science to work in the Minnesota DNR.”
Storbakken: “I applied for an officer position this year, so I hope to get in office and hopefully be vice president. Then, hopefully I’ll get to be president of the organization to help lead this chapter.”
Kreuser: “I’m going to Central Lake College for conservation officer prep.”
When asked what they wished more people knew about FFA, all four students agreed that they wished more people knew that FFA is for more than just agriculture and that anyone can join for almost anything that interests them.
To learn more about FFA, visit https://www.mnffa.org/.
Reach Chloe Smith at chloe.smith@apgecm.com
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