MURFREESBORO, TN – Dyersburg Future Farmers of America (FFA) advisor Stuart Watson took home the Outstanding Young Member Award at the Tennessee Association of Agricultural Educators (TAAE) inaugural conference. The conference was hosted July 20-22 at Middle Ten-nessee State University. Watson was up against 288 other TAAE members for this recognition. 

The Outstanding Young Member Award recognizes TAAE members who have completed at least three but not more than five years of teaching. This recognition serves as a means of en-couraging young teachers to remain in agricultural education and recognizes participation in pro-fessional activities. 

Dyersburg FFA is a historic program in the community and has been a part of the National FFA Organization since 1930. Dyersburg High School has 175 students currently enrolled in agricul-tural education and offers courses in Animal Science, Agricultural Engineering and Applied Technologies, and Agricultural Business. Dyersburg is one of 214 FFA chapters in Tennessee. 

TAAE is an association of members that are involved in school-based agricultural education. The association advocates for agricultural education, provides professional development for agricul-tural educators and works to recruit and retain agricultural educators. 

FFA makes a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education. Nationally, there are 610,240 FFA members, aged 12-21. The Tennessee FFA Association is comprised of more than 13,000 members from 214 high school chapters, seven middle school chapters, and eight collegiate chapters across the state of Tennessee.

Photo caption: Stuart Watson (right), FFA advisor at Dyersburg High School, awarded Outstand-ing Young Teacher at the TAAE Conference in Murfreesboro.