’s
Today’s Farm FALL 2023
Luke Gordon to receive American FFA Degree Award to be presented during 2023 national convention BY JULIE BUNTJER The Globe
WORTHINGTON — A 2022 Worthington High School graduate will receive the highest honor in the FFA organization during the National FFA Convention in early November in Indianapolis, Indiana. Luke Gordon, now a junior at South Dakota State University, recently learned he will be among the 2023 recipients of the American FFA Degree. He will be the 28th individual in the history of the Worthington FFA Chapter to receive the award. He is also the first in his family to earn the American degree, which comes with a gold FFA emblem and certificate. “I was pretty excited,” Gordon said of learning in mid-August that he would receive the honor. WHS FFA Advisors Matt Tripp and Katie Christopher shared the news with him. “It meant a lot to me that I was chosen; being the
first one in my family was a pretty cool accomplishment for me.” While Gordon isn’t sure if he will be able to accept the American FFA degree in person in Indianapolis, he can be assured his name will join the high school’s coveted list of recipients on a display in the ag room. It’s a display he’d admired as a student and, much like others who go through the program, was challenged by. “When I first started FFA, I was really passionate — really excited — to get involved,” Gordon shared. “We have a big chapter and a lot of my friends were involved (in the organization). “There’s a state degree wall and American degree wall,” he added. “Finding family members’ names on the state degree wall was really good motivation to want to do that as well.”
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Contributed / Luke Gordon