Students from Kentucky, Delaware, Georgia, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin were elected by National FFA Delegates to serve as 2021-22 National FFA officers.
These members were selected from 37 candidates vying for the honor. Candidates take part in an extensive interview process with the National FFA Officer Nominating Committee leading up to the selection. The new team was announced during the seventh general session of the 94th National FFA Convention & Expo on Saturday.
Cole Baerlocher, an agricultural education major from Washington, was elected national president. He attends Oregon State University.
Jackson Sylvester, an agriculture major from Delaware, was elected national secretary. He attends the University of Delaware.
Cortney Zimmerman, an agricultural communications major from Wisconsin, was elected central region vice president. She attends South Dakota State University.
Erik Robinson Jr., a criminal justice major from Georgia, was elected southern region vice president. He attends the University of Georgia.
Josiah Cruikshank, a business administration and mechanical engineering major from Oregon, was elected western region vice president. He attends Oregon State University.
Mallory White, an agronomy major from Kentucky, was elected eastern region vice president. She attends Murray State University in Kentucky.
Each year during the National FFA Convention & Expo, six students are elected by delegates to represent the organization as national officers. Delegates elect a president, secretary, and vice presidents representing the country's central, southern, eastern, and western regions.
Throughout their year of service to the National FFA Organization, the officers will interact with business and industry leaders; thousands of FFA members and teachers; corporate sponsors; government and education officials; state FFA leaders; the general public; and more. The team will lead personal growth and leadership training conferences for FFA members throughout the country and help set policies that will guide the future of FFA and the next generation of leaders.
The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 735,000 student members as part of 8,817 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
More than 4,656 students applied online for the scholarships, with many applicants being considered for multiple awards. The scholarships were available to students pursuing two-year or four-year degrees, or vocational certification or specialized training programs. The average recipient had a GPA of 3.77 on a 4.0 scale.
This year marks the 37th year for the scholarship program, which began in 1984 with 16 scholarships offered. Since then, more than $50 million have been awarded in scholarship funds through the National FFA Organization.
The selection process considers the whole student, including FFA involvement, work experience, supervised agricultural experience, community service, leadership skills, academics and financial need.
"We know that our FFA members are the next generation of leaders who will change the world," said Michele Sullivan, senior manager of local engagement for the organization. "These scholarships are just one more way to support them on the next steps in their educational journeys."
A list of recipients is available on the FFA scholarship webpage at FFA.org/Scholarships. Recipients are listed first by the states where their high schools are located and then alphabetically by student first name.
Information regarding the 2022 FFA Scholarships program will be available on the scholarship website beginning today.
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