INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Former FFA advisor Larry Lokai, of Urbana, Ohio, was recently awarded the National FFA VIP Citation at the 96th National FFA Convention and Expo on Nov. 3 for his outstanding contributions to agricultural education and FFA.
FFA
Lokai taught at Northwestern-Clark High School from 1967 to 1989, and then EHOVE Career Center and Keystone Local Schools until his retirement in 1996. During his time teaching, he received numerous accolades including Ohio Vocational Teacher of the Year in 1985, Ohio Agri-Business Teacher of The Year in 1989 and the 4-H Ruby Clover Award in 1997 — for acting as a 4-H advisor in six counties in Ohio. While he was teaching, the Northwestern-Clark program was also selected as the Outstanding Vocational Agriculture Program for Ohio in 1988 — and was one of the top six programs in the nation.
Throughout his 30-year career, Lokai coached and supervised 195 top ten judging teams, earning 120 winning banners, including 23 state champion judging teams in 11 different areas and 75 teams that advanced to regional and national competitions. Additionally, he counseled FFA officers, public speaking winners and state champion parliamentary procedure teams. Under his leadership, 17 students earned the American FFA Degree and 81 earned the Ohio FFA State Degree.
After retirement, he continued to coach state-winning teams and worked with over 20 different schools and FFA programs. He also worked as an adjunct instructor at Ohio State University from 1998 to 2001, coaching the OSU Poultry Team to top-five finishes in nationals.
Since 1983, he has served as a judge and committee member of the National FFA Poultry Career Development Committee and as a member of the National FFA Milk Quality and Products Committee between 1986 and 2006.
Contributions to ag education
Outside of FFA, Lokai also made contributions to agricultural education as a field inspector for the Ohio Certified Seed Improvement Association for farmers in Madison, Clark, Greene, Erie, Huron, Lorain and Sandusky counties. Additionally, he worked as a Division of Wildlife Hunter Education Instructor for 25 years and acted as a junior fair judge for 48 years, judging in 82 Ohio counties and 96 different shows in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania and California.
