Seven Virginians receive the FFA’s highest honors for contributions to agricultural education

Seven Virginians earned the FFA’s highest honors for their longstanding contributions to agricultural education at the 97th National FFA Convention & Expo, held in Indianapolis, Oct. 23-26.

The Honorary American FFA Degree, which recognizes individuals who have provided exceptional service on a national level to agriculture, agricultural education, or FFA, was awarded to the following Virginians:

• Philip Haynie II, the fourth-generation operator of Haynie Farms, from Burgess
• Shirley J. Gordon-Kaufman, an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor at Buffalo Gap High School, from Mount Sidney
• Andrew Schmitt, an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor at Buckingham High School, from Dillwyn
• Amy Stevens '93, M.S. '94, an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor at Read Mountain Middle School, from Fincastle
• Cathy Sutphin '81, M.S. '92, Ph.D. ’99, the associate director for youth, families, and health at Virginia Cooperative Extension, from Blacksburg
• Carly Woolfolk '05, the director of secondary and career/technical education for Dinwiddie County Public Schools, from Burkeville

Andy Seibel '85, M.S. '86, the executive secretary of Virginia FFA, was honored with the VIP Citation, which recognizes individuals who have dedicated 20 years of service to FFA and agricultural education on the national level.

Awardees are nominated by their state FFA organization and approved by the National FFA Organization’s board of directors.

FFA was founded at Virginia Tech in 1925 by four agricultural education teachers. Today, the National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 1 million student members as part of 9,235 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education.