Tennessee Students Receive National Award

Nashville, TN- Two Tennessee students were named national winners of Entrepreneurship/Placement Proficiency awards at the 78th National FFA Convention. Ryan Jernigan, a graduate of East Robertson High School in Robertson County and Jeremy Cook, a senior at East Robertson High School, were recognized for diversified crop production and specialty crop production respectively.

Jernigan and Cook were among four Tennessee students nominated as national finalists for the award.

Dustin Pruitt, a graduate of Portland High School in Sumner County, was a finalist in the landscape management category. Kayla Mason, also a graduate of East Robertson High School, was a finalist in poultry production.

Proficiency awards honor FFA members who demonstrate outstanding entrepreneurialism as employees or volunteers in an agricultural field.

Jernigan manages 550 acres of soybeans, corn and wheat on the family farm, maintaining equipment and various operations. Jernigan plans to work on the family farm professionally. He is the son of Jeff and Teresa Jernigan.

Cook works on 50 acres of dark-fired, burley and one-sucker tobacco, as well as his own crop. Cook plans to attend Western Kentucky University to major in agriculture business. He is the son of Marty and Melissa Cook.

Tennessee has roughly 13,000 FFA members statewide, supported by the Tennessee Association FFA and the Tennessee Department of Education’s division of vocational-technical education. The FFA is a youth organization that seeks to cultivate leadership skills, personal growth and career success in more than 490,000 student members nationwide.

For more information, visit www.tnffa.org or www.state.tn.us/education/veaghomepg.htm.