The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Dessa Rodeffer, Quill Publisher
Bailey Brown, has received the FFA's highest degree achievable in the National FFA Organization - The American FFA Degree.
Bailey, from La Harpe, presently lives in Kewanee. She attends Black Hawk East College in Galva where she majors in Ag Production, and throughout the year, shows cows at various fairs.
She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Brian (Amy) Brown of La Harpe, has a sister Laney Brown, and her grandparents are Eric and Cathy Palmer, Ken and Anita Brown and great grandmother Joy Palmer, all of LaHarpe.
Bailey states there are many accomplishments needed to receive the American FFA Award.
To name six of many requriements, Bailey has:
Some awards she has received during her FFA participation at Illini West High School are:
During Bailey's Junior Year, she served as the FFA Chapter Secretary and Senior year as President of the Illini West FFA Chapter.
She was a graduate of the Illini West Class of 2020.
Bailey says that the credit for her success is "My Dad. He has been there and pushed me to be the best that I can be. FFA is one of the many things we have in common and receiving my degree was something I'm proud to share with him."
Bailey traveled to Indianapolis on October 30th to receive her America FFA Degree and said of the experience:
"It was such an emotional day as I wore my blue jacket for the last time. So, thankful for everyone who has pushed me these last 6 years."
She also gave appreciation to her father Brian and mother Amy and to her advisor Jennifer Honnol McFadden, adding, "I love love love this organization and everything it has taught me."
Her mother Amy said, "I cried tears of pure joy and pride!! FFA has been her heart and soul and the whole family is unbelievably proud of her six years of devotion and hard work which gained her this huge accomplishment."
According to the FFA website, "The American FFA Degree has less than one percent of its members achieve this degree. It is the highest degree in the National FFA Organization and shows an FFA member's dedication to their chapter and state FFA association. It demonstrates the effort applied to their supervised agricultural experience and the outstanding leadership abilities and community involvement they exhibited throughout their FFA career.
"American FFA Degree recipients show promise for the future and have gone above and beyond to achieve excellence."
Bailey plans to work in an Agricultural related field after college graduation.
Bailey Brown, La Harpe, stands with her American FFA Degree that she received on Oct. 30th at the 94th National FFA Convention & Expo in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. FFA is the largest youth leadership organization with 735,000 members.