Meet a Star finalist planning to pay it forward as a future ag teacher

Let’s meet Rylee Smith from the Oolaga FFA chapter in Oklahoma, one of this year’s Star finalists in agriscience placement.

The 97th Annual National FFA Convention and Expo is currently underway. All week, we are celebrating the best of the best and highlighting National FFA Organization members selected as finalists for its American Star Awards.

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FFA Member Rylee Smith

Rylee Smith, an American Star finalist in Agriscience, conducted research experiments on food security, sustainability, and soil health. Her SAE project began in eighth grade, exploring ways to preserve apple slices, and later expanded to testing the impact of CBD oil on broiler growth and studying the soil health at an Oklahoma State University student farm.

Smith plans to become an agriculture teacher to increase ag literacy.

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Let’s meet Maggie McDonald of the Magnolia FFA Chapter in Arkansas, one of the National FFA Organization’s American Star Award finalists with a placement in Agribusiness.

Marion is a digital content manager for RFD-TV and The Cowboy Channel. She started working for Rural Media Group in May 2022, adding a decade of experience in the digital side of broadcast media and some cooking experience to the team.

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