September 5, 2017 at 3:32 p.m.
Four-for-four on the FFA American Degree
Radil siblings all earn esteemed FFA award
Max and Lyla Radil’s children all earned the American FFA Degree. From left, Matthew, Max, Melinda (Fults), Dwight, Darren and Lyla. Darren received his degree Oct. 27 at the 85th Annual National FFA Convention in Indianapolis. Max and Lyla are part of the Radil dairy farm near Alexandria, Minn.<br /><!-- 1upcrlf -->PHOTO BY ANDREA BORGERDING
By the time Darren was able to join the Alexandria FFA chapter, he told the advisor that he had to get the American FFA Degree.
"He said, 'the other three have it, I'm going to get it, too,'" his mother, Lyla, said.
And he did get it. At 19 years old and a student at Alexandria Technical College, Darren walked across the stage to receive his American FFA degree. His family was in the audience watching, during the Saturday morning ceremony.
The 85th Annual National FFA Convention was Oct. 24-27 in Indianapolis. During the convention, approximately 3,500 American FFA Degrees were handed out. That number represents less than half of one percent of all FFA members, making it one of the organization's highest honors. In addition to the degree, each recipient receives a gold American FFA Degree key.
The American FFA Degree that anyone in the national organization can earn and is awarded to FFA members who have demonstrated the highest level of commitment to FFA and made significant accomplishments in their Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAEs).
Fourteen years span the time from the first to the last of the Radil children receiving their degrees. Matthew (33) earned his in 1998 during the National Convention in Kansas City. Melinda Fults (30) received hers in Louisville in 2002. In 2006, Dwight (25) received his American Degree in Indianapolis.
"Mom and Dad got us involved in 4-H and it was just a natural progression to be in FFA with the leadership, competition and agriculture background both organizations have," Melinda said.
By that time, FFA was already a Radil family tradition, as Max and his brothers were actively involved in the organization. Max's ag teacher - Bernie VanZomeren - even had the opportunity to set the FFA table for the next generation, as he served as Matthew's first FFA advisor.
Although many years spanned the Radil siblings' time in FFA, there were many similarities among their level of involvement and participation in the FFA program. All of the kids were on officer teams within their chapter and all participated in state competitions.
Matthew received the Dekalb Degree the final year it was given out to each outstanding senior in the chapter. Melinda was also involved in the Courtesy Corp on the state and national level which allowed her to participate in the National Convention for two years. She also served on the regional FFA officer team - which happened to be the same position her father held, 30 years earlier.
"They all definitely had a focus, a love of and a drive for agriculture and rural life," said Dave Peper, current dean of students at Discovery Middle School in Alexandria.
Peper served as the FFA advisor for Matthew, Melinda and Dwight, and he knew Darren well as a student.
"It is cool ... It's a reason for our program to be proud," Peper said of the Radil family's FFA accomplishments. "It's very rare; I don't know of any other family with four or more kids that all received their FFA American Degrees."
In order to receive their degrees, all four siblings had to first earn their Greenhand, Chapter and State FFA Degrees through the Alexandria FFA chapter where they all attended high school.
In order to earn the State and American Degree, the Radils had to qualify financially and through volunteer hours and SAEs.
"That's one of the reasons such a small percentage of people get the degree," Max said. "Besides the bookwork, you have to stay involved and have an advisor to help you out."
When it came time for each of the kids to do paperwork for their American Degree, Lyla stepped in to help with the paperwork. She admits, it was a learning curve the first time around with Matthew. But after that, she had a system with each of her children.
"I kept all the records on the computer, so it was easy to go back and keep updating them year after year," Lyla said.
Lyla said the one thing that changed with Darren in comparison to the other three, is the documentation of community involvement.
"The three older ones just had to prove they had associations with the community like 4-H and the local church," Lyla said. "But Darren had to actually log the hours he spent on community service for the Chapter, State and American Degrees."
Melinda said having been involved in 4-H definitely helped the process of earning the degree.
"We were all in 4-H and Mom made us do our records over the year," Melinda said. "All of our community service time transferred to FFA so it's just a matter of filling out the paperwork."
All the Radils agree, the effort in earning the American Degree is worth it as a resume' builder and leadership skills - and just being involved in FFA has built relationships and networks that will last a lifetime for the Radil family.
"I have made so many connections with leaders throughout the state and country," Darren said.
"It's been fun working with each of the kids on their degrees," Lyla said. "You get to know your kids really well."
Max and Lyla are part of the Radil dairy farm - a partnership between Max and his three brothers, Mark, Lee and Dean. The Radils currently milk 130 cows on their farm near Alexandria, Minn.. They also raise 60 commercial stock cows, feed out between 200 and 250 feeder cattle and raise corn, soybeans, alfalfa, wheat and oats on their crop land.
To see a complete list of all American FFA Degree recipients, visit: https://www.ffa.org/Programs/Degrees/AmericanDegree/Pages/AmericanFFADegreeRecipients.aspx.[[In-content Ad]]
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