By DOUG GRAVES

Ohio Correspondent

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Kolesen McCoy did not grow up on a farm, but has grown to love agriculture through his involvement in FFA locally, then as the Ohio FFA president, and now as at the national level.

 McCoy, a member of the Global Impact STEM Academy FFA Chapter in Springfield and now a student at Ohio State University, was selected as the National FFA President at the 92nd National FFA Convention held in Indianapolis last month.

“It’s been a mix of emotions and a roller coaster of a ride for sure,” McCoy said. “It’s a very humbling experience. When I heard my name I was shocked and overwhelmed with excitement.”

 Heading into the 2019 National FFA Convention, the organization announced a record-high student membership of 700,170. During the next year, Kolesen will be representing each of those members as the third National FFA President from Ohio. The other National FFA presidents from Ohio were Bobby Jones (1933-1934) and Mark Sanborn (1978-1979). McCoy said he is looking forward to building upon that heritage.

 “It was a whirlwind of a week at the convention,” Kolesen said, “and this whole experience with FFA has been incredibly humbling. It excites me to think we’ve had a little over 500 officers ever in the 92-year history of FFA and to think that a kid from Springfield has been given this amazing opportunity to serve at the national level is mind-boggling. I’m definitely on cloud nine right now.”

 His lure into agriculture came by way of the Global Impact STEM Academy.

 “I was to attend Clark Shawnee High School but they didn’t offer an ag program, and I fell in love with the STEM program,” Kolesen said. “The STEM program was just different and offered some pretty unique perspectives on agriculture and bio technology.”

 During his freshman year he and a few others were approached about starting an FFA program at the school. Kolesen jumped at that opportunity.

 “I was curious and never set eyes on that blue jacket before and decided to go for it,” he said. “Once it got started I got into a few competitions and the leadership, along with communications and public speaking, caught my eye. That led me to agriculture.”

 Kolesen retired from office as State FFA President in May of this year, and has since undergone a competitive process to represent FFA on the six-person national team.

 “And I can say that when I look at the five people around me there is a consistent message, that they are not here for themselves,” he said. “They are very grounded in their faith and they are incredibly motivated to serve those around them.”

 Each year the National FFA Convention & Expo, six students are elected by delegates to represent the organization as national officers. Delegates elect a president, secretary and five presidents representing the central, southern, eastern and western regions of the country. Those officers will log roughly 100,000 miles in travel throughout the 2020 year to interact with business and industry leaders, thousands of FFA members and teachers, corporate sponsors, government and education officials and the general public.

 “I didn’t grow up in production agriculture, but I can genuinely say the reasons I pursued this industry are the people in this industry,” Kolesen said. “It’s such a noble profession. I have seen how much agriculture is involved with everything we do. It is very easy to fall in love with the people of agriculture and I cannot imagine turning any other direction than towards agriculture.”