z April FFA Meeting z

April 20th, we will be holding an FFA Meeting at 7 P.M. in the Ag Center. Ag Challenge is Volleyball Tournament between grades.

March of Dimes Walk

The March of Dimes is a United States health charity, whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. It was founded in 1938. We will be attending the walk on April 19th, in Ross County. Members will receive information in class.

Fast Approaching CDE’s

April
April 3rd- State Agricultural Mechanics CDE
April 7th- District 7 Outdoor Power Equipment CDE
April 11th- State Dairy Cattle CDE
April 17th & 18th - State Environment/Natural Resources CDE
April 21st- State Animal Care CDEs
April 24th- State Outdoor Power Equipment CDE

Promising Young

Women

Conference

This Conference allows young women to gain a more in-depth look of areas they are considering studying. Each attendee selects three agricultural areas, or fields, that they want to know more about. Then, during the conference, students meet with a professor or professional from that field for a question and answer session. Some examples of those fields are: Veterinary Science, Natural Resources, Agricultural Communications, Horticulture, Agricultural Business, Animal Science and Floriculture. A student-guided tour of the campus is also given during the conference. Attendees walk around campus and see the Ag Campus facilities, dormitories, the Oval, the libraries, several classrooms and other features of the university. The Promising Young Women Conference is an excellent opportunity for students to learn more about agricultural careers and to visit the OSU campus. We have 9 young women who will be attending this year. Brittany Stevens, Emily Cordle, Miranda Metzger, Tiffany Hayman, Jessica Henderly, Becca Bentz, Reba Hyme, Kendra Lama, & Kylea Schlosser.

Public Speaking

Brittany Pinkstock, with Prepared Speaking was the only member to receive a gold rating in the district, and move on to the State Contest. The Prepared Speaking contest, often referred to as 'Senior Prepared', is open to members in all 4 grade levels, but generally involves junior and senior members who present a 6 to 8 minute prepared speech. Brittany finished seventh in the state preliminary round. Congratulations Brittany!

Chapter Officer Books

Three chapter officers are required to compile a book as part of their officer duties. Those offices are: Secretary, Treasurer and Reporter. The Secretary is required to keep a notebook that contains, among other things, the chapter minutes, officer reports, committee reports, meeting attendance and activity attendance. Treasurer is required to assemble a notebook of all chapter financial records, including a report for major fund raisers and a copy of student receipts. The Reporter's Scrapbook contains all chapter newsletters, published articles and pictures and chapter snapshots. We had three retiring officers receive all gold ratings. They were: Tara McCalla- Secretary, David Sams- Treasurer, & Josh Cordle- Reporter.

Job Interview CDE

The Job Interview Contest is a contest designed to test a student's ability to prepare a resume, write a follow-up letter and interview for a mock employment opportunity. The State Job Interview CDE at Tolles Tech was held on March 7th. Shelby Sizemore was our only member to move on to state competition. She placed 5th in her category. Congratulations Shelby.

Outdoor Power Equipment CDE

The Outdoor Power Equipment CDE team will start preparing for their contest at the beginning of April. The contest will be at 3 P.M. on April 7th. The members who have signed up are: David Sams, Scott Loudermilk, Kody Strohm, John Miller, & Nate Seitz. The top 3 members will make up the team.

Mulch Sale

Flower Bulb Sale

The Spring Flower Bulb Sale is a small fund raising activity that has become an annual activity of our chapter. Members sell bulb packs of various types of flowers to individuals within our community. Profits from this activity can be used by the FFA member who earned them to help pay for the Summer FFA Camp, purchase an FFA Jacket or for other costs a member might incur through FFA activities. The Spring Flower Bulb Sale ended April 2nd. The Mulch sale, on the other hand, has proved successful and the chapter has continued to sell the 3 cubic foot bags of mulch, expanding from just Cypress mulch in the beginning to now include Hardwood, Pine Nugget, Colored Enhanced Red, and Color Enhanced Black. The Mulch sale will not end till April 22nd. The top two flower bulbs sales people and the top 15 mulch sales people will have the opportunity to attend a 3 night camping trip over Memorial day weekend in May. If you have not been contacted for mulch please call the school at 969-7381 and someone will be in touch with you.

State Dairy Cattle CDE

The Dairy Cattle Contest tests student knowledge and understanding of the dairy cattle industry. At present, the contest consists of judging classes of dairy cattle and a test about the industry. Currently, a chapter may enter up to an unlimited amount of members at the state level, with the top three scores making-up the team score. This year it will be held at 9 A.M. on April 11th. Our members for this year include: Travis Hart, Sam Meenach, Teran Pinkstock & Matt Wamsley.

State Environmental/Natural Resources CDE

The State Environmental/Natural Resources team consists of Alyssa Jenkins, Josh Cordle, David Sams, & Ray Spence. Their contest will be held on April 17th & 18th. The chapter has never competed in this CDE before.

Area 6 Special Olympics

Officer Training

The officers and their assistant officers are highly recommended to attend the District Officer Training April 21st at Fairfield Union at 4 P.M.

State Animal Care CDEs

State Animal Care CDEs include Aquarium Management, Animal Health, and Animal Management. Animal Management includes Scott Loudermilk, Dusty Cornell, Matt Shannon, & Hannah Carpenter. Animal Health includes Brittany Stevens, Tiffany Hayman, Caitlin Robinson, Becca Bentz, Trisha Russell, Kennedy Hardman, Tyler VanHorn, & Lyndsey Alexander. Aquarium Management includes Mike Hite, Jake White, Titus Disbennet, Ryan Mundy, Justin Strittmatter, C.J. Broaddus & Josh Hampshire. They will be attending their CDE on April 21st.

Ag Breakfast

During the school year, the Amanda-Clearcreek FFA meets once monthly for the chapter's "Ag Breakfast". Members meet at Tee Jayes at 6:15 A.M. on the first Thursday of the month for breakfast and social interaction. Ag breakfasts are excellent opportunities for members to get to know each other better. However, last year the Chapter had some issues with this activity, and stopped it all together. The school is now allowing us to perform this activity again. Every member must have a permission form signed by their parent that allows them to be there. If you do not have a permission form signed by a parent at breakfast, you will be asked to leave and not allowed to join us.

Proficiency Award Results

Proficiency Awards take a large amount of work and time. You have to fill out five to six pages with information about your SAE project, provide six pictures with captions, and insert the costs, money earned, etc. correctly so they match your books. Those members who participated and their categories include: Josh Cordle placed 2nd in Turf Grass Management, Ryan Davis placed 1st in Diversified Crop Production- 1st in Fiber and/or Oil Crop Production- Top 2 in grain Production, Tyler Genders placed 1st in Small Animal Production and Care, Tara McCalla placed 1st in Sheep Production, Aaron Miller placed 1st in beef production, Shala O’Hare placed 1st in Nursery Operations, Jodi Roush placed 1st in Dairy Production, David Sams placed 2nd in Accounting- 1st in Agricultural Sales, Brittany Stevens placed 3rd in Veterinary Production, Chance Holbrook placed 3rd in Sheep Production, Brittany Pinkstock placed 5th in Equine Science, & Kaleb Miller placed top 2 in Outdoor Recreation. We are still waiting for the results for: Ryan Davis, Jodi Roush, & Kaleb Miller.

Agricultural & Industrial Diagnostics

Results On CDE’s

Ag Mechanics Skills

Agricultural & Industrial Diagnostics

The Tractor Troubleshooting Contest tests a team's ability to find problems on a tractor. A team must be first or second in the district to proceed to the state level. Two members comprise the team. For the 2007-2008 school year, this contest was reorganized and renamed the Agricultural & Industrial Diagnostics Contest. John Miller & Nate Seitz were our two members. They placed seventh in district.

Ag Mechanics Skills

This team is made up of Scott Loudermilk, Nate Seitz, & John Miler. They placed 2nd in District and will proceed to State on March 3rd. This contest is exactly what it says. Each school brings a session that could have anything to do with mechanics.

State Wildlife Management CDE

The Wildlife Management Contest tests student knowledge and understanding of wildlife. At present, the contest consists of a written test, a practice and the identification of mammals, game birds, forbs, trees, shrubs and equipment. A team now can consist of unlimited individuals at the state level, with the top 3 scores being used for the team score. Our team placed 6th in state which was the highest ever. The team consisted of Aaron Miller, Mattieu Hill, Tyler Genders, Austin Conte, Ryan Mundy, Kyle Klingler, & Hunter Ricketts. Placing individually Aaron Miller placed 13th, Mattieu Hill 22nd, & Tyler Genders 25th.

State Nature Interpretation

The Nature Interpretation Contest tests student knowledge and understanding of wildlife. At present, the contest consists of a written test, a practicum and the identification of mammals, equipment, song birds, wildflowers, reptiles and amphibians. A team now can consist of unlimited individuals at the state level, with the top 3 scores being used for the team score. The team was made up of David Sams, Mike Hite, Alyssa Jenkins, Emily Cordle & Josh Cordle. The team placed 3rd in state, highest ever. Individually Mike Hite placed 4th & David Sams 7th.

State Equine Management

The Equine Management Contest tests student knowledge and understanding of the equine industry. At present, the contest consists of a test, judging classes of horses, identification of tack, identification of poisonous weeds, identification of forages, and judging hay. Currently, a chapter may enter an unlimited number of members at the state level, with the top three scores making-up the team score. Our chapter placed 40th over all the team consisted of Madison Ball, Reba Hyme, Caitlin Robinson, Evin Tipple, Kati Beedy, Emily Morgan, Kendra Lama & Colleen Trapp. We would like to thank Gail Ellinger who was the coach of this team. For a very young group, this was a good result.

State General Livestock

The General Livestock Contest tests student knowledge and understanding of the beef, swine and sheep industries. At present, the contest consists of judging classes of beef, sheep and swine. Currently, a chapter may enter up to an unlimited number of members at the state level, with the top three scores making-up the team score. Our chapter placed 71st in state. Preliminary contest members participating were: Sierra Jepsen, Cheyenne Jepsen, Kenndy Hardman, Justin Strittmatter, & J.D. Stover.

State FFA Degree

The State FFA Degree is the highest degree a state association can award an FFA member. State FFA Degree winners represent the top 2% of the FFA members in the state in the given year. David Sams, Sarah Rogers, & Josh Cordle are our chapter members who will be receiving their degrees at the State Convention in May.

American FFA Degree

Jodi Roush’s American FFA Degree has advanced to the Nationals. The American FFA Degree is the highest degree a FFA member can earn. American FFA Degree winners represent the top 1/2% of the FFA members in the country in the given year.

By: Brittany Stevens, Chapter Reporter