Five Montgomery County-area students were selected to receive the American FFA Degree later this fall at Indianapolis.

Montgomery County graduates Dever Cope, Jonah Happe, Landon Pottebaum and Avery Ridgley and Wellsville-Middletown graduate Maddi Poage will represent the county at the American FFA Degree ceremony, which is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 24 at the 99th National FFA Convention and Expo. The American FFA Degree is the highest honor anyone in the National FFA organization can achieve.

The American FFA Degree is awarded to an FFA member who showed outstanding leadership abilities and was highly involved in the community. To be eligible for the honor, members must receive a state FFA degree, become an active FFA member for three years, complete instruction in an agricultural education program and operate a supervised agriculture experience (SAE) program.

Cope, Happe, Pottebaum, Ridgley and Poage graduated from high school in 2025. That year, they all received state FFA degrees in Columbia.

Ridgley was a member of the MCHS FFA chapter all four years and earned many honors. In her senior year, she was named barnwarming queen, qualified for state in speech competition and earned a state degree. She was selected to attend the HYMAX Academy when she was a freshman. Ridgley served as an officer for three years.

Five months ago, Ridgley won a state championship in agricultural processing proficiency. She was awarded for her work at her supervised agricultural experience program, which is her family’s business, Davis Meat Processing. Ridgley is now a sophomore at the University of Missouri-Columbia after spending last year at Oklahoma State University.

Pottebaum, who also attends Mizzou, was a member of the MCHS FFA all four years. He served as president during the 2024-25 school year. Pottebaum won a state championship in grain production in 2025 and qualified for national competition in that category.

Happe served as secretary and reporter during his tenure with the MCHS FFA. Cope qualified for state in beef production placement in his senior year.
Poage was a very active member with the W-M FFA chapter, earning several awards in the speaking category, working as a delegate in the state convention and participating in the HYMAX Academy when she was a freshman.