By: Caydence Rue, Paulding FFA Reporter
The Paulding FFA Chapter recently took 34 students to the Ohio FFA State Convention held May 4th-6th at the Ohio State Fairgrounds.
The chapter left on May 4th and got to tour MVP Dairy in Celina on the way down to convention. On the tour the students learned about how the dairy farm keeps track of each cow and how all the milk from MVP Dairy goes to Dannon to make yogurt.
After the tour, the students headed to their hotel to unload the bus and then went and ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.
On May 5th in the morning before convention started the chapter went on a tour of the Ohio State football Stadium, during the tour the students were guided through the whole Ohio Stadium, where they took pictures and learned about the history of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
After this, the students ate lunch and headed to the Expo Center and Career Show, to get ready for Session One of the Ohio FFA Convention. During this session Kyle Mobley accepted the chapter’s Charitable Giving Award for contributing at least $500 to a charitable organization in our community.
Afterwards the students had some time to go shopping at the Polaris shopping center before they left to eat dinner at Quaker Steak and Lube.
Friday was day 2 of the State FFA convention where two students, Kadence Thomas and Courtney Good were selected to participate in the Ohio FFA Band they practiced before performing a variety of awesome music during the evening sessions. During Session 3 our chapter received the Gold Rated Chapter Award, Paulding was 1 of 27 chapters out of the 340 chapters in Ohio to receive this award.
Then during Session 4 the FFA officers got their state award for their gold rated officer books, those students were, Jamy Hunt, Carter Manz, and Mason Schlatter. Carter Manz was also recognized during this session for placing 1st as an individual in the Aquarium Management CDE, our chapter also received several plaques for our placings in state CDE events. During this Session, the Ohio FFA president gave his retiring address and the 2022-2023 Ohio FFA Officers were announced.
During Session 5 there were 4 Paulding FFA members who received the Ohio State Degree, the highest degree a state can bestow upon their members. Students who received this degree were Brooke Ankney, Carter Manz, Mason Schlatter, and Sam Woods.
The Paulding FFA Chapter definitely had a lot of fun during these 3 days and they want to thank the Paulding FFA Alumni for their support of this trip. They are very grateful for the support of the community and school district as they celebrated the many accomplishments and awards of our chapter.
