Courtesy Photo These Cardington FFA members received their state degrees at the State FFA convention. L-r: Neil Swonger, FFA Advisor, Nate Leland, Sami Bennett, Cameron Pace, Destiny Williamson and Lauren Hall.

Sami Bennett, Cameron Pace, Nate Leland, Lauren Hall and Destiny Williamson were the five members of the Cardington FFA to receive their State Degree at this year’s 87th annual Ohio State FFA Convention on May 1, 2015.

To be eligible for the State Degree, one has to answer “yes” to 19 questions. They had to earn their Chapter FFA Degree, complete at least one year of agricultural education, pay up all dues, have an approved Supervised Agricultural Experience Program (SAE), be a junior, senior or high school graduate, be familiar with the state and national FFA constitutions and assisted in the development of their FFA Chapter’s activities.

They must also work a minimum of 30 hours at home or in the community, invested a minimum of $1,000 in gross income, participated in three activities that promote Agricultural Education or FFA and participate in at least two different state sanctioned Career Development Events.

They must also have demonstrated ten abilities of parliamentary procedure, give a six minute speech on an agricultural topic, been a chapter officer, committee chairperson, participated in four school and community activities and have a GPA of 2.0 or greater. They must have an attendance rate of 93% or better. An SAE effort must also be made on your own in the topics of Entrepreneurship, placement, combination of Entrepreneurship and placement, unpaid labor or hazardous occupation. Congratulations to these members!