Independence FFA

That’s a wrap on the Kansas State FFA Convention 2026! And what a great week it’s been!

Madelin Beshear is THIRD in the State for Employability Skills! We are so so proud of her and all of her accomplishments! And in true Madelin fashion, she jetted off right after results to a REAL job interview!

On Friday morning Zayne Al-Bureni and Natalie Anderson received their Kansas State FFA Degrees. This is a huge milestone in their FFA careers! It truly goes to show how much work they have put in on their SAEs.

Our students had so many opportunities throughout the week to experience all that FFA has to offer. We attended multiple sessions, listened to several speakers, watched the Discussion Meet finals and spent lots of “family time” together!

Day 1 of the Kansas State FFA Convention is going to be hard to beat! Mrs. Devlin and Madelin Beshear started their day at the Employability Skills LDE. Madelin has spent a huge amount of time over the past several months preparing for this contest by writing a résumé and cover letter, filling out a job application and preparing for an actual one-on-one interview with a judge. After all her hard work to prepare for this contest, Madelin had an awesome preliminary round and qualified for the finals round. She is one of six individuals! We will find out results for this contest today at the Third General Session at 2:00pm. It will be streamed live on watchacrestv.com!

While, Madelin was busy competing, Mr. O’Brien and the other kids spent time exploring the Opportunities Fair, where they got to meet with potential colleges and employers, and touring the Hall Ross Flour Mill. To end our very full day, we attended the Opening Session for Convention in Morgan Family Stadium for the first time and what an awesome experience it was!

Over the last week, Independence FFA members have spent a lot of time beautifying our incredible community! This year, with the help of Duane Small, we were able to secure the contract with Independence Main Street in order to supply all of the plants for the downtown hanging baskets as well as the large planters at Patio 210! All the baskets are hung up, the planters are potted up, and they will be beautiful all summer long! We also had the opportunity to work with MATCOR to brighten up the front of their building! The IHS Woodshop & Manufacturing department built the planters, and our Intro to Ag classes planted them. Our horticulture students spent a large part of their week last week working on designing 3-rose vases for Mother’s Day! They did an incredible job on their designs, and we fulfilled over 30 orders! Lastly, we got to honor the amazing Alicia Yates, owner of Twigs Floral & Gifts, Inc., with her Honorary FFA Degree for all of the support that she has shown our program over the last 3 years. Our floral design program would not be what it is today without her and her employees at Twigs' help!

If you’re downtown, please check out the gorgeous flowers! And if you see an Independence FFA member, congratulate them on a job well done!

After a long few days in Manhattan at the 2026 Kansas State FFA CDEs, our CDE season is officially wrapped up for the year! And what a great way to end it! A huge congratulations to our teams and individuals on their strong finishes on the State Level:

Floriculture: 4th Place Team (out of 40 teams!)
-Madelin Beshear, 5th Place Individual
-Zayne Al-Bureni, 14th Place Individual
-Patrick Bolin, 17th Place Individual
-Madilynn Horning

Nursery Landscape: 10th Place Team
-Madelin Beshear, 15th Place Individual
-Cowen Jabben
-Jayden Whitley
-Madilynn Horning

We are so proud of the hard work our students showed throughout the year. 4th place in Floriculture is a huge accomplishment, and it truly shows how skilled our students are. We are excited to celebrate these students and all the progress made along the way!

Our Floriculture and Nursery Landscape teams have been hard at work this week competing at the 2026 Kansas State FFA CDEs! Tune in at 2:00pm today to watch the awards ceremony!

Join us live at 2 p.m. for the stream of the K-State College of Agriculture Career Development Event Award Ceremony. 16 Kansas FFA teams will be announced as state champions amogst over 14,000 members and 240 chapters!

The IHS FFA "Horticulture, Floriculture & Greenhouse Management" Class is very excited to offer a Mother's Day 3-Rose Vase Sale! These student-made designs are perfect to brighten your home or show your love and appreciation for moms, grandmothers, or someone special in your life!

Each student-made arrangement is $20. We are offering $5 delivery within the Independence area on May 8th, or designs can be picked up from the Ag Building on the same day. Orders are due May 5th at 8:30 am. There are only 25 designs available, so act fast and get yours ordered today!

The order form is attached below and includes payment options (cash, check, or card) and pickup/delivery details. Purchases directly support our horticulture program and provide our students with valuable experience in floral design, customer service and project management!

Link to order form: https://forms.gle/Bxz65BJVnvtazMHN7

Last night we celebrated Independence FFA at our Chapter Banquet, and was a great reminder of what makes this program so special!

From recognizing the hard work and dedication of our members, to celebrating growth, leadership, and accomplishments over the past year, it was a night full of pride and reflection. Watching students step up, be recognized and support one another never gets old.

A huge thank you to our members, officers, parents, and community supporters who continue to make this chapter strong. Your commitment is what keeps our program thriving. Looking forward to another year of opportunities, leadership, and success!

Join us for the Independence FFA Chapter Banquet as we celebrate an incredible year of hard work, leadership, and success by our members!

📅 Date: April 22, 2026
⏰ Time: 6:00pm
📍 Location: IHS Cafeteria

The evening will include a meal, awards, degree recognition, and special moments highlighting our chapter’s achievements. We would love for our members and their families to be part of this special night!

Please RSVP by April 20th using this link: https://forms.gle/GuoDURigahpZtLYx7

We can’t wait to celebrate with you! 🎉

Yesterday was INCREDIBLE, let’s do it again today! We still have a good selection of quality plants available - especially 4.5 inch pots and hanging baskets! We have lots of purslane, verbena, lantana, sweet potato, angelonia, petunias and more! It’s an inside shopping experience, so don’t let the rain deter you! Come see us TODAY from 11:00am to 2:00pm at the IHS Greenhouse!