December 2004Newsletterby Heather Hines, Reporter
Next MeetingThe next meeting of theAmanda-Clearcreek FFA Chapter will be on December 13th at 7:00 P.M.The Ag Challenge activity will be FFA trivia. All members in eachclass are eligible to participate. The Greenhand FFA Degree Ceremony will also be held. The Greenhand FFADegree is the first degree an FFA member can earn.
December AgBreakfastThe December Ag Breakfastwill be held on the 2nd at Tee Jaye's at 6:30 A.M. This is a greatway to socialize before school and to start your day off right withbreakfast.
AgriculturalCommunicationsThe AgriculturalCommunications Contest tests student knowledge and understanding ofthe various forms of communication within the industry ofagriculture. Ohio started participating in this contest in the fallof 2000 with a pilot contest. A chapter may enter a team consistingof four members, each taking a multiple choice test, completing anediting exercise, completing individual practicum, and finally, theteam presents a project proposal.We hosted the District AgComm. Contest, which was held on November 16th with our team placing1st. Members were: LindseyCarpenter placing1st, Cortney Collins placing 3rd, Adam Baldwin placing 4th and Amanda Cassidy placing 7th. These members are preparing for thestate contest to be held on Saturday, December 4th.
Fruit Pick-upDatesFFA Members may pick-upfruit on the following days: December 7th and 8th after school until9 P.M. and on Dec. 9th after school until 7 P.M.
Job InterviewThe Job Interview Contestis a contest designed to test a student's ability to prepare aresume, write a follow-up letter, and interview for a mock employmentopportunity. Starting with the 1993-1994 school year, the contest wasbroken into taxonomy categories, allowing a chapter to enter one FFAmember in each taxonomy offered by the agricultural education programat that school. Currently, the Amanda-Clearcreek AgriculturalEducation program offers classes in the Ag. Science, Ag. Business,and Ag. Production taxonomies. A student must win the district toproceed to the state contest. If you are interested, sign up in Mr. Tilley's roomASAP. The district contestwill be held on January 25th at Lancaster H.S.
FFA Food DriveThe Amanda-Clearcreek FFAChapter, in cooperation with the Amanda Township Fire Department,will be holding a food drive in Amanda and Stoutsville again thisyear. FFA members will be dropping off grocery bags on December 3rdto residents in Amanda and Stoutsville for our food drive and askingresidents to fill them up with nonperishable food items. The bagswill be picked up during the day in Amanda on December 6th, and after3:30 P.M. in Stoutsville on the 6th. This food drive is part of theAmanda Firefighters Chelsea Hedrick program.
Thank YouWe would like to thankthose who help judge the Ag. Comm. Contest hosted here on November16th. Thank you to: Ms.Mason, Ms. Snook, Mrs. Gallagher, Mrs. Neff, CassiSlone, and Jenny Zaayer.We would like to give aspecial thanks to GailEllinger for presentingthe press release at the District Ag. Comm. Contest.
ParliamentaryProcedureThe ParliamentaryProcedure Contest tests student knowledge and understanding ofparliamentary procedure as it can be used in a business meeting. Atpresent, the contest consists of a team presentation that can last upto sixteen minutes, and a question and answer period at the end.Currently, a chapter may enter between nine and twelve members on ateam. This year's team has been practicing and plans to participatein the county contest at Liberty Union H.S. on Thursday, December 2ndafter school.
AgriculturalSalesThe Agricultural SalesContest tests student knowledge and understanding in the area ofAgricultural Sales. At present, this contest includes amultiple-choice general knowledge test, a sales demonstration, andfour practicums: telephone skills, advertising and promotion, productdisplay and customer relations. The top two teams in our districtproceed to the state level. If you are interested, sign up in Mr. Tilley's roomASAP. The district contestwill be held on January 25th at Lancaster H.S.
Hog RoastThe annual chapter hogroast was held on November 17th in the cafetorium. I am pleased toannounce that there were 90 members and over 160 guests present.Thank you to everyone who attended dinner and the open house. It wasa good time and I hope you are planning to attend next year. We wouldalso like to thank Lindsey Carpenter for supplying us a hog, and alsothe Bussert Family for donating the use of their hog roaster.
State Officer LeadershipNightThe chapter hosted a StateFFA Officer Leadership Night on Tuesday, November 9th. This was a funactivity to attend. All members of our chapter, and all District 7chapters were invited. The State Officers put on several differentleadership workshops throughout the evening. Following the workshops,food was provided to those who attended. This was a great opportunityto meet new people as well as hang out with those that you may havealready met. There were 42 A-C FFA members in attendance, with over160 FFA members all together. Other FFA chapters in attendance were:Liberty Union, Lancaster,Bloom Carroll, Logan Elm, Teays Valley, Fairfield Unionand Southeastern Ross.
Public SpeakingThere are currently fourpublic speaking contests offered by the Ohio FFA Association. Creed Speaking isavailable only to freshmen who recite the FFA Creed and answerquestions about the Creed. Beginning Prepared isgeared mostly toward sophomores, who present a five to seven minutespeech on an agricultural topic. The ExtemporaneousSpeaking contest is open to all four grade levels. Extemporaneousspeakers draw an agricultural topic and are given 30 minutes todevelop a four to six minute speech from materials they have broughtwith them and their own personal knowledge. The Prepared Speakingcontest, often referred to as 'Senior Prepared', is open to membersin all grade levels, but generally involves junior and senior memberswho present a 6 to 8 minute prepared speech. If you are interested,sign up in Mr. Tilley's room ASAP. The county contest will be held on February 8thBloom Carroll H.S.