2017 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 46
BY SENATOR THOMPSON
A RESOLUTION
To recognize the 100th anniversary of the Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education
Act, to designate April 27, 2017, as FFA Day at the Louisiana State Capitol, and to
commend the state officers of the Louisiana FFA Association.
WHEREAS, in 1917, Congress passed the Smith-Hughes National Vocational
Education Act to appropriate federal dollars to states for the purpose of funding teachers,
supervisors, and directors of agricultural subjects as well as trade, home economics, and
industrial subjects in high schools across the United States and has funded programs created
pursuant to the Act since; and
WHEREAS, in the early 1920s, student interest generated by the addition of these
classes prompted the first state organization of future farmers, and in 1928, thirty-three
students from eighteen different states convened to form Future Farmers of America (FFA),
known today as the National FFA Organization; and
WHEREAS, the goal of FFA, as conceptualized in their mission statement, is to
make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier
leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education; and
WHEREAS, the FFA motto, "Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live,
Living to Serve" gives members words to live by as they experience the opportunities of the
organization; and
WHEREAS, the national FFA organization consists of more than six hundred
thousand members in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana membership of the FFA organization continues to be
strongly represented by agricultural students in approximately one hundred ninety-five
chapters throughout the state with over ten thousand members; and
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WHEREAS, the members of the Louisiana Senate recognize the importance of
agriculture to the economy of this state, as well as the importance of the education and
training students receive through agricultural education programs that develop competent
and assertive agricultural leadership.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby recognize the 100th anniversary of the Smith-Hughes National Vocational
Education Act and designates April 27, 2017, as FFA Day at the Louisiana State Capitol.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana also
recognizes and commends the 2016-2017 state FFA officers as follows: Gabe Patterson,
president; Layni LeBlanc, secretary; Bryce Franklin, vice president; Bayli Quick, vice
president; Gabrielle Gobert, vice president; Charlotte Streat, vice president; Ashlee Sebren,
treasurer; Holly Kay, reporter; Zac Little, sentinel; and Benjamin Hoover, parliamentarian.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Gabe Patterson, state president of the Louisiana FFA Association.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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