The 95th Annual Texas FFA Convention took place July 11-14 in Dallas. While most schools from Fannin County were in attendance, for one local chapter, barriers were being broken and history was made. Sam Rayburn FFA has been “cultivating” success throughout their chapter for a long time, but this week, success was seen from a different angle.
Their week began July 11 with Noah Hernandez beginning his week of service as a Texas FFA Foundation Ambassador and the Texas FFA Extemporaneous Speaking Contest where Weston Parr competed.
To qualify for the state extemporaneous competition, Parr advanced through one of 57 district competitions in the state and finished as an area winner. During Extemporaneous Speaking participants select from one of the three topics drawn randomly and have 30 minutes to research the agricultural topic and prepare a four-to-six minute speech. Their speech is presented before a panel of judges and followed by a five-minute question-answer series designed to test the student’s knowledge of the subject matter.
Later that evening, Parr found out that he was in the top 10 of this contest! Tuesday, Parr competed in this contest again, and ultimately Thursday was named 6th in the state of Texas.
During the first general session on Tuesday afternoon, the Sam Rayburn FFA was named a 3-Star National FFA Chapter for Texas FFA. The 3 star rating is only bestowed upon the top 10 percent of FFA chapters in Texas. 3 star chapters advance to the national level to be judged for the National FFA Chapter Contest. Chapters that received this rating actively implemented the FFA mission and strategies. These chapters improve their operations by using a Program of Activities, which emphasizes student, chapter, and community development.
Wednesday, Weston Parr interviewed for the Outstanding Chapter Service Learning Award, of which the Sam Rayburn FFA was a finalist in this award category. Moreover, Carson McMurtry, Eli Mosley, Jonathan Hernandez and Weston Parr received their Lone Star FFA Degrees and Jennifer Heath was named an Honorary Lone Star recipient.
Thursday, July 13, Weston Parr gave his State Officer Candidate Speech. Later that day, Parr received a $20,000 scholarship from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Parr was also named the champion of the Service Learning Proficiency area. The Proficiency Awards program encourages members to set personal goals and learn practical skills. The program provides recognition to FFA members for exceptional accomplishments and excellence in their Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) programs. The Supervised Agricultural Experience program is an individualized application of classroom learning beyond scheduled class time and has been a standard part of agricultural education since 1917. Students’ SAEs may be entrepreneurial enterprises, employment experiences or research projects. Parr’s application won both district and area competitions before being considered by the state-selected committee in early June.
Weston Whiteside was named the Star American in Agribusiness during the 4th General Session. Whiteside’s application is currently under review by National FFA and in August notifications will be sent out about who the nation’s finalists are. In 2021, Whiteside was named the State Star Lone Star in Agribusiness.
Friday, was a culmination of Sam Rayburn’s success as Weston Parr was named one of the Texas FFA Vice Presidents. This young man is making history for Sam Rayburn FFA as their first ever State Officer, and the first State Officer from Fannin County in more than 40 years!
Parr will serve the nation’s largest state FFA association with a membership of more than 169,000. Weston and his officer team will work in partnership with the board of directors to develop policy for the Texas FFA Association and provide student leadership to Texas FFA members. Texas FFA State Officers have responsibilities to the state association and leadership duties in their areas. State officers serve a one-year term.
Congratulations to the Sam Rayburn FFA on all of their accomplishments at the 95th Annual Texas FFA Convention!
