Stacey Miner receives American Degree from Future Farmers of America
Stacey Miner ’15, an Animal Behavior major, is one of only eleven recipients from Connecticut to receive the Future Farmers of America (FFA) American degree this year.
The FFA is a dynamic student-led leadership development organization for students of agricultural education that serves to prepare students in grades 7-college for premiere leadership, personal growth and career success.
Within the FFA, students are able to compete in different Career Development Events (CDE), which are held at district, state, and national levels depending on the event. These CDEs include aquaculture, animal showmanship, livestock judging and many more. Stacey has competed in aquaculture, showmanship, and state booth for multiple years and was the number one student in the state of Connecticut two years running. She was also first in state for animal showmanship another year.
Students can earn four different degrees in the FFA: Greenhand, Chapter, State, and American. A student must complete all of the requirements for one degree before being able to progress to the next rank. Most individuals stop after completing the Chapter degree. In fact, the American degree is the highest honor in the FFA with only .5 percent of all members receiving the award this year.
In addition to having had to complete all of the three prior degrees, American degree recipients must have been an FFA member for at least three years, completed at least a year of college, held a leadership position in a local chapter, completed a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE), completed community service hours at a minimum of three different sites, and worked over 2000 hours on their SAE.
Miner will travel to the 87th annual national FFA convention held this October in Kentucky where she will receive her hard earned American Degree.