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The University of Georgia |
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The University of Georgia |
President Carter Celebrates Presidents Day
and Georgia FFA's 75th Birthday
Plains, Georgia -- As the only U.S. president to serve as a member and chapter officer of the FFA, President Jimmy Carter chose to spend his President's Day holiday weekend honoring the organization that set him on the road to worldwide leadership. President Carter served as grand marshal of the Georgia FFA charter celebration on February 13, 2004 in his hometown of Plains, GA. The Georgia FFA celebrated 75 years of student leadership and filled a time capsule with images, documents and memorabilia from each of more than 200 state-wide chapters.
President's Day is a national holiday designated to honor all former presidents of the United States of America. FFA members from throughout Georgia came to Plains at the beginning of the Presidents' Day weekend to celebrate the organizations 75th birthday and honor President Carter.
The FFA celebration showcased more than 2,000 Georgia FFA members clad in their familiar blue corduroy jackets. with marching bands leading the parade. As part of the FFA ceremony, President Carter built a time capsule that was unveiled that day and watched each chapter president place their chapter's history in the hand-crafted box. President Carter congratulated the Georgia delegation on 75 years of success and commented on how FFA was a determining factor in his leadership building character.
FFA is an integral component of agricultural education. FFA encourages students to grow through leadership activities, career formulation and personal developmental growth. Agricultural curriculum offers formal instruction. The third component, and outside-of-class supervised experience program, gives students hands-on experience in more than 300 agricultural career areas.
The National FFA Organization is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of more tan 460,00 young people by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through middle and high school agricultural education curriculum. The Georgia FFA Association is comprised of nearly 21,500 members and is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2004.