Two Wagner students, Madison Robertson and Emma Kreeger under the guidance of their FFA Advisor, Evan Papousek, attended the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN October 31st- November 4th. Evan and the students drove to Beresford where they joined the Garretson, Menno, Tyndall and Wessington Springs FFA chapters to share a charter bus for the 12-hour trip the convention.

In order to go on the trip, the students that wanted to go have to give a $200 deposit with the rest of the trip being paid for through the chapter’s fruit sales, other fundraisers and the school.

The National Convention was held at the Indiana Convention Center with a total of 66,000 students and guests in attendance. There was a wide-array of speakers, events, tours, workshops, expos, etc. Robertson, Kreeger and Papousek attended the tour of The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a workshop on woodmising, toured the CAT factory and museum, the rodeo, a haunted house, days of service, saw a hypnotist and attended a shopping expo with colleges and employees from all over the United States just to highlight a few of their activities.

Papousek’s goal for his FFA students that attend the National Convention is to broaden their horizons with experiences and opportunities outside of what Wagner and South Dakota offer. This was Madison’s third year attending the conference and Emma’s first year. It was a very eye-opening experience for Emma especially walking into the Indianapolis Convention Center and being surrounded by 66,000 people. She thought it was an amazing experience and had a lot of fun. Madison took note of how others were leading and taking charge while at the convention. From those interactions and experiences, she will incorporate aspects of different leadership styles into her own which will help her as a FFA officer within the Wagner FFA chapter. Over the three years, Madison has also been collecting pictures of the back of the FFA jackets, trying to get all 50 US States and territories. The convention heavily promotes activities like this to encourage the students to network.

The current FFA officers are President, Daniel Soukup; Vice President, Jace Kuhlman; Secretary, Sam Blaha; Treasurer Madison Robertson; Reporter, Addison Cuka; Sentinel, Kalea Kuhlman; and Student Advisor, Kennedy Kourt. The chapter also just finished competing in the Leadership Development Events (LDE) Competition. Three students competed. Madison Robertson competed in the Job Interview and received 14th place. Both Daniel Soukup and Jace Kuhlman competed in Ag Broadcasting with Daniel placing 7th.

Throughout the year, the FFA do several fundraisers including a tailgate at a varsity football game, fruit sales, sell hand crafted items such as benches and cutting boards made by the FFA students, and their sale of service event.