May 8 was an emotional day for 12 Montgomery County FFA seniors.

First, they spent their last day at Montgomery County High School. Hours later, they spent their last day in a MCHS FFA uniform.

Skylar Bethmann, Rhett Bishop, Gracie Cobb, Kaylie Marie Davis, Colby Ellis, Cassidy Holmes, Mackenzie Kelling, Wyatt March, Karter Reagan, Riley Reid, Trice Roden and Jacob Teson were honored near the end of the MCHS FFA Spring Banquet at the school’s gymnasium. All of them hung up their FFA jackets in a wooden coat rack.

The chapter retiring ceremony was an emotional one for all of the seniors, including Davis, who spent all four years with the FFA chapter.

“Now that it was our last in everything, it’s all just kind of sinking in,” Davis said. “As a freshman, I didn’t see it coming until I was standing here right now at my last FFA banquet.”

Cobb, who was the chapter president, was the last senior to hang up her jacket. During her five-minute speech, she said she enjoyed leading an officer team that had six juniors and three sophomores.

“Thank you for trusting me, supporting me and allowing me to serve as a chapter president,” said Cobb, who served on the officer team for three years. “It’s been more than an honor. It’s been a chapter of my life that I will never forget.”

MCHS’ officer team for the 2026-27 school year was introduced. The team includes juniors Reed Pottebaum (president), Ann Rose (vice-president), Dallas Hans (vice-president), Lily Hillebrand (secretary), Jillian Weekley (secretary), Lafe McCurdy (treasurer) and Olivia Spurgeon (reporter), sophomore Emma Cobb (vice president), Thomas Happe (sentinel) and Owen Hillebrand (historian) and freshman Anna Kay Johnson (parliamentarian).

Gracie Cobb, who plans to attend State Technical College next year, shared some advice to the returning members.

“To those who are continuing on in this journey, don’t take a single moment for granted.” she said. “Say yes to the opportunities that scare you and step up when you’re unsure because one day, you’ll be sitting here for the last time just wishing you can go back and relive it all over again.“

Cobb was the only senior on this year’s officer team. MCHS FFA co-adviser Mary Leykamp said Cobb was valuable to the chapter.

“For the last four years, anytime something is going bad at the ag department, Mrs. (co-advisor Amanda) Sullivan and I looked at each other and said, ‘Gracie got this.’ Whether it’s something small or something large, if there’s something that Gracie said she was going to do, we knew it was taken care of and Gracie got this,” Leykamp said.

Many awards were given away during the two-and-a-half hour event. Davis received several awards, including a second-place Nelson Hall agricultural award, a chapter proficiency award in diversified livestock production and a Star award.

“It was very bittersweet,” Davis said. “I wasn’t expecting to get as many as I did. Just being really involved and having those accomplishments that I’ve done and all the work that I’ve done, it’s really bittersweet and heartfelt to achieve those. Not knowing that I was going to get those, I was really in shock and I was ‘Wow.’ That’s what four years can do.”

There were 30 freshmen who were in the MCHS FFA chapter in the 2022-23 school year. Out of those freshmen, 11 of them were on the chapter all four years. They were Bethmann, Cobb, Davis, Ellis, Holmes, Kelling, March, Reagan, Reid, Roden and Teson.

Davis said her older sister, Hannah, was helpful in teaching her about FFA. Hannah, a 2024 MCHS graduate, was in attendance at the banquet as she helped serve the food.

“She kind of showed me the footsteps in FFA,” Davis said. “I kind of followed and now I get to pass that on to my brother.”

Now, Davis is looking forward to the future. She plans to attend St. Charles Community College and major in agribusiness.

“It’s definitely a big step,” Davis said. “I feel like I’m ready for it. I just have to soak in all of the high school last moments first. After summer, I’ll be ready to move on.”

The 12 seniors will graduate from MCHS on May 17.