National convention in Indianapolis deemed a success in 2022

Six members of the Abbotsford FFA Chapter attended the 95th National FFA convention. The convention was held October 25 - 29 at the Lucas Oil Stadium and Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Ind.

Those attending were Kara Larson, Khloe Frahmann, Sophie Kulesa, Jack Schindler, Marcus VanLuven, Landen Ploeckelman and Advisor Ms. Jillian Tyler. The members traveled to the National FFA convention with Medford, Colby, Mosinee, Gilman and Athens FFA Chapters on a bus from Krug Bus Service of Medford.

While traveling to the national convention, the group had the opportunity to tour Fair Oaks Farms in Indiana. At Fair Oaks, the members of the FFA had the opportunity to tour the pig facilities learning the day to day operations of raising pigs. The students were able to learn about the importance of biosecurity on farms as well as other factors that contribute to a successful operation such as nutrition, genetics and animal handling.

We arrived at the Lucas Oil Stadium Thursday morning. The entire bus attended the opening session where we were able to watch Wisconsin FFA’s very own Cheryl Zimmerman serve as the National FFA advisor. Abbotsford FFA also attended Session Three where Courtney Zimmerman (Spencer, WI FFA), Central Region vice president, delivered her moving retiring address. Friday morning we attended the Fourth General Session watching the retiring address of Mallory White, Eastern Region vice president, as well as the National FFA Honors Band and Chorus performances. Lastly, we attended the closing session of the National FFA convention where the 2022-2023 National FFA officers were elected.

Throughout the week, we also attended workshops with many different FFA Chapters from across the nation. In the workshops we learned how to promote our FFA chapter on social media, starting our own business, and the role that veterinarians play in the U.S. Army.

To round out our busy schedule we had a little bit of fun Friday evening and went to a trampoline park. We had chapter competitions against the bus and jumped all of our energy out. Saturday morning we went to the Indianapolis Zoo with the Gilman FFA. We toured the various zoo exhibits learning about the exotic animals from across the globe.

All in all, a fun time was had and we cannot wait to attend again next year.