What the students came for
( I know the title ends with a preposition. Sometimes clarity wins. ) Every year for the past several years, I've boarded a bus packed with students and pointed east toward Indianapolis for the National FFA Convention. At first glance, the trip is about agriculture. And I'll continue to argue that I can pack a semester's worth of standards and learning into those five days as we visit universities, manufacturing facilities, farms, businesses, career fairs, leadership sessions, and one of the largest gatherings of agricultural students in the country. The educational value is undeniable. Students see concepts from the classroom applied in the real world. They explore careers they didn't know existed. They meet college recruiters, industry professionals, and potential employers. They learn about agriculture on a scale that's difficult to replicate back home. But I don't think that's what draws them. If you asked students why they want to go to National Convent...