“Living to Serve” is an important part of the FFA motto. One ag leader who has taken that motto to heart is Holly Wagner, who is Deputy Director of Indiana FFA. She has been spending nearly her entire life serving others through the organization.
“I always laugh, because during my first chapter officer interview, I kept saying, ‘I want to give back, and I want to serve FFA as a thank you for all the things they’ve done for me.’ I feel like I’ve spent my entire life trying to say, ‘Thank you’ and give back, and FFA just keeps giving me and my family more and more,” she says.
Growing up on a farm near Sabina, Ohio—which is halfway between Columbus and Cincinnati—she says she was initially drawn to FFA as a little girl because she wanted to follow in her sister’s footsteps.
“My older sister was actually 10 years older than me, and she was in FFA,” she says. “When she would do her speeches or practice for ceremonies, I would stand behind her and pretend to do the speeches behind her, so really I fell in love with FFA right from the beginning.”
She says her sister was an Ohio FFA State Officer, which led Holly to also want to become a State Officer.
“I had just a wonderful opportunity to serve as the Ohio FFA Vice President, and then went on to serve as a National FFA Secretary,” she says. I just had a phenomenal year getting to travel across the country and seeing the wide range of enthusiasm and excitement there is for agriculture education and FFA all across our country.”
Holly says she gained far more than just experience while serving as a National FFA Officer. It was during that time that she met her husband Cody.
“I’ve been an FFA advisor for a long time, and I always tell my students, ‘Go to these FFA events and go do these activities because you never know who you’re going to meet and how your future might be impacted. Just say yes and sign up for that conference or sign up for that event,’ and I did. I was very lucky and I met my future husband, who served as a National FFA Secretary the year before I did and he was originally from a ranch in northern Wyoming.”
Just last year, their son Blaine followed in their footsteps. After he graduated from North Decatur High School, he became an Indiana FFA State Officer and served as South Region Vice President. Their daughter Jessa is a senior at North Decatur High and also involved with FFA.
Having recently served as an ag teacher at Rushville Consolidated High School and as an advisor for Rushville FFA, Holly says she gives a great deal of credit to the many advisors who are pushing and guiding their students.
“We have so many teachers across the State of Indiana who are working hard to give back and to serve,” she says. “They’re doing the hard work in the classrooms in motivating those students, teaching those students, and molding those students into the young leaders that they are. They’re the backbone of our organization and we’re so thankful for them.”
Holly also says she’s looking forward to the 96th Indiana FFA State Convention and the work that has been done by the Indiana FFA State Officer team.
“I’m really proud of the year of service that they’ve given. They’ve continued to be focused on members and are excited about making this a great experience for all the members that will be coming out to the State Convention,” she says.
Hoosier Ag Today will bring you coverage of the 96th Indiana FFA State Convention, which is June 17-19 at Purdue University’s Elliot Hall of Music. Our coverage is presented by McDonald’s of Greater Indiana.
CLICK HERE for the full agenda of the 96th Indiana FFA State Convention.
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