CRCS FFA Goes to National Convention

By Joshua Walther

COBLESKILL - The CRCS Board of Education met on Monday to hear a presentation from Justin Ferreira and his Student Leadership Team about wanting to attend the FFA National Convention in Indianapolis.

Speaking to their travel itinerary, the students said that they would leave on October 26th and stop at several interesting landmarks along the way.

On October 27th, the trip would take them to see Heini’s Cheese Chalet, Dickinson Cattle Company, and Jungle Jim’s International Market to see how they can apply the FFA skillset in the real world.

Similarly, October 28th would see Bluegrass Stockyards and Spendthrift Farm before arriving in Indianapolis later on.

For the remainder of the trip, the students would attend workshops to help build new skills and cement ones they already have, as well as go to a massive expo center for networking, the FFA shopping mall, and more.

In addition, the CRCS agriculture mechanics team will be able to compete at the national level because they won at the NY State Convention, where they’ll show off skills like welding, plumbing, electrical wiring, and other equipment maintenance or repair know-how.

Finally, the trip would conclude on November 2nd, where they would have a straight shot back home.

The students explained that the cost for each student would be $800 and the advisor would be $980, and these totals would include all spending money for things like lunches, tours, entertainment, dinners, hotel, bus, convention registration, sessions, and the career show, but they’re still working on finding fundraisers or sponsors to cut down the costs.

As the presentation ended, Board President Bruce Tryon fully supported the trip, saying “You guys do us proud every year, so best of luck this year, and enjoy yourselves. It’s a great experience for you guys to be exposed to so many people and so many sessions.”

With the rest of the Board sharing the same sentiment, the trip was unanimously approved, paving the way toward Indianapolis for the team.