2005-2006 Officer Elections
Last month at the February FFA meeting, the chapter voted on new officers. Each mem-ber wanting to run for office had to have already attained their Chapter FFA Degree, fill-out an application, and go through an interview with a nominating committee. The nomi-nating committee was made up of the six retiring officers (Amanda Cassidy, Lindsey Carpenter, June Spires, Heather Hines, Brad Bowers, and Christian Hoffman) and two A-C FFA alumni members ( Nick Greiner and Ben Blosser). We would like to thank Nick and Ben for taking the time to help with this important election process. Here are the results:
President: Erika Hardman
Vice President: Adam Baldwin
Secretary: Crystal Covell
Treasurer: Jessica Caisse
Reporter: Ashley Lamb
Sentinel: Christine Bussert
Student Advisor: Bobbi Edwards
Congratulations to all of the newly elected officers
March FFA Meeting
The next FFA meeting will be Monday, March 21st at 7:00 P.M. At this meeting the new assistant officers will be installed. The Ag Challenge is the Volleyball Tournament. There should be a team for the freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior classes. The team can consist of as many people that want to participate for each class. If you have already participated in an Ag Challenge you may still participate in the volleyball tournaments.
Ag Breakfast
Ag Breakfast for the month of March was held at Tee Jays March 3rd at 6:45 A.M.
District Agricultural Sales Contest
The A-C FFA chapter recently participated in the District Agricultural Sales contest. Team members consisted of: Shaelyn Iles, Brittany Manson, Jessie Berisford, and Skyler Baldwin. The contest exercises personal sale skills in all areas. It contains a written test, a sales presentation, and four practicums. The four practicums are; Telephone Skills, Customer Relations, Advertising and Promotion, and Prospecting for new customers. One member from each team completes one practicum. This year the team placed 4th in the district; with Shaelyn placing 3rd, Brittany placing 16th, Jessie placing 19th, and Skyler placing 20th. Good job team! A big thanks to the Lancaster FFA Chapter for hosting this years district contest!
National Farm Machinery Show Trip
On February 19th, all members who sold 25 boxes of fruit and who chose to attend went on the trip to the National Farm Machinery Show and tractor pulls in Louisville, Kentucky. Members who attended were: Jodi Roush, Andrea Brumfield, Greg Bowers, Kyle Kennedy, June Spires, Kayla Notestone, Bobbi Edwards, Heather Hines, Samantha Reid, Nic White, J.R. Rogers, Cody Thomson, Jeremy Gozy, and Tiffany Miller. Also a special thanks to our chaperones: Joel Spires, Jenny Cochran, Amie White, Mindi Luck, and Angela Miller.
State and American Degrees
This year our FFA chapter has three members who have applied for their State FFA Degree.Christian Hoffman, Lindsey Carpenter, and Brad Bowers. We also have one member whom is still active that has applied for his American FFA Degree: Jace Spires. The State FFA Degrees will be awarded at the State Convention in May, and the American FFA Degree is going to be awarded at the National FFA Convention in the fall.
Officer Books
Every year, the Reporter, Treasurer, and Secretary from our FFA chapter are required to complete and turn in a book for their office. This allows our chapter to compete at the State level for the National Chapter Award. This year June Spires received a Gold rating on her Secretary’s book. This is the 18th straight year our FFA Chapter has done so. Erika Hardman received a Gold rating on her Treasurers book, and Heather Hines received a Gold rating on her Reporters book. All three officers received perfect scores for the first time ever! Congratulations.
National FFA Week
This year National FFA Week was held February 21st-25th. Everyday each member had an opportunity to earn bonus points for each activity scheduled: Tuesday: Bib overall day/ Carhartt day, Wednesday: Official dress day, Thursday: FFA t-shirt day/ Teacher appreciation day, and Friday: Truck and tractor day/ Belt and buckle day.
Spring CDEs
Spring CDEs are just around the corner. A-C has traditionally done well in all CDEs, and this year hopefully will prove to be successful again. This is a great opportunity for you to expand your knowledge in a specialized field of Agriculture. The contest areas we participate in are:
*Meats- There are four different parts to the meats contest: Identifying meat cuts by their retail and primal names as well as what specie of animal the cut comes from. Judging meats in four different classes along with ten questions to answer about the classes. Then the participant will take a written test. Finally the participant will judge meats by looking at different carcasses. Our meats team consists of Josh Ayers, Bobbi Edwards, and Ashley Lamb.
*Agronomy- Designed to assess the student's knowledge of agronomic practices for the production of field crops. A practical examination requires the student to identify speci-mens of crop and weed plants and seeds, diseases, and insects or their damage. Two written tests cover the use of soil tests, county soil surveys and current agronomic practices, and fertilizer, sprayer calibration problems and their solution. This years agronomy team consists of Skyler Baldwin, Nic White, Greg Bowers, and Nate Saum. The team is being coached by A-C FFA Alumni member Ben Blosser.
*General Livestock- Each participant judges a class of sheep, hogs, and cattle. This years team consists of Christian Hoffman, Brad Bowers, Christine Bussert, Lacey Price, Tif-fany Brown, Max Noll, Cody Thomson, Megan Underhill, and Christine Boso. This team is being coached by A-C FFA Alumni member Eric Valentine.
*Equine Management- Each member takes a written test, completes a tack an equipment identification test, judges 4 classes of horses and judges a class of hay. The team consists of Emiley Bolin, June Spires, Kelsey Goodman, and Judd Ellinger. This team is being coached by Gail Ellinger.
*Wildlife Management- Each member identifies different types of wildlife by track, feather, wing, etc in a written test. This years team consists of Stacey Sams, Crystal Covell, Cerene Kilbarger, and Matt Nestor. This team is being coached by Mr. Tilley.
*Poultry- Each member grades eggs, live birds and chicken carcasses. The members also take a written test. This years team consists of Samantha Reid, Trent Strous, Kayleigh Brubach, and Krystina Preece. This team is being coached by A-C FFA Alumni member Heather Markarius.
*Dairy Cattle- An educational activity designed as a practical method of teaching stu-dents to select quality dairy cattle. Students will be challenged with pedigree evaluation, sire selection, linear evaluation, a written test, and placing classes. This years team consists of Crish Alvey, Kayla Notestone, Jodi Roush, Madison Fausnaugh, and Heather Hines. This team is being coached by Mr. Sharp.
Public Speaking
The Creed Speaking CDE is designed to develop leadership and the ability to appear be-fore groups by freshman students, as they become members of the FFA. This year Jodi Roush participated in the Creed Speaking CDE placing 1st in the county and 1st in the district. Jodi also earned a perfect score at the District, which is a first for our chapter. Jodi will be advancing to the state contest on Saturday, March 19th. Good luck Jodi!!!
The Beginning Prepared public speaking CDE is designed to stimulate the interest of FFA members in agriculture and leadership by giving them the opportunity to speak be-fore an audience. Sophomores generally participate in this CDE. This year Crystal Covell participated in the Beginning Prepared CDE placing 2nd in the county and 5th in the district. Good job Crystal!!!
The Extemporaneous public speaking CDE is designed to develop the ability of all FFA members to express themselves on a given subject without having prepared or rehearsed its content in advance, therefore causing FFA members to formulate their remarks for presentation in a very limited amount of time. This year Skyler Baldwin participated in the Extemporaneouse CDE placing 3rd in the county. Good job Skyler!
The Prepared public speaking CDE is a more complex version of the Beginning Prepared public speaking CDE. It is mainly geared towards juniors and seniors. This year Debbie Picklesimer participated in the Prepared public speaking CDE placing 3rd in the county. Good job Debbie!
Mulch Sale
This years mulch sale will begin Monday, March 14. The top 15 mulch sellers will be able to attend the mulch sellers trip in May. All members are encouraged to participate!
Retiring Officers
The retiring officer team of 2004-2005 consisted of President Amanda Cassidy, Vice President Lindsey Carpenter, Secretary June Spires, Reporter Heather Hines, Sentinel Brad Bowers, and Student Advisor Christian Hoffman. These six officers have led our chapter to a very successful year. Without them our chapter would not be what it is today. They have represented our chapter well, and have also been a great inspiration. On behalf of the 2005-2006 officer team, I would like to say thank you for such a wonderful year! I will miss you guys!
State Officer Leadership Night
There will be a State Officer Leadership Night Tuesday, March 22nd at Zane Trace High School at 7:00 P.M. Some of the Ohio FFA Association’s State Officer Team will be conducting a leadership workshop. This is a great opportunity to meet your State FFA Officers, meet FFA members from other chapters in our District and this is a state level activity for the State FFA Degree which some of you need. You must bring in $5 and the permission form to Mr. Tilley by March 18th. If you attend you will receive your $5 back.
District Agricultural Mechanics
Ag Mechanics is a contest that tests ones mechanic skills. They are tested areas such as soldering, welding, woodworking, etc. The contest will be held Tuesday, March 15th at Teays Valley High School. This years team consists of Brad Bowers, Wayne Strickler, and Jake Westhoven. Good luck guys!
Note From Your Reporter
The newsletter for this month is late due to how late the officer elections were. I am also using new software on the Ag Lab computers. Due to the band trip to Florida, I was also out for one week and was not able to work on the newsletter. I am hoping that the newsletter for the month of April will be out on time!