Being active in FFA throughout their high school years, Marie Meis and Cole Preister continue to earn accolades from the organization.
Meis and Preister, both 2018 graduates, had the honor of being selected, with other FFA members from across the country, as recipients of the American FFA Degree.
The National FFA Board of Directors approved the 2019 American FFA Degree recipients earlier this month. Their selection continues a long tradition of Elgin FFA Chapter members having the degree bestowed upon them.
Only FFA members who have demon-strated the highest level of commit-ment to FFA and made significant accomp-lishments in their supervised agricultural experiences are eligible for the American FFA Degree.
At the 2019 National FFA Convention & Expo, more than 4,000 FFA members will be recognized on-stage as American FFA Degree recipients.
The American FFA Degree is awarded at the National FFA Convention & Expo each year to less than one percent of FFA members, making it one of the organi-zation’s highest honors. Require-ments to earn the honor are lengthy. In addition to their degree certificate, each recipient receives a gold American FFA Degree key.
Both Meis and Preister have kept up on community service hours and their SAEs after they graduated from high school in order to earn this honor. Meis is the daughter of Jim and Anne Meis. Cole is the son of Scott and Kay Preister.
The American FFA Degree shows an FFA member’s dedication to his or her chapter and state FFA association. It demonstrates the effort FFA members apply toward their supervised agricultural experience and the outstanding leadership abilities and community involvement they exhibited through their FFA career.
To be eligible to receive the American FFA Degree, members must meet qualifications such as receiving a State FFA Degree, holding active membership for the past three years, completing secondary instruction in an agricultural education program and operating an outstanding supervised agricultural experience program. Community service, leadership abilities and outstanding scholastic achievement are also required.
