Youth News
The Oklahoma Two Step- Central Region VP Piper Merritt Greets Central Region VP Elect Ridge Hughbanks- Best Picture EVER
Sun, 28 Oct 2018 21:07:54 CDT
You might call it the Central Region Oklahoma Two Step- Piper Merritt of the Owasso Chapter was the first officer called out a year ago in Bankers Life Arena at the National FFA Convention as the Central Region Vice President of the National FFA for 2017-2018. On Saturday night- one year later- Ridge Hughbanks of the Alva FFA chapter was the second name called out for the six member National Officer team for the coming year- and was greeted as he made his dash for the stage by the retiring Central Region Vice President and fellow Oklahoman Piper Merritt.
The picture you see here is one for the Oklahoma FFA History Books- Piper and Ridge sharing the moment. (photo courtesy of Amie Simpson of Brownfield)
The nominating committee kept that spot on the National Officer Team reserved for a second year for the Oklahoma representative in the National Officer process.
Earlier- Hughbanks told Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays he was ready to serve if he heard his name called. For Hughbanks, FFA has meant a lot. Going into the organization, he says he may not have been totally aware of what he was truly preparing for or how his life would be forever altered by the experiences that were in store for him. But through the whole process, Hughbanks says he has come out the other side with a passion and a purpose. In his FFA career, he has developed a network of people and acquired a unique set of skills that he will carry with him for the rest of his life.
"The sky's the limit as far as that goes. I'm just excited to see if maybe for another year - I can really give back to this organization at a higher level."
And Ridge Hughbanks will have that chance over the next 365 days.
You can hear some of his comments after being elected by clicking on the listen bar at the bottom of this story.
Hughbanks will join five other FFA high achievers on the 2018-19 officer team.
Luke O'Leary, an agricultural leadership and development major at Texas A&M University, was elected national president.
Layni LeBlanc, an animal science science and technology major at Louisiana State University, was elected national secretary.
Jordan Stowe, an agriscience education major at Auburn University, was elected southern region vice president.
Adrian Schunk, a communications major at Michigan State University, was elected eastern region vice president.
Shea Booster, an agricultural business management major at Oregon State University, was elected western region vice president.
Once again, we took pictures in and around the 2018 National FFA Convention- click or tap here to check out the National Convention Album on FLICKR. By the way- we continued a tradition as several state officers of the Oklahoma FFA took pictures for us during the course of the meeting.
Our exclusive coverage of the 2018 National FFA Convention in Indianapolis October 24-27 is a service of ITC Great Plains, Your Energy Superhighway- learn more about this high voltage, transmission only utility and their commitment to the communities they serve which is the cornerstone of their business - Click or tap here for their webpage. We also appreciate the support of the Oklahoma FFA Association and the Oklahoma FFA Alumni Association. Click or tap here for more information about one of the top states in the US in the FFA- the Oklahoma FFA Association. FFA is a student organization for high school-aged students interested in agriculture and leadership. Oklahoma FFA impacts the lives of over 27,000 members in 359 chapters across the state.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
