Strasburg sweeps top state FFA chapter honors

Below is an article that was written in the Northern Virginia Daily on June 24th, 2020. 

STRASBURG —

Strasburg swept the top honors at the Future Farmers of America state convention held virtually last week.

For the second year in a row, Strasburg High School was named the top senior division (high school chapters) in Virginia and the Signal Knob Middle School FFA chapter was named the top junior division (middle schools) chapter.

Strasburg High School's FFA is led by agriculture teachers Abbi Copp and Brian Fisher while Signal Knob's FFA is led by agriculture teacher Jaclyn Ryan.

"This is an exciting accomplishment for our chapter and its members," Copp said. "The National Chapter Award application involves choosing nine different chapter activities, events held throughout the year. For each activity, a description, goals, a plan of action and event outcome are required for the application. Three activities are chosen for each award area: growing leaders, building communities, and strengthening agriculture."

Ryan said it was an incredible feeling to win the top honor for middle schools.

"Our FFA members have worked so hard all year to carry out programs in the three main areas of the FFA Program of Activities - growing leaders, strengthening agriculture, and building communities," Ryan said. "Given everything that has happened this year and our members not being able to completely carry out everything they had hoped, this award means even more."

Copp said it was nice to have both the high school and middle school win the top honors.

"It's very exciting for our chapters to receive this recognition," Copp said. "Signal Knob does an outstanding job of giving students a great foundation in agriculture and FFA, that our chapter can expand upon once they reach the high school level."

Strasburg High School received a gold rating for the Superior Chapter Award. They also were named the State and Northern Area winner in the growing leaders category. They were recognized as a three-star chapter, three being  the most stars a chapter can receive, in Virginia. They will be judged at the national level.

"Our chapter's application will be judged over the summer," Copp said. "Chapters will be recognized at the National FFA Convention in October. Chapters receive a rating of either one, two, or three stars, with three stars being the highest rating at the national level. This is the second year in a row that Strasburg has been named the top chapter in the state of Virginia. It's a great honor to be recognized as a three-star chapter at the state level, as this is a competitive program, and there are many great chapters across the state. Our chapter sets a goal each year to be recognized as a three-star chapter."

Strasburg also had several individuals honored at the state convention. Amber Gessner, Aidan Keller and Anna Rankin each received their state FFA degree, while Ethan Gochenour, Kenzie Kline and Hannah Orndorff were recognized and will receive American degrees at the national convention in October.

Copp said that a state degree is the highest one given at the state level and is based on number of hours in a student's supervised agricultural experience, community service hours and FFA activities. The American degree is the highest degree awarded at the national level and is based on the same criteria as the state level. Copp said that 5% of all FFA members earn an American degree.

Strasburg's Shelby Smith was the agricultural sales proficiency award winner. Her application will be judged at the national level over the summer and she will be recognized at the national convention.

Copp said she was pleased with the accomplishments and the work of the FFA this year.

"We are very proud of the FFA members in our chapter," she said. "We had a great officer team this year that was led by three senior FFA members who have been active in FFA for seven years. Their leadership was instrumental in providing activities for our chapter members to participate in. Overall, we have a great group of dedicated and hard-working FFA members."

The Signal Knob chapter was also named the top chapter in the Northern Area and State in the strengthening agriculture category. The chapter also earned a gold rating, the highest a chapter can receive, in public relations.

Ryan said that Signal Knob has been named one of the top middle school FFA chapters in the nation three times and was named the top middle school chapter in the country once.

"I'm very proud of our FFA officer team, who worked so hard to make our activities happen and proud of all of our members who participated," Ryan said. "We would not have been as successful if it were not for the support from the parents of our members and community organizations."

Copp said that the virtual state convention did feel different this year.

"The Virginia State FFA Association did a great job of putting together the convention, and recognizing member and chapter accomplishments," she said. "It was very different, because students weren't able to be recognized on stage in front of their chapter and peers. We are looking forward to a tentative state celebration in November."

For Ryan, the success of her chapter is a little bittersweet. Ryan, who has been teaching for 15 years, has resigned. Her last day is June 30 as she is planning on being a full-time at-home mom. Teaching agriculture has been in her family for three generations.

Ryan's grandfather, Boyd 'Buck' Roller taught agriculture at Strasburg for 42 years. Her father, Ron Roller, taught agriculture at Strasburg for 40 years.

"This position has been a major part of my life and I am so thankful for the experience," she said. "There has been a Roller teaching agriculture and serving as the FFA adviser in Strasburg since 1941. ...After being the third generation in my family to have this role, it is bittersweet to leave,but timing couldn't have been more perfect. One of my former students, Ashley Yanego, who just graduated from Virginia Tech with her degree in agricultural sciences, is taking over the program. This is her dream job and I couldn't be happier. It has come full circle. I'll still of course be around to help, as needed."

– Contact Tommy Keeler Jr. at tkeeler@nvdaily.com