INDIANAPOLIS – When the lights dim and a hush descends upon an audience of thousands in Bankers Life Fieldhouse during the nation’s largest annual student convention and expo Oct. 24-27, Bureau Valley’s Samantha Haney will share the spotlight in a musical performance that will inspire the crowd and provide memories to last a lifetime.

Haney, of Tampico and a member of the Bureau Valley FFA Chapter, has been selected to play the clarinet in the National FFA Band. The student submitted an audition tape and was one of 80 FFA members selected to help bring full instrumental balance to the band.

The band will perform several times during the 85th National FFA Convention and Expo, adding excitement and motivation to the sessions through their music. National FFA Band members are chosen from a pool of more than 225 applications. The young musicians arrive in Indianapolis to rehearse three days before the convention begins.