LOYAL. LOCAL. COMPLETE.
CHRISMAN—During the 97th National FFA Convention and Expo, Nicholas Eddy and Hana Gillaspie, two former Chrisman High School students, received their American FFA Degree, the highest FFA award that can be earned.
According to the FFA official website, “To be eligible to receive the American FFA Degree, members must meet qualifications such as receiving a State FFA Degree, holding active membership for the past three years, completing secondary instruction in an agricultural education program and operating an outstanding supervised agricultural experience program. Community service, leadership abilities and outstanding scholastic achievement are also required.”
Chrisman FFA Advisor Jennifer Honnold recognizes the amount of effort and dedication that is required to acquire the rare award and she commends the two individuals for their hard work.
“This is an amazing opportunity for these students to receive this award. They’ve put in the blood, sweat, tears, the frustration, the after hours and everything. They’ve done so much to earn this and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” she said.
Eddy and Gillaspie traveled with Honnold and other FFA members to Indianapolis to receive their awards. They each take pride in their accomplishments and plan to enjoy their time at the convention.
“It was a great feeling walking across the stage and being handed my degree knowing I am only one of a few in Chrisman’s history to receive this amazing accomplishment. Hopefully, the younger generation in FFA will continue to strive, and accomplish this achievement also,” Gillaspie said.
Eddy echoed Gillaspie’s thoughts of the convention and award.
“I felt so proud to be representing the Chrisman FFA Chapter as I walked across the stage, and I hope that I have been a dedicated role model for younger members to remember to chase after their dreams like I did mine,” he said.
Eddy’s record book covered grain crops and Gillaspie focused on equine entrepreneurship. Each kept records of the day-to-day tasks of their designated responsibilities and also what shows they attended with it.
Along with their record books, the students had other tasks that were required to be completed before they could earn the national award.
“Outside of their record book, they had a couple of other requirements. They had to get at least 50 hours of community service. So they had to document all of the activities they did and all the organizations that they served. Both of them were very active within the community, whether it was serving chili for Chili Day, helping at the library or hosting petting zoos for the Christmas community. They heavily set into community service and they wanted to make sure they made a difference here. So that was part of it. They were also required to have a 2.5 GPA, which is about a C average or better. So it was very much all around a good scholastic record,” Honnold said. “I don’t know how they found time to do it all. So during their senior year, they were able to apply for their State degree, which they had to get first. They had to go through the interview process, get their record books in order and so once they got that, they were kind of set and on their way to the American degree. They just had to take the time to themselves.”
Eddy and Gillaspie are only the third and fourth Chrisman FFA members to earn the National FFA Degree since 1929, when the local chapter came into existence.
“There’s less than one percent of FFA members that receive their American FFA degree, and FFA is sitting now at over one million members as a national organization. So having two from Chrisman is amazing because they spent four years in their SAEs. They had to wait until after they graduated to even apply. So they had to do the last chunk of it on their own time and their own dedication,” Honnold said.
Honnold hopes Eddy and Gillaspie’s efforts inspire current members and they take note as to how hard work can pay off and be so rewarding.
“It makes my heart really happy knowing that there are students out there that are still willing to put in the work and not have it handed to them. They put in the hours and the years of dedication, I just put them in the right direction,” she said. “They’re making chapter history and it’s nice knowing that they’re either going to stay in the community and continue to share their experiences. Hannah came back, and she’s coached our horse judge team already after she’s graduated. Nicholas comes and helps with community service when he can, coming around and helping the chapter and helping the other members.”
The community within Chrisman has been very supportive of their local FFA chapter and Honnold hopes they continue to see the impact these students can make to the area.
“The community has been so supportive, and I think they’re pretty excited to see more history being built here. It’s nice to know that the community is supportive of us continuing to build and continuing to make history within our small little town,” she said.