Buckingham County Future Farmers of America celebrates a year of growth at their annual awards banquet. The middle school and high school branches of the local chapter came together to be honored for their achievements, which included first time participation in several state FFA activities, numerous local and regional award winners, and unprecedented club growth. According to the official FFA manual, the program is “structured as a degree program and rewards active FFA members for progress in all phases of leadership, skills, and occupational development,” so two of the most important awards conferred that evening were the Discovery FFA Degree and the Greenhand FFA Degree, awards that can only be earned by completing rigorous criteria at the chapter level. Recipients of the Discovery FFA Degree are pictured in the left photo and include (front row) Mya Chambers, (2nd row) Kaitlyn Martin, Mia Garrett, Tyshea Chambers, Kayleah Corral, (back row) Brianna Walters, Latia Tyree, Dylan Price, and Tamiyah Gough. Recipients of the Greenhand FFA Degree are pictured in the bottom photo and include (front row) Amanda Bryan, Will Auten, (back row) Amanda Smith, Brittany Crafton, Alexandra O’Neill, and DeShawn Forbes. (Photo by Letitia Montgomery-Rodgers)