This article was edited to recognize the work of Wright City R-II  agriculture teacher Mrs. Kelsey Kemry. 

This fall, three Warren County FFA members will receive the highest honor available to FFA participants, the American Degree. 

Corbin Schone of Wright City along with Gavin Wright and Kelsey Miller of Warrenton will receive their degrees at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis in October. 

The American Degree is the highest degree available through the national FFA organization, according to their website. Recipients must have already received a state FFA degree, been members for at least three years and are required to complete a supervised agricultural experience project. There are also scholastic, leadership and community service requirements. 

According to the National FFA website “the American FFA Degree shows an FFA member’s dedication to his or her chapter and state FFA association. It demonstrates the effort FFA members apply toward their supervised agricultural experience and the outstanding leadership abilities and community involvement they exhibited through their FFA career.”

Schone will be the first American Degree recipient from Wright City since 1997, and said he joined the FFA early in his high school career to follow in his mother’s footsteps. 

While he had extensive involvement in FFA programs during his high school days, including showing hogs, cattle and rabbits at the county fair, his real passion has been welding. 

“I got involved because of my dad, he showed me at a very young age how to mig weld, and I’ve basically been hooked since then,” Schone said. 

Schone said he was able to hone his skills as a welder through FFA programs and is now working as a traveling welder for MD&A Turbines, making repairs to turbine blades around the country. 

Schone is not the only American Degree recipient who has used his experience to begin a career in welding, as Gavin Wright of Warrenton also works as a welder with Metal Fabricators of St. Louis. 

Gavin was also driven towards FFA by family, and set his sights on the American Degree early, as his mother, Alisa Wright, had also received one during her time with the FFA. 

“When I learned about (the American Degree) I kind of wanted to strive to get that degree as well, and so I set my sights on that and learned how I could receive it,” said Wright. 

Along with his experience with Metal Fabricators of St. Louis, Wright also completed a supervised agricultural experience, purchasing a foal from one of his classmates and raising it. 

He cared for the foal during his junior and senior years of high school and also completed some farrier work on the horse. 

He was proud of his accomplishment and looked forward to receiving his degree in October. 

“I’ve accomplished the highest I could get, as a member, as well as accomplishing what my mom accomplished during her high school membership,” Wright said. 

Kelsey Miller took a slightly different route to her American Degree. While there are some requirements that are the same, like completing a supervised agricultural experience, there are plenty of avenues to achieve the milestones necessary for the degree. 

Miller earned a number of officer positions, first within the Warrenton and larger area FFA chapters, eventually ascending to a state officer position before she completed her time with the organization. 

“My leadership roles in the organization got all the way up to the state level. And I can honestly say that without being in FFA, or if I were to not have been in FFA, I definitely would not have had the experiences and been able to go out into a crowd and speak in public, or just be on an officer team,” said Miller. 

She also completed her supervised agricultural experience raising beef cattle, and she also worked at Davis Meat Processing in Jonesburg helping to maintain the operations at the plant. 

She is currently a sophomore at the University of Missouri and is majoring in agricultural education with a certification in teaching. She hopes to work as an ag teacher here in Missouri and inspire her students to follow in her footsteps. 

“Hopefully, I can inspire my students, … So that they fit it, so that it fits them, just like it fit me,” said Miller. 

While Schone continues to work as a traveling welder, he hopes to one day strike out on his own and operate his own welding company. 

“I'm looking to own my own company eventually, which hopefully here soon, not like too soon, but soon enough,” said Schone. 

While Wright is currently working as a welder, he is also attending St. Charles Community College and hopes to pursue a degree in engineering. 

“I hope to just get that next accomplishment, next degree, whether it's my associates or furthering, to get a Bachelor's in engineering, maybe in mechanical engineering or electrical engineering,” said Wright. 

All three students were quick to praise the teachers and family members who helped them achieve these goals, including Amy Kesler and Kelsey Kemry at Wright City High School and Warrenton High School ag teachers Daniel Burkemper and Diane Miederhoff. 

“Both of them, (Burkemper and Miederhoff)  I can honestly say, have impacted me so much. It's hard to pick one or the other, I could say that has impacted me more because they each showed me different aspects of the organization as well as the industry, and have helped me grow as a person so much,” Miller said.