Names: Chelsey DeCoursey (pictured left) and Brianna Jones (pictured right)
Parents: Robert and Tonja DeCoursey and Dennis and Lorie Jones
Education: Both are seniors at Lebanon High School
FFA Advisors: Sam Lower, Craig Evans and Josh Toops
Ag Involvement: “My family lives outside Eldridge, Mo., on 140 acres. We have about 35 cow-calf pairs of commercial cattle and Quarter Horses. I have my own horse, Rusty, a 6-year-old paint,” Chelsey answered.
“My family lives east of Lebanon, Mo., on about 20 acres. We have around 20 cow-calf pairs, also commercial cows and then we rent another 500 plus acres,” Brianna added.
FFA Involvement: “We’ve been in FFA, all four years of high school and done all sorts of activities, from public speaking to livestock judging, nursery and landscaping work to leadership training, for the area as well as on the district and state levels,” Chelsey continued.
Both girls have served as FFA officers, including this year. Chelsey is last year’s FFA president. For the 2012-2013 school year, Brianna is the FFA president and Chelsey is FFA secretary of Lebanon’s 200-member chapter.
Ups and downs of ag: “The best part is meeting all sorts of new people from everywhere when you travel for FFA,” Brianna said. “The worst is probably just that it is time-consuming to care for animals in all kinds of weather, and not necessarily when you want to do it.”
Story and Photo by Laura L. Valenti
