De Leon wins Diversified Horticulture Proficiency Award

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COLUMBIA, Mo., April 24, 2025 – Destiny De Leon of Ashland won the Missouri FFA Diversified Horticulture Proficiency Award at the 97th Missouri FFA Convention.

De Leon, a senior from Milan C-2 High School, is the daughter of Nelson and Rosa De Leon. She is a member of the Milan FFA Chapter. Her advisors are Logan Fullerton and Jarred Sayre.

De Leon’s supervised agricultural experience program involves working at Northern Blooms Floral and Decor designing arrangements for weddings, funerals, and holidays, as well as managing inventory and delivering orders. Her responsibilities include creating floral arrangements for events, transplanting and caring for plants, and assisting with customer service and sales. She also serves as a greenhouse assistant in her chapter’s greenhouse, where she waters, fertilizes, transplants, and cares for sensitive crops like poinsettias, and helps with the annual plant sale.

As an FFA member, De Leon has served as the Milan FFA Chapter President. She attended the Washington Leadership Conference, National FFA Convention, Missouri Farm Bureau State Leadership Day, and Missouri State FFA Convention. She has also participated in the Missouri State Fair as an exhibitor.

Outside of FFA, De Leon participates in varsity cheerleading, varsity basketball, National Honor Society, student council, and Future Business Leaders of America.

After graduating high school, De Leon plans to continue her education in the radiology field.

Proficiency awards recognize FFA members who excel as agricultural entrepreneurs, employees or volunteers while gaining hands-on career experience. Diversified Horticulture is one of 45 proficiency award areas recognized at the state level. River Valley Ag Exchange sponsored this award.

The Missouri FFA has 26,900 members representing 365 chapters. The national organization has more than 1,027,273 members representing 9,235 chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The 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.

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