The National FFA Organization has announced that the Switzerland County FFA chapter has been recognized as a “3 Star Chapter” in the national chapter awards program.
As a part of this national recognition, the local FFA chapter will be honored during the National FFA Convention, which will be held in October in Indianapolis.
The award will be presented to the chapter during the second session on Thursday, October 25th; and all chapter award winners will also be honored at a National Chapter Recognition Dinner on Wednesday evening, October 24th.
Chapter advisor Greg Curlin said that FFA chapters are considered for 3-Star status under three categories: student development, chapter development, and community development. At the Indiana State FFA convention chapters made presentations on their top three activities in each of the three categories, with the state’s best going on to be judged nationally.
At the national level, a panel of judges from all over the country chooses the top 600 applications to score; with only about 200 chapters out of more than 8,000 being ranked highly enough to be awarded 3-Star status.
That makes the Switzerland County chapter – once again – one of the top chapters in the entire nation.
The Switzerland County application included in student development the exchange program that that chapter has with students from Brazil; the chapter’s partnership with Farm Bureau; and the aquaculture project.
Under chapter development, the Switzerland County presentation included its homeless awareness project; its Mothers Day project; and its participation in the Angel Tree project.
For community development, the chapter here discussed its participation in the Switzerland County Relay for Life event through its Queen of Hearts pageant; the awareness breakfast that is done in conjunction with the Community Foundation of Switzerland County; and its Veterans Day program.
Those activities were scored at the national level based on goals, the chapter’s plan of action, and the results of the activity.