The 95th annual Nebraska FFA State Convention is now in the books. Held the last week in March this year, more than 7,600 FFA members traveled from all corners of the state to Lincoln to attend, and 687 students received their State FFA Degrees during the event.

Among the highlights of the convention was the Nebraska FFA Foundation Career Fair, set up at Pinnacle Bank Arena. With about 110 booths, more than 2,000 FFA members visited the career fair to learn more about careers in agriculture and hear firsthand from future employers.

But the convention is more than career exploration. Beyond the contests, competitions, awards and pageantry, FFA members are there to serve. More than 850 members participated, in partnership with Union Bank and Trust and Mercy Meals, to provide indirect service engagement by packaging thousands of meals that will be delivered to children in need.

During the 2022 “Living to Serve” campaign, nearly 81,000 meals were packaged. This is just one example of how FFA members make a positive impact in their local communities, but the campaign during the convention allowed them to pool their efforts to make a big difference in the packaging of the meals.

Helping Hand Award

Speaking of service, FFA wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything without FFA advisors and agriculture education instructors across the state. That’s why each year, one Nebraska FFA advisor is awarded the Gary Scharf Helping Hand Award, recognizing a Nebraska agriculture teacher for what they have done in helping others, specifically in school and the community outside of the classroom and FFA.

Gary Scharf, for whom the award is named, grew up on a family farm outside of Curtis, Neb., and worked in the ag chemical industry, making a significant contribution over the years through service on the Nebraska FFA Foundation board, serving as board president in 2002-03. Scharf was a victim of an Omaha mall shooting in December 2007.

This year’s Scharf award winner was Kurt VanDeWalle, FFA advisor at the Fillmore Central FFA chapter. In the spirit of Scharf, VanDeWalle has taught for more than 20 years, leading efforts to develop the ag educators mentoring program, chairing committees and serving on boards as part of Nebraska Team Ag Ed.

According to a Nebraska FFA Foundation news release, business leader Brady Jenschke wrote that VanDeWalle is an ag teacher who “truly does not ‘see’ or otherwise realize the incredible transformative investment he has made in future generations of Nebraskans through his leadership and education of others in his ag classroom simply by doing what he does best — showing up for others, being deeply committed to agriculture, and leading with a helping heart.”

Outside of FFA, VanDeWalle has served his community as volunteer fireman and EMT. He has assisted with Ohiowa Days and is on the worship committee and is a trustee for Geneva United Methodist Church. He has also spent endless hours promoting Wilber Czech Days.

The highlights

Other highlights from this year’s state convention include:

Next year’s State FFA Convention is set for April 3-5 in Lincoln. Learn more or view each session of the past convention at neaged.org.