Leigh FFA Members Earn High Honors at State!
Each spring, more than 7,000 FFA members, advisors, and guests attend the Nebraska State FFA Convention. This year at the 97th Annual Nebraska FFA Convention in Lincoln, almost all Leigh FFA members competed at the state level finding tremendous success and growth!
Members who attended state convention competed in Leadership Development Events, Career Development Events, and went on educational tours, to leadership workshops, the Career Fair and Expo, and attended speeches and sessions.
At general sessions, FFA members all around the state had the opportunity to listen to keynote speakers and retiring addresses from the Nebraska State Officers. Leigh was recognized at a session for participating in Connecting Chapters. The award was received due to the learning program the chapter has set up with Little Sprouts.
Many Leigh FFA members advanced to finals of their events, earning high honors!
Senior Kammy Held was State Champion in Goat Production Proficiency! Sophomore Carmen Malena was State Runner Up in Ag Sales Entrepreneurship Proficiency! Senior Carter Brabec was a Star Finalist in Ag Placement!
Brianne Kuhr earned Third Place overall in Extemporaneous Speaking. Hannah Martensen finished Sixth overall in Junior Public Speaking, and the Farm and Agribusiness Management Team of Brianne Kuhr, Brayden Loseke, Luke Eisenmann, and Kyle McMullin finished 5th overall!
Additionally, Brianne Kuhr, Carter Brabec, Jared Olson, Kammy Held, and Paige Kurgeweit were all recipients of their State Degrees, which is the highest award applicable in the entire state.
In the chapter’s down time, team bonding took place on Thursday afternoon at Sunlane Valley in Lincoln. During this time members participated in bowling and laser tag. Throughout the entire convention, Paige Kurpgeweit participated in the state chorus that sang at every session.
Sophomore Daphne Jedlicka said, “State FFA was someone that we all looked up to this whole year. With competing in so many events, our chapter did their best. We also had so much fun hanging out with each other not only during our chapter bonding time, but throughout the whole three days. Many memories were made, and a lot was learned. We cannot wait for next year!”
Advisor Mrs. Alyssa Went said, “Wow! What an amazing state convention for our chapter! One like we've never seen before! Having students make finals round to scoring perfect scores on interviews to securing a state champion plaque is something special! These students put in countless hours and I am beyond proud of all of their efforts!”
Full Results:
State Degree Recipients:
Brianne Kuhr, Carter Brabec, Jared Olson, Kammy Held, Paige Kurpgeweit
Goat Production Proficiency: State Champion
Kammy Held
Agricultural Demonstration: Silver
Brianne Kuhr, Carter Brabec, Jared Olson, Kammy Held
Ag Sales Entrepreneurship Proficiency: State Runner Up
Carmen Malena
Ag Placement: Star Finalist
Carter Brabec
Extemporaneous Speaking: 3rd Gold
Brianne Kuhr
Junior Public Speaking: 6th Gold
Hannah Martensen
Farm and Agribusiness Management Team: 5th
Brianne Kuhr, Brayden Loseke, Luke Eisenmann, Kyle McMullin
Natural Resources Speaking: Silver
Luke Eisenmann
Senior Public Speaking: Bronze
Paige Kurpgeweit
Cooperative Speaking: Bronze
Rebecca Hastreiter
Junior Livestock Judging Team: 6th
Blake Loseke (blue), Carmen Malena (blue), Daphne Jedlicka (blue), Hannah Martensen (red)
Senior Livestock Judging Team: 11th
Kammy Held (purple), Carter Brabec (blue), Luke Eisenmann (blue), Kyle McMullin
Poultry Evaluation: 16th
Reese Wietfeld (white), Kaylee Brabec (white), Reese Bruhn, Grace Hansen
Agronomy: 50th
Brianne Kuhr, Carter Brabec, Cody Jedlicka, Daphne Jedlicka
Agriscience: 62nd
Sadie Brabec (red), Cade Hoesly (white), Tyce Larson, Easton Brabec
People in Ag Posters: Gold
Layton Held, Avery Kuester, Ella Hansen, & Ryan McMullin received Golds
People in Ag Posters: Silver
Cruz Malena, Bergan Settje, and Lexi Bruhn received Silvers
State Chorus:
Paige Kurpgeweit
Delegate Representatives:
Ava Kasik and Nevaeh Zulkoski