The Student Showcase Stage at the 97th National FFA Convention & Expo offers an excellent opportunity for members to display their talents and skills across a variety of topics. From National FFA Talent to agribusiness, the stage empowers members to present their projects confidently.
“The Student Showcase Stage gives students the opportunity to present what they’re doing, whether it’s in their communities, through their living tester projects or their farm rates projects or their research projects with agriscience fair or their proficiencies through Supervised Agricultural Experience presentations,” says Celya Glowacki, manager of advocacy, literacy, and ag-based experiences at FFA. “It gives our students the opportunity to share what they’re doing. Maybe it inspires another student somewhere down the road that walks through and hears. And that’s really the most important part, is let’s inspire each other and lead from within.”
FFA members from all across the country started presenting their SAEs on the Wednesday of convention. I caught up with a few of them about their highlights.
Members of the Carrollton ACC FFA Chapter in Missouri created Kindness Kits for their SAEs, which provide hygiene products to families in need in their community. “The impact that was the most important for me was seeing the impact that we left our community,” says Carrollton ACC FFA member Mandy Miller. “It makes me happy that we’re helping those kids and our community.”
“The peace of mind of knowing that some kids don’t have to go through the embarrassment of going to school without some products or having to ask somebody, or somebody knowing that they wouldn’t have these things at home” is what stands out to Carrollton ACC FFA member Rodney Schuchmann.
Franklin County Middle School FFA member Ryker Davis is proud of the growth opportunity the public speaking platform offers to young members. “Getting to speak (in public) is something that a lot of middle schoolers and even elementary schoolers are very terrified of,” he says. “So I think it’s a great feeling getting to speak (about) something you love and getting to have a passion to do it, because doing it with something you love definitely gives you more confidence and more motivation to do it.”
The Student Showcase Stage is intended not only for presenters but also for students and advisors seeking ideas to bring back to their own chapters. “That’s one of our most important reasons that we bring students in here is because it gives them a chance to hear a variety of things throughout the day that they might not see in the sessions,” says Chyann Kendel, an FFA advisor from Ohio. “It’s students talking to students, and that’s an opportunity that we don’t get elsewhere around convention.”
“I’m in agriscience, so this is kind of interesting to me, seeing everyone coming up here and expressing their views on it,” adds Hanford (Calif.) FFA member Ayden Coelho. “It gives me more information for my future when I go on.”
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