A member of the Waterloo FFA chapter was recently honored on the national stage for her entrepreneurship and vegetable knowledge as she continues a family tradition and begins a promising agricultural career.

Waterloo FFA President Riley McDermott was one of 13 FFA members to receive a 2024 National FFA Agricultural Proficiency Award on Friday in Indianapolis.

These awards are given to students showing particular excellence in their Supervised Agricultural Experiences, projects intended for them to develop skills they can apply to future careers.

Students compete in areas such as agricultural communications or wildlife management at the local, state and national levels, with both their ag and public speaking skills challenged as they present their SAEs.

McDermott and her family live outside Waterloo. Though she hasn’t been involved in farming per se, her family has long kept a busy garden,  and that interest has grown quite a bit for her over the years.

As McDermott recalled, she’s been gardening since she could walk, and veggie production seemed like a reasonable topic for her to use as a focus for her record book as she joined FFA in high school.

“It started where I was just growing things for home use like I had in the past, and then my sophomore year, I started my business Tilled to Table,” McDermott said. “That’s when I started growing the vegetables. And then my junior year, I was able to introduce canning into my project. That’s another family tradition that’s been around for quite some time.”

Tilled to Table has proven to be a fairly successful business venture for McDermott, though it started out quite humbly as merely a stand along the highway attracting around 10-15 customers over the course of five hours.

Now a regular at the Monroe County Farmers Market, McDermott was pleased to report she often gets upwards of 100 customers in that same amount of time.

While her business has grown in both offerings and customer base since she began, her time operating Tilled to Table has also helped McDermott grow as a gardener, entrepreneur and overall professional.

She pointed to the development of her agricultural knowledge with both the hands-on work and through her attendance of agronomy and forestry Career Development Events.

McDermott’s speaking and presentation skills have also developed, as have her leadership abilities.

“It’s built my confidence, leading a chapter of almost 200 active members,” McDermott said. “Having that leadership opportunity has really pushed me to get out of my shell a little bit. I was very shy when I was younger, but definitely throughout FFA I have noticed how much my confidence has grown.”

Speaking on her interest in gardening and agronomy, McDermott said she enjoys getting to see the whole process, starting to grow a seed inside during the cold start of the year, bringing it outside as things warm up and ultimately being able to grow something for herself or Tilled to Table.

The tradition element of the work is also key for her.

“The simple fact of knowing that the garden that I’m doing my work in has been there for over 50 years,” McDermott said. “It’s a family tradition that I’m carrying on. I love getting to grow the plants, starting them from seeds.”

Regarding her success at the recent national convention – receiving an award in vegetable production for entrepreneurship/placement – McDermott emphasized the surprise and honor of the experience.

A particularly important element of the honor for her is that she is the second person in both the Waterloo school district and her family to receive the distinction as Waterloo High School Principal, former FFA advisor and her father Tim McDermott previously received the award in 1998.

“It’s been pretty amazing,” Riley said. “I’ve gotten lots of praise, but through it all, I think the coolest thing about it is the first person from Waterloo FFA to earn a national award, be a national winner in their SAE area, was my dad, and I am the second person from Waterloo. I personally think that that family connection, it makes it even more emotional for me.”

Tim remarked on Riley’s recognition at the national convention, noting how she has taken over the reins of the family garden over the years.

He suggested that she ultimately received the award given her strong passion for her project and the overall remarkable hard work she’s put into it, on top of all she’s learned.

“Any time students get recognized is a big deal, but to be recognized at the national level, she stands out from her peers,” Tim said. “For me, as a dad, as a principal, as a former ag teacher, it’s been rewarding to see her growth through this project. To watch her confidence grow at each step of the recognition, and then to see her excitement when she was named the winner, that’s been rewarding for me.”

Waterloo FFA Advisor Elaine Rudolphi also commented on Riley’s achievement, saying she feels very proud of her and further recalling how she’s grown over the years.

Rudolphi also emphasized her work ethic as well as her public speaking improvement.

“I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to mentor her and for me to grow alongside of her,” Rudolphi said. “To see the amount that she has grown not only in her production factor but also in her knowledge of plants and of business is beyond phenomenal.”

With such strong roots, Riley expressed her interest in pursuing further ag education and a career.

She has applied to the University of Illinois and is eager to be accepted – both her parents also attended the school. Her exact major is up in the air as she considers horticulture, plant sciences, agronomy or even landscape architecture with a minor in agriculture communications.

“I’m actually planning on going into a horticulture field where I can study nursery operations and greenhouse management because this is something I love to do,” Riley said. “I love being outside, I love being connected to the agriculture world, knowing where my food comes from, it just really brings me an inner peace, kind of. Agriculture and FFA… I guess the country lifestyle has been instilled in me from a very young age.”