FFA State Degree Recipients

4 GCMS Students earn FFA State Degrees

GCMS

April 19, 2023

Four GCMS FFA students will receive their State Degree at the FFA State Convention in June. Congratulations to:

  • Emily Fehr
  • Ryan Carley
  • Brynn Boundy
  • Charles Francis

The Illinois State FFA Degree is the highest degree a member can receive from the Illinois FFA. It is awarded for production, agribusiness, agriculture placement and agriscience programs, or  the determination, work, and consistency of their SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) project(s) that they have been working on since freshman year. To be eligible to receive the State FFA Degree from the Illinois Association, the member must meet the following minimum qualifications:

  • Have received the Chapter FFA Degree.
  • Have been an active FFA member for at least two years (24 months) at the time of receiving the State FFA Degree.
  • While in school, have completed the equivalent of at least two years (360 hours) of systematic school instruction in agricultural education at or above the ninth-grade level.
  • The applicant must have records of a Supervised Agricultural Experience Program that includes at least two (2) calendar years.
  • A student after entering Agricultural Education must have earned at least $1,500 or worked at least 750 hours in excess of scheduled class time in a supervised agricultural experience program.
  • A student after entering Agricultural Education must have productively invested at least $1,000.
  • Demonstrate leadership ability by:
    • Performing ten procedures of parliamentary law.
    • Giving a six-minute speech on a topic relating to agriculture or the FFA.
    • Serving as an officer, committee chairperson or participating member of a chapter committee.
  • Have participated in the planning and completion of the chapter Program of Activities.
  • Have participated in at least five different FFA activities above the chapter level.
  • The member's local chapter must certify that it has held not less than twelve (12) meetings during the preceding twelve (12) month period.
  • Be in the upper 40 percent of the class in scholarship or have an average of a 3.5 on a 5.0 scale or 2.5 on a 4.0 scale in all school subjects during the entire period of application for the State FFA Degree.
  • Have participated in at least 25 hours of community service activities that are not a part of the member’s supervised agricultural experience hours.

Once this is completed by the student, it goes through review completed by Mr. Reale, then onto the section committee of Ag. Teachers. The section committee then reviews the applications and conducts interviews of all applicants. Approved applications are then submitted to the Illinois FFA Center where a State Review Committee will complete a final examination of all recommended candidates and their applications for the State FFA Degree and may disqualify any candidate for the degree who does not meet minimum qualifications.

A few other interesting facts about the FFA State Degree program:

  • There are a total of 359 Current Agriculture Education Departments in Illinois.
  • There are a total of 35,805 Agriculture Students in Illinois.
  • This year, there are a total of 559 State Degrees being awarded.
  • This is about 1.5% of students who are being awarded this degree because of their time, dedication, and commitment to better themselves in pursuing workplace and leadership, setting them apart from other students when it comes time to pursue a career.

Congratulations to our State Degree recipients! You make us #Falconproud!