Love affair with FFA paying off for valedictorian

Park City valedictorian Heidi Froelich received yet another accolade recently – a scholarship from the National FFA Organization.
The $1,000 Built Ford Tough Scholarship sponsored by Beartooth Ford in Columbus will help Froelich as she begins school at Montana State University in Bozeman this fall.
Froelich’s scholarship was one of 1,888 awarded by the National FFA Organization, according to a press release. The scholarships totaled more than $2.7 million donated from 115 sponsors, including Beartooth Ford. Froelich was selected from 8,337 applicants from across the United States.
Froelich says that she fell in love with FFA when she first started as an eighthgrader.
An active member all through high school, Froelich advanced up the leadership ranks, beginning as reporter her freshman year, then moving on to secretary her sophomore year. Her junior and senior years, Froelich served as the club’s president.
The club’s officer retreats were her favorite group activity. Not only was it good team building, but Froelich enjoyed getting to know her fellow members.
With high aspirations, Froelich ran for a state office. While she did not land the position, Froelich says it was one of the best experiences she had in FFA because she made so many friends and was able to reflect on the person she is and the person she wants to become.
Throughout her FFA career, Froelich competed in numerous Career Development Events (CDEs). She says that sales, parliamentary procedure, and floriculture (a 10-component event that involves knowledge of plants and flowers) were the CDEs she enjoyed the most.
Froelich’s floriculture team was so successful that the group earned the opportunity to compete at the FFA National Convention in Indianapolis last October.
Even though she has now outgrown her high school chapter, Froelich will continue her passion for agriculture fostered by FFA, as she plans to pursue a degree in Agricultural Communications in college.
Currently, there are almost 650,000 student FFA members belonging to 7,859 local chapters spanning from the U.S. to Puerto Rico to the U.S. Virgin Islands.