For the second year in a row, eight Montgomery County area-students will be awarded an American FFA Degree at the national convention at Indianapolis.

Five Montgomery County graduates and three Wellsville-Middletown graduates will head to Indiana to receive the American FFA Degree, which is the highest honor anyone in the National FFA Organization can achieve.

Cora Johnson, Annie Robinson, Carie Schroer, Anna Sinclair and Brianne West will represent MCHS, while Carly Henderson, Libby Kleinsorge and Kaleb Peak will be the W-M representatives at the American FFA Degree ceremony at the 97th National FFA Convention and Expo, which is scheduled for Oct. 26. The four-day convention will begin on Oct. 23 and will run through Oct. 26.

American FFA Degrees will be handed out to 4,805 FFA members in the country. Missouri has the most recipients with 663, followed by Ohio with 529, California with 499 and Texas with 302.

The American FFA Degree is awarded to an FFA member who showed outstanding leadership abilities and was highly involved in the community. To be eligible for the honor, members must receive a state FFA degree, become an active FFA member for three years, complete instruction in an agricultural education program and operate a supervised agriculture experience (SAE) program.

All eight of the Montgomery County-area American Degree recipients graduated from high school in 2023. Johnson and Henderson were presidents in their respective FFA chapters in the 2022-23 school year.

Johnson, who now attends Washington University in St. Louis, also served as Missouri FFA Area V Treasurer. She also participated in the National FFA band for two years at the national convention, playing as a drummer. While a member with the MCHS FFA, Johnson served as reporter in her sophomore year and a treasurer in her junior year. She was the Montgomery County Fair Queen in July 2023.

West served as a reporter, secretary and vice-president of the MCHS FFA. When she was a sophomore, she won first place at the area proficiency contest in specialty animal production. She also placed in the top 16 in the state in that category.

Schroer, who served as a treasurer, reporter and secretary, was part of a food science team that placed fourth in the state in her junior year.
Sinclair qualified for state in diversified agriculture production after placing first in area in her senior year. Robinson received a state degree in her senior year.

Henderson, who is now attending Iowa State University, was a state champion in the pork producing category at the Missouri Pork Expo state contest in her senior year.

Peak was selected as a national finalist in the swine production placement proficiency after winning a state title in that category in his senior year. He served as reporter, chaplain and assistant sentinel during his four years with the W-M FFA.

Kleinsorge, who attends the University of Missouri-Columbia, was the W-M FFA vice-president in her senior year. She qualified for state competition in advanced speaking in her junior year and extemporaneous speaking in her senior year.