Assistant Editor Jerry Lindsey wrote this feature and took the photograph.
The Agriculture program at Morrison High School returned to the curriculum five years ago. It now proudly salutes the accomplishments of one of its students.
Senior Dakota Houzenga, daughter of April and Kevin Houzenga, recently was notified of her prestigious, upcoming reward. She fulfilled the criteria for one of the highest recognition awards within the Illinois State FFA Organization. In the first week in June 2022, Houzenga will journey to Springfield, IL, to receive the Illinois State FFA Degree award.
This recognition requires a four-year commitment to performing and recording the details of her selected agriculture experience.
Choosing cattle as her project while in the eighth grade, her concentration had to fulfill the criteria outlined by the Illinois State FFA. Some of the guidelines required for entrance into this elite group of FFA students are:
- 2-year membership in the State FFA
- 2-years of record keeping of the designated project
- earn at least $1500 in a supervised Ag experience
- invest at least $1000 in an Ag experience
- demonstrate leadership qualities
- perform at least ten procedures of parliamentary procedure
- prepare and present a six-minute speech on a topic related to Ag or FFA
- serve as an FFA officer
- participate in at least five different FFA activities above the local chapter level
- maintain at least a 2.5 g.p.a. (4.0 scale) or be within the top 40% of the class
- perform at least 25 hours of community service in an area unrelated to the supervised Ag experience being judged.
These stringent guidelines restrict the annual awards earned to about 1.5-to-2.0 % of all the Illinois State FFA members.
Dakota credits her success to the the lessons she learned over the past years. She urges other students to “get involved…Don’t wait.”
“I have learned so much!” she noted with a proud smile.
Gabrielle Cultra, Morrison High School Agriculture Instructor and FFA Supervisor, added her comments on Dakota’s accomplishments. “Dakota is a four-year member of the Morrison FFA Chapter. She has always gone above and beyond to support the FFA chapter, through volunteering her time and stepping out of her comfort zone. She has been a great asset and role model to the chapter and will be missed when she graduates.”