Summer 2001Newsletter

by Rachel Makarius,Reporter

Next Meeting - The next meeting of the Amanda-Clearcreek FFAchapter will be on June 4th at 7 p.m. This will be the last meetingfor this school year. There will be a cookout immediately after themeeting. The seniors will receive steaks and ice cream for winningthe Ag Challenge activities this year. The final points for allgrades were:

Freshmen - 44.5

Sophomores - 87

Juniors - 56

Seniors - 96.5

A-C FFA Banquet - The annual awards banquet of the Amanda-ClearcreekFFA Chapter was held on May 20th. 127 FFA members and around 215parents and community supporters attended.

The chapter gives out numerous awards eachyear, and just a few of them are described and listed below.

The Star Greenhand is awarded to thefreshmen members who have excelled within the chapter and have showngreat promise as future leaders of the FFA. This year, the chapterrecognized Meagan Silva, JenniferEvans, and Mallory McMaster as theStar Greenhands of the A-C FFA.

Brian Strickler received the Star Chapter Award, which is designedto recognize that senior member who has yet to achieve the State FFADegree, but who has been active in chapter activities, had a strongSAE program, and who has shown the overall qualities necessary to bea successful FFA member.

The Memorial Award is in memory of RustyBowers and Becky Strickler. This award is given every year to twomembers who will participate in the Washington Leadership Conferencein Washington, D.C. this summer. The Washington Leadership Conferenceis a week-long leadership conference that helps members developbetter leadership skills to bring back to the home chapter. Thisyear's recipients are BethFouse and Rachel Makarius.

Robert Blosser was named the DeKalb Leadership Award winner. Thisaward is given to one senior who has been outstanding in the areas ofscholarship, leadership, and character, and who has possessed astrong SAE program over their four years of agriculturaleducation.

The Made for Excellence award recognizesmembers who show great promise as future chapter leaders. This awardsends those members to one of the three Made for Excellenceleadership conferences held in Ohio annually. This year's recipientswere Mark Francis, Tabby Strausz,Jace Spires, Erin Gilfillen, and Angela Davis.

A-C FFA Summer Activities- Each FFA member is required tohave eight hours of summer activities. The FFA is an intracurricularprogram, and all Ag. Ed. courses are worth 1.25 credits, with theextra .25 credit being derived from FFA activities. This will be thefirst grade of the first grading period for the 2001-2002 schoolyear. Each hour will be worth 50 points, for a total of 400points.

Some of the activities are:

- The Adopt-a-Highway clean-up will be onJune 27th and is worth 2 hours. Meet at the Ag shop at 6 p.m.

- The summer Ag Breakfasts will be held onJuly 5th at Tee Jay's and August 2nd at Bob Evans. They will be heldin Lancaster at 8:00 a.m., and are each worth 1/2 hour.

- The A-C FFA will run the food booth for asummer fund raiser at an estate auction in Bremen on July 14th. Thisactivity will be from 8:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. Meet at the Ag shop at 8a.m.

- FFA Camp is July 16th through the 20th.Camp is worth all summer hours plus one bonus hour.

- Washington Leadership Conference will befrom July 24th to the 29th. It is also worth all hours.

- Nine members will be needed to host theFFA Center during the State Fair on August 14th. Membersparticipating in this activity need to wear their official dress andwill be there all day, with time to visit the fair. This activity isworth four summer hours.

- The A-C FFA and National Honor Societywill participate in the Recycling Rangers Program to pick up trash atthe State Fair on August 15th. This activity is worth 6 hours.Members will work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (this includes travel time).25 FFA/NHS members total are needed for this activity.

- School Work days will be August 21st and23rd from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and are worth the actual hours you work.This includes working on various items in the two shops.

- The canoe trip will be on August 2nd atthe Mohican River, and is worth 2 hours.

- The North Market Ag Awareness Day inColumbus is August 11th, and is worth 3 hours. This includes facepainting, a petting zoo, and other Ag awareness activities. Studentsneed to be at the school at 7 a.m. and will return by 1p.m.

*Students need to check their e-mail and the A-C FFA web page forchanges in the activities above or additional activities.
Officer Trip - The officers andassistant officers will go on an officer retreat June 7th and 8th.They will be going to Nelsonville and the Hocking Hills area to campand backpack, and also will go on a high ropes initiative course.While on this trip, the officer team will work on our chapter'sProgram of Activities, which basically maps out the activities of theA-C FFA chapter for the rest of the year.
Skills ContestWorkshops - There will be aLivestock Judging workshop at OSU on June 20th from 9-3 p.m. AllGeneral Livestock team members are encouraged to go in preparationfor the national contest they will be attending.

A Poultry workshop will also be held at OSUon June 25th from 9-3 p.m. The Regional Poultry competition has beencanceled this year, but team members are still encouraged to go togain experience for next year.