Harlan FFA at Nationals

NDIANAPOLIS, IN -- Ten Harlan FFA members traveled to the National FFA Convention and Expo on October 24-27 in Indianapolis, IN. The members attended several tours and participated in various National FFA Convention activities while on the trip. The Harlan FFA members that attended the trip were joined on a charter bus with three other area Iowa FFA chapters, Audubon, Riverside, and Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton.
    On Wednesday, October 24, the group traveled to Indianapolis. Within the first few hours of arriving in Indianapolis, members and advisors attended the first Opening Session of the National FFA Convention in Bankers Life Fieldhouse. This session is meant to welcome all to Indianapolis for the convention and highlighted the theme “Just One.”
    The theme reflects the idea that it only takes one person to make a difference or only one person to start a movement. FFA members heard from keynote speaker Kyle Scheele, who addressed this message with the audience. After the opening session, members made their way to Lucas Oil Stadium to attend the Garth Brooks concert.
    The performance was a special concert for only National FFA Convention attendees and featured Ned Ledoux as the opening act.
    While in the Indianapolis area, the bus took agricultural tours at Ozark Fisheries and Corteva Agrisciences. Ozark Fisheries is a large indoor and outdoor aquaculture facility that raises koi and goldfish. They are the largest distributor of ornamental fish in the United States. The students got to witness the process of raising the fish, breeding the fish and packaging the fish for shipment.
    Following the Ozark Fisheries tour, the group was a part of a unique experience when they toured Corteva Agrisciences, formally known as Dow Agrosciences. Dow and DuPont have recently merged to partner their innovation into a science-based company, Corteva Agrisciences, to market products in the agriculture, materials science and specialty products industries. Members got to tour the facility that featured innovative research laboratories and greenhouses.
    While in Indianapolis, all members explored the National FFA Convention Career Show and Expo and attended leadership workshops of their choice. They also attended the Cinch’s World’s Toughest Rodeo. Before leaving Indianapolis, members took a tour of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and explored the museum. Members were taken on a bus around the track and got to “kiss the bricks” on the world famous finish line.