FFA chapter among top 10 percent in state years ago
The Hillsboro High School FFA chapter has been recognized as one of the state's top chapters.
The honor comes after the chapter filled out a lengthy application to become a nationally recognized chapter. Among other items, the application asked each school to describe activities it did in three areas: student development, chapter development, and community development.
Hillsboro was awarded "gold" in each of the three categories, placing them in the top 10 percent of all Kansas FFA chapters.
FFA sponsor and ag teacher Tim Kilgore was shocked when he got the news.
"I was really surprised — I was floored," he said.
Applying for the national chapter is not something that's required, Kilgore said. Hillsboro has completed it before, but they've never done this well.
There are a total of 16 schools in the state's top 10 percent. Kilgore won't know how his chapter ranked until the state convention, which starts next week.
"We know for sure we're gold on all three levels," he said.
Looking at the hefty 20-page application, it's easy to see why few schools complete the pages and pages of text and photos.
The Hillsboro chapter listed 15 total activities it took part in this year. Each activity was described in detail and accompanied with a photo.
For example, under "chapter development" Hillsboro listed its fruit sales, leadership conference, and formation of the alumni association.
Chapter officers started working on the application in February, and they sent it in by the end of March, with Kilgore polishing the final copy.
"It takes a log of fine-tuning and very good grammar," he said.
They sent the final product to the state FFA headquarters at Kansas State University, where a panel of judges gave it three golds.
At next week's state convention, Hillsboro will find out if it performed well enough to be named the best chapter in Kansas.
