Rend Lake College would like to congratulate three students who received the American FFA Degree at the 2023 National FFA Convention. We are proud to have these students represent our college.
On November 4, 2023, Matthew Worthington, AJ Lenkaitis, and Maddie Karcher received their American FFA Degree at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis. This degree is the highest honor awarded to FFA members who have shown dedication to their chapter, applied themselves to their supervised agricultural experience, and displayed outstanding leadership abilities.
Featured from left; Maddie Karcher (DAHLGREN), AJ Lenkaitis (ELDORADO), and Matthew Worthington (DU QUOIN).
Less than 1% of the National FFA Organization, made up of 946,000 people, receive it.
RLC Heavy Equipment Technology Associate Professor Zachary Vahlkamp said, “I’m impressed by how hard Worthington and Lenkaitis work every day and their dedication to Diesel Technology.”
RLC Associate Professor in Agriculture said, “Karcher is a wonderful student in the Ag Business program and I am very glad she chose RLC to further her education. I am very proud of the hard work that she has put in to obtain her American FFA degree. She will have great success in her future.”
The mayor of Du Quoin, Josh Downs, proclaimed that November 14 would be known as Matthew Worthington Day. It had been 20 years since anyone in Du Quoin had earned their American FFA Degree, so they decided to mark this honor by dedicating a day to Worthington.
Featured in photo; Worthington.
“Matthew Worthington’s dedication, demonstrated leadership abilities, community service, and outstanding scholastic achievement accomplishments make him well qualified to represent the City of Du Quoin,” said Downs.
The world needs farmers and that’s why RLC is leading the way with the new Agronomy Innovation Center. To learn more about the agriculture program at RLC, visit rlc.edu/farmers. Your journey starts at RLC.
