Students from three schools in Cattaraugus County attended the annual NYS FFA Convention at the Buffalo Convention Center in May. For three days students from all over New York converged in their blue corduroy jackets to participate in contests known as Career Development Events (CDE) and Leadership Development Events (LDE), elect the 2023 state officer team and celebrate agriculture. The more than 2,000 attendees were able to hear inspiring speeches from peers and agriculture professionals, speak to representatives from sponsors and colleges at the exhibit hall, attended workshops and tours to explore different fields of agriculture and more.
Thirteen students from Cattaraugus-Little Valley, Pioneer and Randolph FFA Chapers were honored with their Empire Degree, which is the highest honor a student can achieve at the State level. This honor requires documentation of a student's Supervised Agricultural Experience, active participation in FFA, agriculture coursework, community service, satisfactory scholastic record and more. Honorees included Acadia LeClerc from Cattaraugus-Little Valley, Jeremy Hibsch, McKenzie Huntsberger, Courney Keem and Chloe Phetteplace from Pioneer and the following students from Randolph: Madisyn Dybka, Kassidy Graham, McKenna Park, Kyra Pence, Harper Smith, Ryder Smith and Katelyn Storer. Congratulations to all on your hard work!
Allie Erhart was elected District 10 President and will represent schools from WNY! District Presidents serve as a role model to fellow FFA members, engage with members, conducts chapter visits in their district, assist State Officers in activities, and more. This will be an exciting opportunity for Allie and we congratulate her on her new role!
