May 2001 Newsletter

by Rachel Makarius,Reporter

Next Meeting - The next meeting of the A-C FFA Chapter will be onMay 14th at 7 PM. The last Ag Challenge Contest, a wheelbarrel race,will be held after the meeting.
Ohio FFA Camp - The A-C FFA attends the 4th session of Ohio FFACamp, which lasts from July 16 to July 20. This session is fillingup extra-quick this year due to July 4th falling into a differentsession. Therefore, if you want to go to camp this summer, you needto turn in your registration form as soon as possible. This is avaluable experience and a good summer break. Attending camp is alsoa requirement for anying hoping to attain their State FFA Degree.
Ohio FFA Convention -The State FFA Convention was May4-5. This convention is the largest annual gathering of FFA membersin Ohio. Over 5,000 members were at the Ohio Exposition Centerrepresenting their chapters and the FFA. The State Convention wasrun by the 2000-2001 Ohio FFA Officer Team.

Attending the State Convention is aworthwile experience for all members. Individuals are recognized foroutstanding achievement in their SAE Projects, CDE's, and Officerbooks. Chapters are recognized for numerous accomplishments, such ashaving the greatest increase in membership, or being ranked in thetop ten chapters in the state.

Convention Schedule

Thursday

On Thursday, several members went to setup a booth for the A-C FFA Chapter. Our chapter received thisopportunity as a result of being rated a Gold Medal Chapter. Thebooth showed through pictures and posters the activities that the A-CFFA has participated in.

Friday

The State Skills Contests were held in themorning on Friday. These contests were: State Ag EngineeringTechnology, Greenhand Quiz, Cooperative Education, and Farm BusinessManagement.

The Amanda-Clearcreek FFA wasrecognized for making a donation to the CROP Foundation, and forselling raffle tickets for a John Deere Gator to benefit the Ohio FFAFoundation. RobertBlosser, in the area of DiversifiedAgricultural Production, and JaceSpires, in the area of NurseryOperations, were both second runner-ups in their Proficiency Awardareas at the state level. It is an outstanding accomplishment toearn that high of a placing. Congratulations Robert andJace!

Each year, there is a State FFA Band andChorus that perform at the convention. It is an honor to be selectedto perform, and this year, MaryWhite was chosen to play in theband. She practiced with the rest of the band and performed atdifferent times throughout the convention.

In the evening, the ballot for the StateOfficers was announced. HeatherMakarius was announced as acandidate for the District 7 President position.

A dance was held after the last generalsession of the convention.

Saturday

Each chapter in the state of Ohio isallowed 2 delegates, which elect the State Officers and vote onseveral issues. BethFouse and Rachel Makarius werethe delegates for the A-C FFA, and they voted on Satudaymorning.

The State and American FFA Degree winnerswere recognized. Heather Makarius,Casey Teets, and Michael Shaefferreceived their State FFA Degrees on stage. Eric Valentine wasrecognized for being an American FFA Degree nominee, but he willactually receive his degree at the National FFA Convention in thefall.

The 2001-2001 State FFA Officer Team wasannounced in the evening. HeatherMakarius is the new 2001-2002 District 7 President on the StateOfficer Team. Out of over 22,000FFA members in the state of Ohio, she was selected to be one of the16 State Officers. Heather is the first State Officer fromAmanda-Clearcreek in 10 years and the 6th ever in our chapters'shistory. CONGRATULATIONS HEATHER!!!

Amanda-Clearcreek FFA Banquet -The A-C FFA Banquet will be held onSunday, May 20th at 4 PM. The chapter will provide ham, chicken,rolls, table service, lemonade, and tea. Freshman and sophomorefamilies are asked to bring a covered dish, and junior and seniorfamilies are asked to bring a dessert.

This banquet is the culmination of all theactivities for the past year, and students will be rewarded for theiraccomplishments. This is the largest event of the A-C FFA Chapter,and it requires a lot of hard work and dedication from all members. All members are required to attend this banquet and also to help setup and take down chairs and tables, etc. Please plan ahead so allmembers, their families, and guests can come.

District 7 Officer Training- The A-C FFA Officers and a fewother members will attend the District 7 officer training, also knownas the Spring COLT Conference, on May 15th after school at LancasterHigh School. These members will learn more about their officerpositions and how to better serve as a leader in their chapter.
Baby Animal Farm - The baby animal farm will be held on May 18th. Students will bring in a variety of animals which will be shown tothe Amanda Elementary students. FFA members will share their animalswith the elementary students and explain to them the role they playin agriculture.
Mulch Trip - The annual mulch trip will be on May 25-27. Theefforts of the top 15 mulch and top 2 FFA beanie bear salespersonswill be rewarded with a 3-day trip to the Seneca Rock area in WestVirginia. These members will get the experience of camping,backpacking, hiking, and canoeing in West Virginia. The mulchsalespersons were required to sell at least 150 bags of mulch to beeligible for this trip.
Mulch Money - Any students that have not turned in all of theirmulch money need to do so as soon as possible.
Ag Communications - This year's Ag Communications team consists ofJennifer Cochran, Heather Makarius,Beth Fouse, and Rachel Makarius. This contest consists of a communications project, a projectpresentation, and four practicums done by the individuals. All fourteam members sit through a press conference conducted on anag-related topic. They are then separated to compete in their fourindividual events. Jennifercompetes in the area of graphicdesign, where she has to design a newspaper page and write a picturecaption. Heather participates in news writing. She writes a newsstory over the press conference. Beth competes in thearea of broadcasting, where she prepares and records a 2 minutebroadcast. Rachel writes a news release for the pressconference.

This team traveled to the Ohio StateUniversity on April 28th to attend a workshop, which helped them tobetter understand the areas of communication that they are competingin. The state Ag Communications contest will be on May 12th at OSU.

Spring Skills Contest Results- The Amanda-Clearcreek FFA was wellrepresented at the district and state skills contests this year. Atotal of three teams placed in the top ten at the state level, whichis an extraordinary accomplishment. All teams that place in the topfive at the state level receive an award, and this year, the GeneralLivestock and Poultry teams made that accomplishment along with theAg Communications team, which placed 2nd in the state last fall. Since the establishment of the Amanda-Clearcreek FFA Chapter in 1937,only 3 banners had been earned by previous teams. As you can see, inthis year alone, the number of banners that our chapter posses hasbeen doubled. Congratulations to all of the team members who studiedand worked hard to make this achievement possible.

The district contest was held at CanalWinchester High School on April 7th. That contest was also aninvitational for any teams that were not within our district. Thestate contest was held at the Ohio Exposition Center on April21st.

The Meatsteam consisted of Joe Davis, Calvin Hanes, Jordan Lee, and MikeTolliver, and earned 2nd place atthe district level. Calvin andJordan competed at the state level, and received31st place with a bronzerating.

The Poultry teamincluded Rachel Makarius, Eddy Cox,Beth Fouse, and Tabby Strausz, andreceived 1st place at the district level. Individually,Rachel placed 1st. At the state contest, Heather Makariusalso participated. She received 2ndplace out of 185 individually, along with Rachel, who placed6th. The team earned3rd place out of 55 teams, receivinga gold rating, which is the highestthe Poultry team has placed before. The team will travel to Virginiain late September to compete in the regional competition. This tripis pending administrative approval.

RandallMiller and Martina Stanley bothparticipated at the district level in Dairy Cattle, but ateam placing was unavailable. NolenGossett also took part in dairycattle at the state level, and the team received 52nd place.

The General Livestock team consisted of Jennifer Strickler, Kevin Strickler, Robert Blosser,Mark Francis, Erin Gilfillen, Brian Bussert, and TravisKiser. They placed 1st in thedistrict, with Jennifer placing1st, Kevin placing 2nd, and Robert placing 3rdindividually. The General Livestock team placed 2nd out of 143 teams in the state, receiving a goldrating. Out of 604 contestants, Kevin placed 2nd,Jennifer placed 20th, and Markplaced 29th individually. This is the highest placing this team hasever received. The General Livestock team will attend the Big E, aregional contest in Masschusets on September 15, and this trip isalso pending administrative approval.

TiffanyTimmons, Christina Gierhart, andHolly Edwards participated in the Equine Managementcontest, and placed 2nd at the district level. Casey Teets andMallory McMaster also competed at the state level. The team earned10th place out of 107 teams,receiving a gold rating, withTiffany placing 14th out of 318 individuals.

The Agronomy teamconsisted of Sidney Bennett, ShawnGoodman, and Meagan Silva. They earned 2ndplace at the district level and 23rdat the state level, receiving a silver rating.