Signal Knob Middle School named the nation’s top middle school FFA chapter
The chapter, based in Strasburg, Virginia, beat out more than 9,000 other middle schools.
Signal Knob Middle School’s Virginia FFA chapter was named the 2024 National Middle School Model of Excellence winner during the 2024 National FFA Convention & Expo in October in Indianapolis. The chapter beat out more than 9,000 other middle schools to be recognized as the best in the nation for its efforts to grow leaders, build communities, and strengthen agriculture.
“I’m incredibly proud,” said Dakota Stroud, an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor at Signal Knob Middle School. “We put a lot of work into our program of activities to ensure they meet the needs of our students, school, and community. For our chapter to have this recognition is just amazing. It’s a testament to our members’ hard work.”
Chapter Vice President Piper Dellinger and member Emmalee Hamrick, both ninth graders, represented the chapter onstage at the convention, delivering a 15-minute presentation on the many activities and events their chapter hosts to serve its members, school, and community.
“I feel so great because I’ve seen a lot of work get put in during the year,” Dellinger said in an FFA interview at the convention, just after the award was announced. “It feels amazing to get that gifted back to us.”
Located in Strasburg, Virginia, Signal Knob Middle School has 192 members who embody the FFA motto, “Living to Serve.” During the past year, they collected food for a food bank, led tours for 1,200 second and fifth grade students at the county fairgrounds, held a workshop on artificial intelligence technology in agriculture, and hosted a picnic for FFA members, families, and the community.
Signal Knob has been a top Virginia FFA middle school chapter two years in a row. Both the Virginia Association of Agricultural Educators and the National Association of Agricultural Educators honored Stroud as an outstanding early-career agriculture teacher.
After returning home with their award, chapter members were honored with a parade and police escort through town. They also were invited to join President Joe Biden and other guests at the White House’s presidential Thanksgiving turkey pardon, where Biden remarked on the importance of FFA and 4-H as catalysts for youth and agriculture education.
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 one million student members as part of 9,163 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.
