Jaylynn Zerr will be packing her bags again on June 27.

That’s when the Montgomery County senior will be heading to Raleigh, N.C., to attend the Future Farmers of America’s Next Gen Conference, which allows students to explore a specific pathway through informational sessions, panels and tours. The four-day conference will end on July 1.

Zerr will be the only MCHS student to go to the conference, which will be attended by high school sophomores, juniors and seniors. She was selected after sending an application that included her supervised agricultural experience as well as her reflections on agriculture. The FFA will cover lodging, meals and other expenses during the trip.

“I had to pay a little bit of a fee to go, but there were a lot of businesses that donated,” Zerr said. “This is a really good opportunity for young FFA members to learn more and jump start their future. There were a lot of businesses that donated. A lot of the cost was provided by that. I didn’t have to pay the full cost, but I did have to put a down payment just to say that I would go.”

Zerr will be the third MCHS FFA member to go to the Next Gen Conference in the last three years. The others were Shelby Stille in 2020 and Shea Stille in February. Shea Stille, who is the MCHS FFA president, went to the animal systems conference in Denver.

“I think it definitely means a lot since it is open to the whole nation,” Zerr said. “They pick only the top percentage. That was pretty cool when I got picked. I definitely think I will represent Montgomery in a great way. I have a lot of agricultural background, so I think I can represent Montgomery in a way that shows that we are diverse in agriculture. We have a really great FFA program. I think I could show that to other students and the staff who will be working at the conference.”

Zerr has done plenty of traveling since completing her junior year at MCHS. In late May, she went on a spring rewards trip with FFA members that included visits to Wisconsin and Illinois. Zerr was scheduled to go to the Washington Leadership Conference that started on June 13 with senior classmates Presley Schluss, Aleida Eldringhoff, Destani Eversmeyer and Ray Poston and adviser Amanda Sullivan.
Zerr said she’s looking forward to her first trip to North Carolina. The conference will focus on power, structural and technical systems.

“I will get to see how they do agriculture and how that’s different from Missouri,” the senior said. “I know every state and every climate has different ways of how they do things, so getting to go to a new state for the first time, I will get to experience a lot of different things that aren’t in our community and our state.”

Zerr said she has enjoyed being part of the MCHS FFA chapter ever since she joined the organization in her freshman year.

“They are kind of like family,” Zerr said. “We all go on trips. We all have fun at meetings, even when they are just in the classroom. We’re learning about different things about agriculture and how we can be better as leaders, students and productive citizens in the organization.”