National FFA president excited to connect members with opportunities

INDIANAPOLIS — Thaddeus Bergschneider is excited about connecting FFA members to opportunities through partners during his year as the National FFA president.

“I think of a national officer as being a conduit between our stakeholders and members,” said Bergschneider, who was elected the National FFA president during the recent 97th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis.

Along with Bergschneider, the other National FFA officers elected include: Secretary Luke Jennings of Ohio, Central Region Vice President Mary Schrieber of Wisconsin, Eastern Region Vice President Caroline Groth of Kentucky, Western Region Vice President Abigale Jacobsen of California and Southern Region Vice President Jack Lingenfelter of Georgia.

“Agriculture has obstacles and challenges and FFA members are the answer,” said Bergschneider, a former member of the Franklin FFA Chapter.

“I’m excited about working with Microsoft on how we can create a better tech pipeline for agriculture and getting new sponsors for the new initiatives and programs we want to do while supporting our current initiatives.”

As the leader of the national organization that includes over a million members, Bergschneider will have the opportunity to meet with many agricultural companies.

“I love talking about business strategy and the future of agriculture with ag executives,” said the son of Paul and Janie Bergschneider.

“I am a leader who is open and vulnerable because that is the thing I needed when I was in high school, a leader who is willing to say I struggled before and it’s not easy,” he said. “And willing to be that open in order that they can go on their journey and have a little bit of an easier time.”

“I think hardship builds us into who we are,” he noted. “But easier in that they know that it’s OK to struggle, and when you get out of it, it will make you a greater person.”

Bergschneider is looking forward to meeting FFA members, especially eighth grade and freshman students.

“I want to talk to them about what they are interested in and here’s why you should continue to get involved so you can align your interests with what we can provide,” he said.

One of Bergschneider’s favorite quotes comes from the “Man in the Arena” speech by Theodore Roosevelt.

“I pretty much said that to myself every day during the national officer process and that comforted me,” he said. “Knowing that whether I experienced victory or defeat, what mattered was I was spending myself on a worthy cause.”

The name of the new FFA president is the last one of six officers to be announced during the election process.

“As the names of other officers were called, the message I kept repeating to myself the whole time was I wouldn’t change a thing,” Bergschneider said. “That brought me a lot of peace, knowing that elected or not I showed transparently who I was.”

“And then getting elected, it was pure shock,” said Bergschneider, who is advised by Brent Nelson and Kaitlyn Kane.

The National FFA officer election process is much different than how FFA members are elected in Illinois, said Bergschneider, who served as the 2023-2024 Illinois FFA state president.

“We were in Indianapolis for a week and there were seven rounds, so we met with the nominating committee every day for about an hour and a half,” he said.

“Every day you have to be ready to perform and then make sure you don’t psych yourself out the other 22 and a half hours.”

Bergschneider wore his dad’s FFA jacket on the day he was elected National FFA president and it is the first FFA jacket he wore to an FFA ag sales contest.

“My intention of wearing it was if I wasn’t elected that would be the last FFA jacket I ever wore, so my first and my last,” Bergschneider said.

“Instead, what a moment for someone from the small town of Franklin to trade it in for the National FFA president’s jacket.”

“It’s a crazy journey that I could not have imagined walking into the Franklin FFA Chapter with 14 students in my class from a town of 500 people and now I’m the president of a national organization,” he said.

“I’m working with an officer team that can’t wait to impact and lead this organization,” he said. “That blows my mind because you never know where your journey is going to take you, so the most important thing is to enjoy the moment and the people around you.”

Bergschneider enjoys writing and has journals going back to his high school freshman year.

“I went through my past journals and there’s a line from when I went to my first National FFA Convention,” he said. “It says something along the lines of, ‘Wow, being a national officer would be so amazing — they’re rock stars.’”

Whenever he is thinking about a decision, Bergschneider said, he uses his journals for reflection.

“I can go back and see how I made decisions in the past,” he said. “I can see what I was thinking at the time and it’s really cool to be able to see the whole journey of who I’ve become and how I’ve grown.”

During his year as the National FFA president, Bergschneider will put his college education on hold.

He is currently a freshman at the University of Illinois, where his concentration is finance and agribusiness in the major of agricultural and consumer economics.