07/11/2026
Allen FFA Members have been busy this summer between judging camps, leadership retreats, and taking care of their animal projects! This week 20 students from Allen met with thousands of other FFA members from across the state in Fort Worth TX for the 98th Texas FFA State Convention.
Monday: Students attended the Texas FFA Rodeo cheering for FFA members from across the state as they competed in everything from Barrels to Bulls! Our students then watched a cattle drive and learned about the importance of the stockyards in the cattle industry and Texas Agriculture history.
Tuesday: Started the day off at the Honorary Lonestar Degree Ceremony celebrating Jeff & Andrea Cantu as well as Judy Eastburn. The Honorary Lonestar Degree is awarded to community members and supporters who have provided exceptional service and continuous support to Agriculture, Agricultural Education, and the FFA. Later that morning we recognized three of our Lonestar Degree Recipients. These are students that have demonstrated exceptional leadership, success in their supervised agricultural experience project, and have been active in our FFA chapter for three years.
This year's recipients are:
Reagan Reed - Class of 2027 - Reagan currently serves as our chapter FFA president. Competes in Farm Business Management, Horse Judging, Chapter Conducting, and competed at the area level public speaking contest. Reagan currently teaches horse riding lessons to students of all ages and rides competitively.
Lauren Scanlan - Class of 2027 - Lauren currently serves as our chapter FFA vice president. Competes in FFA Quiz and the Nursery Landscape CDE contest. Lauren also raises a couple hundred chickens each year in her broiler SAE project. She raises, shows, and markets the chickens after processing.
Camila Pena Monge - Class of 2027 - Camila currently serves as our Treasurer. She competes in Chapter Conducting, Nursery Landscape, and Floral Design competitions. Her SAE projects include both her broiler chicken projects and her floral design work.
Sarah Conyers was unable to attend convention this summer, but also maintains an active equine science SAE project.
Tuesday evening our students attended the annual Kick-Off concert where they were able to see Aaron Watson perform inside the Fort Worth convention center arena.
Wednesday: On Wednesday our FFA students attended three convention sessions participating in a business session where students voted to amend the Texas FFA Constitution. We heard retiring addresses, a keynote delivered by Courtenay DeHoff, and many other presenters and speakers. Wednesday evening Reagan and Lauren walked the stage to accept Allen FFA's Gold Rated National Chapter Award. This award is presented to the top chapters in the state based on the program of activities that the chapter student leadership develops. Allen FFA was actually rated in the top 25 in the state and our application was sent to National FFA for judging at the national level.
Thursday: Our students split up today and attended leadership workshops, visted with colleges about opportunities to study agriculture after high school, and served as delegates during the convention sessions. Thursday evening we returned to the convention center wearing neon instead of the blue corduroy jackets. The fun night theme this year was 'Neon Nights' and our FFA members had a blast listening to the 12 area talent teams competing at the annual talent contest.
Friday: Today our FFA members attended the final session of the convention where they heard two retiring addresses and saw the installation of the 26-27 State FFA officer team before heading back home to Allen.
Other important things that happened this week:
Our Student Advisor - Avah Cantu - not only is an excellent leader in our Allen FFA chapter, but takes her leadership skills to the next level with the District 4 officer team. She was able to continue serving in that role at convention this week and was always helping members of the district and area get plugged in and get the most out of convention.
A special thank you is necessary for our Allen FFA Alumni and Supporters for their support of our students this week. The Alumni and Supports fed our students several meals and assisted in getting our students everything they needed at convention.
A VERY special thank you to Andrea Cantu for assisting Mr. Brill and Mrs. Schertz this week. While the advisors were busy with students in sessions, she was able to coordinate food and help with so many other tasks to allow our FFA members to get the most out of the convention. Thank you!!
