Jenna Kelsay, right, at the 2019 Spring Dairy Expo In Ohio. Kelsay will serve on the Indiana FFA Organization State Officer Team as the southern region vice president. Submitted photo
After advancing to national Future Farmers of America competitions and representing their high schools across the country, a pair of local students will represent the state this year as FFA officers.
Tobias Sturgell, an Indian Creek High School graduate, and Jenna Kelsay, a Whiteland Community High School graduate, both planned to pursue studies in agriculture this fall at Purdue University, but will defer their enrollment for a year after they were called on by the Indiana FFA Organization to represent the state. Over the next year they’ll put on conferences for FFA members, plan the state convention, run career development and leadership events and contests, and visit various FFA chapters around the state, Kelsay said.
The two are among just seven state officers who were selected after a three-day interview process with nine panelists, including FFA members and past state officers. They were notified of their selection last week, and will serve through the next state convention in mid-June of 2023.
Sturgell will serve as secretary for the officer team, and will take meeting minutes and create agendas for statewide FFA meetings. He first got into FFA as a freshman at Indian Creek High School, and in May, took part in a national competition in Oklahoma as part of the school’s soil evaluation team, Sturgell said.
“It was one of my greatest high school experiences,” he said. “I got to know the rest of my teammates. With other Indiana schools, we knew each other pretty well, but we also enjoyed talking to members from other states. I got close with a group from North Dakota. I loved the accent but got to know how they were as people and how life is different in North Dakota and across the country; it’s so big but we have the same interest in advocating for agriculture.”
Kelsayhas a lifelong involvement in agriculture. She was elected as the southern region vice president, and in her role, she’ll assist any fellow FFA members with their needs, assist the state FFA president and help run committees, she said.
“I’ve been in FFA for six years, but I’ve been involved in agriculture my whole life. I’m a seventh generation crop farmer and a third generation state officer and I’d like to continue the family tradition,” Kelsay said.
Kelsay took part in two national competitions this past school year, taking part in dairy judging including at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin and at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis.
“I met a lot of new people and to grow my abilities and to represent Indiana on a national level is the highlight of my FFA career,” Kelsay said.
Sturgell said he decided to run for state FFA office in March because of his passion for agriculture.
“I didn’t think about doing it until I had people saying I’d be a good officer, but I wanted to show people how important the organization is to me and it helped shaped me to public speak and learn about agriculture,” he said. “I didn’t come from an agricultural background, but seeing how important it is to everyone and to me, I decided to run.”
Kelsay said being an officer means she can help increase enthusiasm for agriculture throughout the state.
“Being a state officer means the absolute world to me,” she said. “FFA has been a major thing in high school, and the opportunity to run and receive state office is a really cool experience. I can’t thank FFA enough for providing this opportunity. There’s a lot of ways for each of us to grow personally and it will be beneficial and I’m honored to serve Indiana FFA as a whole.”
