RAPID CITY, S.D. – Forty-three South Dakota FFA members, representing 18 chapters across the state, will receive the prestigious American FFA Degree – the highest degree attainable in the National FFA Organization.
Three members from the Rapid City Stevens chapter in Rapid City will be recognized: Elliot Hendrix, Ethan Hendrix and Amara Roland. This acknowledgment highlights the commitment to agricultural education within the Black Hills region of South Dakota.
The American FFA Degree recognizes members who have shown the highest level of commitment to FFA and achieved significant accomplishments in their Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAEs). Eligibility requirements include earning and productively investing at least $7,500, or earning and productively investing at least $1,500 and working 2,250 hours beyond scheduled school hours through their SAEs. Recipients are seen as true leaders in the agriculture industry.
The recipients will be recognized during the 98th National FFA Convention on Saturday, November 1, during the 7:30 a.m. EST session. All sessions will be broadcast on RFD-TV.
Other South Dakota recipients include:
- Bridgewater-Emery: Carson Weber, Aaron Wollmann
- Canton: Andrea Miller, Jordan Van De Stroet
- De Smet: Connor Johnson
- Dells: Audrey Cox, Luke Geraets
- Deubrook Area: Ellie Olsen
- Doland: Avery Miles
- Ethan: Michael Freeman
- Harrisburg: Keaton Johnson, Halle Swenson
- Howard: John Callies, Hailey Kizer
- Lemmon: Dara Bauer, Shannon Gebhart
- McCook Central: Owen Alley, Elliott Chase, Vivian Koepsell, Derek Schock, Mara Schock, Haden Stoffel
- Milbank: Raul Berrones Pedraza
- Miller: Maya Howard
- Parker: Cash Voegele
- Tri-Valley: Erika Beck, Brady Braaten, Tyler Groenwold, Nolan Schmidt, Derek Vanasselt
- Wessington Springs: Carter Gaikowski, Abigail Kolousek, Carissa Scheel
- West Central: Jazelle Jarding, Jude Jarding, Sydney L Neel, Lexi Nichols, Jocelyn K Nilson, Andrew Rick, Kelsey R Vockrodt
The South Dakota FFA Association is a statewide organization of 6,536 agricultural education students in 113 chapters. It is part of the National FFA Organization, which serves 1,027,273 student members across the nation.