Students from the Lakeland High School chapter of the Future Farmers of America journeyed to Indianapolis recently for the organization’s national convention.

Two seniors, Chelsea Fay and Brooke Young, and two alumnae, Jamie Durden and Anne Howell, visited the three-day convention with their agriculture teacher, Ronald Daughtrey, last week.

All FFA chapters from across the nation are invited to the convention every year to participate in workshops, tours, a career fair and other events dealing with agriculture.

“They’re getting the FFA experience, but it’s also the experience of being in a big city,” Daughtrey said.

The Lakeland students got the chance to attend several workshops, including ones on landscape architecture, and tour the facilities at Indiana Veneers and landscaping company The Brickman Group.

“The tours are meant to be hands-on,” Daughtrey said.

At the landscaping headquarters, the students got a lesson in pruning and the opportunity to drive Bobcat equipment.

“It was so fun,” Young said. “I really liked riding the Bobcats.”

She added she didn’t know how or why to prune plants prior to the lesson.

Any FFA student can attend the convention. They pay for their transportation, lodging, entertainment and food while the FFA chapter covers their convention ticket.

Fay attended last year, but this was the first time Young, who has only been in FFA for one year, went to the convention.

Young said she wanted to go to the convention because she wants to be active in FFA.

“I just really liked (agriculture) class, and I thought this would help me enjoy it more,” she said.

Daughtrey said more than learning about agricultural topics, the convention is a chance for the students to meet new people.

“You get to meet people from all over the country,” he said.

In addition to the various activities, the convention held more for the Lakeland alumnae.

Howell and Durden, as well as two other Lakeland grads — Curt Pulley and Carson Daughtrey — were awarded FFA American degrees, the highest degree offered in the organization.

Daughtrey said the degree is given to FFA members who go above and beyond in their involvement in the group, and less than 2 percent of the nation’s 500,000 FFA members get the honor.

“It’s very elite,” he said.

Pulley and Daughtrey weren’t available to attend the conference, but Howell and Durden accepted their degree alongside 62 other Virginia students.

Daughtrey said he thinks the convention is a great experience for the students, and he was glad they could attend.