Excitement flows from FFA officers elected at convention

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Adam Loker will focus on developing one-to-one connections with FFA members during the upcoming year as the president of the Illinois Association FFA.

Delegates to the 93rd Illinois FFA Annual Convention elected the following members as state officers during the final session of the event: President Adam Loker, Wayne City Chapter; Vice President Jaton Shaffer, Blue Ridge Chapter; Reporter Lauren Mohr, Normal West Chapter; Secretary Gracie Murphy, Macomb Chapter; and Treasurer Kara Freebairn, Serena Chapter.

Exhilarating, phenomenal, fantastic and amazing were all words Loker used to describe how he felt about his new position as president of Illinois FFA.

“I’m incredibly excited for this year,” Loker said.

“This goes back to my freshman year when I went to the 212 Conference and met the state president, Joey Birrittier,” he said. “My chapter and I really had a connection with Joey and ever since then I wanted to do what Joey did just because of the way he impacted us.”

Loker is focused on impacting the lives of FFA members.

“I’m excited for the conferences and conventions where I can speak to a few hundred, if not a thousand, people, but it’s really the personal touch I look forward to the most,” said the FFA president, who is advised by Jennifer Ehrhart.

Loker lives on a farm where they grow corn and soybeans.

“My record book is crop production placement,” said the son of Roger and Shayna Loker. “I drive tractors for my dad, help to plant, harvest, clean out bins and other general farm work.”

After his year of leading the FFA organization, Loker plans to attend Southern Illinois University to study agribusiness economics.

“I’d love to come back to the farm, as well as pursue something else like trading grain or working as a loan officer at a bank,” Loker said. “I’d like to get experience in different areas.”

Vice President

“I am humbled and honored that the FFA members put their trust in me for the next year,” said Jaton Shaffer. “I can’t say it’s fully hit me yet.”

Shaffer was inspired to hold an FFA officer position by Miriam Hoffman. Hoffman, of Earlville, is the National FFA eastern region vice president.

“She gave the keynote address at our chapter banquet and she shared how her interactions with others shaped her into the person she is,” he said. “That was one of my first true experiences with a state officer and she really inspired a lot of members of our chapter.”

During the past year, Shaffer served as the Section 16 president.

“The joy and excitement people have for the FFA has cemented that I want to give back to the organization that has given so much to me,” Shaffer said.

“My biggest goal is to come in contact with people who haven’t had the opportunity to be in an ag classroom,” said Shaffer, who is advised by Jacalyn Meisner. “It is so important to bridge the gap of ag education and pass that on to people who haven’t had the chance to get involved in an ag program.”

Shaffer lives on his family farm where they grow corn, soybeans, seed soybeans and seed corn.

“I also work at an ag supply store in my home town for going on three years now,” said the son of Dyke and Kendra Shaffer. “It’s been an awesome opportunity to see the retail side of agriculture.”

The FFA member plans to attend the University of Illinois after completing his year as a state officer.

“I’m going to study agriculture and economics, focusing on markets and management,” he said.

Reporter

As the FFA reporter, Lauren Mohr is looking forward to working with greenhand members.

“When I was a greenhand it was the state officers that sparked my interest to get involved,” she said. “And I want to help grow the leadership in the older members to keep building their confidence so they know whatever they put their mind to they can do.”

Mohr raises sheep for her FFA project.

“I added Shorthorn and Simmental cattle to my diversified livestock operation my freshman year and I show dairy heifers for my grandparents,” said the daughter of Brian and Jill Mohr.

“Showing livestock is my thing and I go to around 12 shows a year,” Mohr said. “It’s been fun getting out and taking them for a spin.”

Advised by Parker Bane and John Mackinson, Mohr also enjoys livestock judging.

“Our team won the state FFA livestock judging contest so we’ll compete at the national contest this fall,” she said.

Next year, Mohr will attend Illinois Central College where she will also be a member of the school’s livestock judging team. Her plans include completing her education at a four-year university with a double major in animal science and ag business.

“For my career, I want to be a livestock geneticist,” she said.

Secretary

“I am blessed to have this opportunity and excited for this year,” said Gracie Murphy about becoming the FFA secretary.

Murphy lives in town and her grandparents have a farm.

“Coming from a nontraditional background was a little hard for me,” said the daughter of Robert Lawrence and Wendy Murphy. “But being around so many people who have the same passion for agriculture has been amazing.”

Advised by Wyatt McGrew and Kaity Spangler, Murphy has three FFA projects.

“I have a food service project for my job at Dairy Queen, I have small animal production where I have a pet setting business and I have an ag education project,” she said. “For ag education I visited classrooms to teach lessons and I shadowed my ag advisers.”

Murphy’s college plans are to attend SIU and complete a degree in agricultural education to prepare for a career as an ag teacher.

“Coming into this organization, I didn’t know how much I would love FFA,” Murphy said.

“Wyatt McGrew has really left an impact on me and inspired me to run for a state office and pursue a career in ag education,” she said. “As a freshman I didn’t think this organization was for me, so I want to inspire students that think FFA isn’t for them to branch out and get out of their comfort zone.”

Treasurer

“I’m so excited to work with the four officers and I’m looking forward to growing with them and seeing the leaders they will become,” said Kara Freebairn. “I’m speechless and this is absolutely amazing.”

Freebairn’s sister was the FFA treasurer two years ago.

“Her team really inspired me because I saw how they connected as a team,” said the daughter of Scott and Heather Freebairn. “The impact they were able to make on Illinois FFA was something I wanted to create for myself.”

Freebairn has been raising and showing Simmental cattle since she was 8 years old, as well as working at her family’s feedlot.

“I’ve always been a cattle girl,” she said.

Freebairn typically exhibits her cattle at eight or nine shows from January through September.

“We’ve been to a couple of shows in Iowa, but we mostly go to country fairs around home,” she said. “Showing has taught me about winning and loosing and this process has definitely humbled me, as well.”

As an FFA officer, Freebairn’s goal is to bridge the gap between production and non-traditional agriculture students.

“I want to bring back the attention to production agriculture because I think it’s important we see the value that both these groups have in FFA,” said the FFA treasurer who is advised by Chad Mahler.

Freebairn will attend Lake Land College next year, where she will be a member of the livestock judging team and then transfer to the University of Alaska Fairbanks to complete a degree in agricultural education.

“I want to teach because I’ve seen in the classroom the impact you can have on students and I’ve always longed for a big adventure,” Freebairn said.

“I think Alaska will be a really cool place to teach,” she said. “Illinois FFA has such a great program and Alaska is still struggling to build their program.”

For more information about the Illinois Association FFA, go to www.ilaged.org.