Four of the six SHS/AgriSci alumni who were awarded American FFA Degrees at the 2021 FFA National Convention in October are pictured here with their degree certificates. From the left: Ashley Drake (’19), Cathryne Tronsky (’18), Halie Shea (’18), and Joseph LaFlamme (’19). Not pictured were Miriam Dugas and Lela Waite.
“Learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live, and living to serve.” That is the FFA motto. Throughout the years many students have passed through the FFA program. They have learned the importance of leadership, cooperation, integrity and hard work. While every student in our program has done amazing things, there are a select few who go above and beyond. These students not only lived by our motto throughout their time in high school, but they continued to follow it beyond high school and throughout their years in college. Only about 1% of all FFA members gain the recognition as one of our American Degree recipients. These students had to complete at least 50 hours of community service, 2,500 Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) hours where they were working outside of the classroom to hone their skills and increase their knowledge in an agricultural field of their choice, and finally, they must hold an academic record of at least a C or higher.
Suffield Regional FFA is proud to announce that this year at the 2021 FFA National Convention we have had a record number of six American FFA Degree recipients walk across the stage to accept this honor: Ashley Drake, Miriam Dugas, Joseph LaFlamme, Halie Shea, Cathryne Tronsky, and Lela Waite. Every year the Suffield Regional Agriscience Program invites each American Degree winner back to celebrate them in our own Suffield FFA way. This event is called the ‘Forever Blue’ Ceremony in which our most recent American Degree recipients come and talk to our current students about their achievements. They talk about the challenges and successes throughout the years of their outstanding projects. The American FFA Degree is the highest honor in the National FFA Organization, and Suffield can’t wait to open our doors and our arms on December 21 to all the amazing students who really show what it means to be not only a Suffield student, but an outstanding member of their community as well. As E.M Tiffany, the author of the FFA Creed once said, “I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words but of deeds.” The six students this year have shown through their deeds and their commitment that they will continue to do amazing things in the future to come.