On October 31, 2023, some 25 students left to compete in the National Knowledge Quiz at the National FFA Convention. There were 117 teams and 391 individuals who competed in this competition. The Felicity-Franklin FFA Middle School team was named the Reserve Champion Team. On the team was Lydia Hamitlon who was 2nd, Braydon O’Hearn who was 3rd, Brayden Hazelbaker who was 4th, and Lilly Lane who was 7th in the entire nation. The Junior team A was 4th in the nation. On the team was Hailey Wendling who was 9th, Olivia Liming who was 18th, Abigail Masterson who was 19th, and Katelyn Brandenburg who was 34th in the nation. The Junior Team B was 8th in the nation. On the team was Lucia Taylor who was 21st, Liz Brumbach who was 29th. Jaxxon Johnson who was 34th, and Bre Idlett who was 56th in the nation. The Senior Team was 12th in the nation. On the team was Emma Brandenburg who was 29th, Andru Preston who was 37th, Eden Myers who was 40th, and Faith Jennings who was 60th in the Nation.
Felicity-Franklin FFA had 3 proficiency finalists who competed at Nationals. Audrey Pinger was in the top 4 in the nation in Agricultural Sales. Joanna Hamilton was in the top 4 in the nation for Integrated Agriscience. Mattilyn Griffith was also top 4 in the nation for Veterinary Science. They each won $500 for their efforts.
The Milk Quality & Products Team worked and studied hard for months for the national competition. They placed first at the Ohio FFA State competition qualifying for Nationals. These four amazing members put in the work with the help of Larry Lokai who helped prepare them for this competition. The team competed at Nationals and were 9th in the nation out of 40 teams earning a Gold rating. These members were Joanna Hamitlon, Kaylee Jennings, Ben Bracher and Lucjan Grider.
The Felicity-Franklin FFA had four members who competed with their Agriscience Fair projects at the national level. Kaylee Jennings and Joanna Hamilton were named National Champions in the Food Products and Processing Division 6 of the Agriscience Fair each earning $1000. Elizabeth Lindsey and Briley Idlett placed 8th in the nation in Animal Science Division 6 of the Agriscience Fair.
The Felicity-Franklin FFA Chapter has the greatest honor of having 2 students selected as Star American Degree Finalists. Luke Jennings was an American Star Farmer finalist and Audrey Pinger was an American Star in Agriscience finalist. Congratulations Audrey Pinger and Luke Jennings on this great honor. The dedication to your SAEs and all things FFA has not gone unnoticed. They each earned $2000 for this honor.
We also had 8 members who received their American FFA Degrees. Less than one percent of FFA members achieve the American FFA Degree. This is the highest degree that a member can be awarded in the FFA. These members are Emily Hardewig, Emma Laubach, Landen Tull, Tate Liming, Connor Ninichuck, Luke Jennings, Audrey Pinger and Chase Jarman. We could not be more proud to add your names to the list of members who have achieved the highest degree in the FFA.