2007 National FFA Convention
... recently attended
by Justin Frank
November 01, 2007
The Creighton FFA Chapter has recently taken a trip to the 80th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. They rented two vans to drive to Indianapolis. Attending from Creighton included Alex Asher, Austin Baldwin, Brennan Becker, Kyle Berglund, Becca Best, Andy Doerr, Josh Foster, Andrew Largen, Heath Lemke, Jordan Morril, Collin Neumann, Macenzy Oberg, Karlene Sukup, Derek Tyler, Holden Wetzler, Samantha Wetzler, Sara Wilmes, and their sponsors and van drivers, Mr. Sukup, Mr. Boelter, and Jane Wilmes. Richard Bartos also traveled with them, even though he is out of school. The Ag Mechanics Team, Garrett Carpenter, Austin Pahl, Keith Mecke, and Shane Strope, flew out to Indianapolis to meet up with them. They left Tuesday morning and remained there for five days. On the way out to Indianapolis, they toured the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Once reaching Indianapolis, they toured the National FFA Center. The majority of the events taking place happened in the RCA Dome, where the Colts practice, and the Conseco Fieldhouse, where the Pacers practice. While there they attended ESPN Extreme Bulls and a Montgomery Gentry Concert. Sessions that they attended included an opening session on Wednesday, Blue Jackets, Bright Futures, and listened to the keynote speaker, Rick Rigsby. On Thursday they attended another session titled Our Future of Belief which featured “Stars Over America” in which they watched Richard Bartos get his Star in Agricultural Placement, where he was in the top four in the Nation. Richard’s parents Rick and Patty Bartos attended this session. The Ag Mechanics team competed on Wednesday and Thursday, attended a Friday morning Awards Breakfast where they found out that the team placed 10th overall and won a MIG Welder. Individual results were: Garrett Carpenter-gold, Austin Pahl-gold, Shane Strope-gold, and Keith Mecke-silver. They also attended another session of Friday titled Our Future of Honor with keynote speaker Chad Hymas, and another titled Our Future of Vision with keynote speaker Henry Winkler. Saturday they attended Our Future of Achievement and watched the American FFA Degree Recipients receive their awards. Recipients included Richard Bartos, Grant Doerr, Brett Fuchtman, Jeremy Fuchtman, Taylor Hanefeldt, Kasey Wagner, and Brad Jorgensen. Parents attending were Kathy, Kari, and Cory Wagner, Bernard, Joan, and Annie Jorgensen. Rick and Patty Bartos received their Honorary FFA Degrees as well. The students attended a workshop while at Indianapolis titled Inbox Overload! That addressed some of the major communications that are readily available and the best ways to use them meaningfully. The FFA National Agricultural Career Show allowed students to explore agricultural careers, colleges, various companies, as well as the U.S. Armed Services.
