The Wake Ag Convention and Symposium had 12 workshops that covered a wide variety of topics.
In North Carolina, FFA chapters are divided into federations, which are groups of schools based on the number of active agriculture programs. These federations combine to form eight regions, representing more than 48,000 members in the North Carolina FFA State Association.
In the East Central Region, Wake County includes Raleigh — one of the state’s largest cities — and is the largest federation in the state. It is made up of 52 agriculture educators and more than 8,000 students enrolled in agricultural education. Due to this federation’s competitive nature in Leadership Development Events (LDEs), Wake County hosts an annual agriculture convention and symposium.
The Event
On Feb. 7, 2025, more than 250 students from across Wake County gathered at Fuquay Varina Middle School to compete for a spot at regionals and to learn about the different careers in agriculture. This is the first year the event combined both the agriculture symposium and LDEs.
There were 12 total workshops for students to explore in the symposium that covered topics ranging from equine care and animal science to horticulture, agricultural technologies and environmental studies.
“All the students are excited to be here and willing to step out of their comfort zone to ask questions so they can learn more about the industry,” says Kate Watts, a horticulturist from Myatt Landscaping. “Everyone is engaged and eager to learn more about agriculture, which is such a wonderful thing. Although I was not involved in FFA when I was in high school, I can tell it is an amazing organization to be a part of.”
As some students rotated through different workshops, others competed in employability skills, prepared public speaking, extemporaneous public speaking, FFA Creed speaking and parliamentary procedure. After everyone finished, lunch was provided in the cafeteria. Event placings were announced in the auditorium and students were dismissed.
“It’s amazing to see how alive agriculture is in such an urban area through the success of this event,” says Camber Starling, the federation’s advisor.
The Wake Federation Agriculture Convention and Symposium is very unique. It is something FFA members across Wake County look forward to.
-
- Workshop leader demonstrating how to perform CPR on a small animal.
-
- Students watering a tray of micro greens.
-
- NC State Food Science rotation.
-
- Students gaining hands on experience with technology.
-
- Bailey Myers, federation president, excited to compete in parliamentary procedure.
-
- NC State horticulture student giving members samples of micro greens.
