Three former students from Buckeye Valley High School received awards during the 91st annual National FFA Convention & Expo last week.
Sarah Lehner, a graduate of Buckeye Valley High School, attended the conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, and was named a National Proficiency Award winner for her work in the area of fiber and or oil crop production. The award is given to only .007 percent of roughly 670,000 FFA members reports Alex Zimmer, the agricultural science teacher at Buckeye Valley.
Zimmer reported that Lehner’s road to this honor began with her involvement in the Buckeye Valley Land Lab, near Radnor, where she began raising soybeans after her freshman year.
“Since then, she has spent countless hours learning about and keeping records on soil health, plant genetics, nutrition, pest management, machinery operation and marketing,” Zimmer states in a press release. “This learning process and associated records were evaluated at a local, state, and national level through a written application, as well as in person interviews with industry experts.”
Zimmer said Lehner competed against three other finalist from Alabama, Minnesota, and Oklahoma before finally being announced as the national winner at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The award was sponsored by Bunge, a food production company.
Lehner is currently studying at The Ohio State University, where she is majoring in animal science and minoring in Agribusiness. After graduating, Lehner plans to pursue a career in agribusiness, while staying involved with her family’s farm.
Additionally, two Buckeye Valley-DACC graduates and FFA members were named as recipients of the American FFA Degree. Hannah Edelbute and Elissa Huffman were among a record 4,255 members from across the country to be recognized for their high level of commitment to FFA and significant accomplishments in their experiential learning programs, Zimmer reported.
“The National FFA organization consists of 669,989 members belonging to 8,630 chapters throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands,” Zimmer said. “It is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education.”
