For September of 2013

By: Katerina Sharp, Reporter

 

          

 

Next FFA Meeting

        

The next FFA meeting will be held on Monday, September 16th at 7:00 P.M. in the Ag center next to the primary building. The Ag Challenge for this meeting will be the straw bale toss. One male and female member from each class are required to participate. Members are reminded that once they participate in an individual Ag Challenge, they cannot volunteer for another one.

 

Upcoming Events

 

Ice Cream Social: This yearÕs Ice Cream Social will be held on Wednesday, September 4th at 7:00 P.M. All freshman and new members are heavily encouraged to attend this event and to bring their parents. Everyone will start out in the cafeteria for an introduction. Following this, the members will split up into groups lead by the assistant officers and visit the different rooms in the Ag. hallway, where the officers will be explaining about many of the trips, activities, options and requirements that the FFA offers. During this time, Mr. Sharp and Mr. Tilley will be talking to parents in the cafeteria. All other members (FFA members only! This is not an open school activity!) can arrive to the school at 7:30 P.M. At this time, the ice cream will be served and the gym and cafeteria will both be open for members to play games and socialize.

Ag Breakfast: The monthly Ag breakfast will be held on Friday, September 6th at 6:15 A.M. at Tee JayeÕs. Although this is an optional activity, all members are encouraged to attend. This is a fun activity for members to eat good food and socialize.

 

Farm Science Review: The Ag. Ed. classes will be taking a field trip to the Farm Science Review on Wednesday, September 18th. This event is open to all four classes and is on a first come first serve basis, as there will only be 2 busses going. The cost to attend is $5.00. At the event, students get to walk around and look at different agricultural displays while completing their assignment paper.

 

Ohio Legislative Leadership Conference: This is a relatively new event that has been set up for different Ohio FFA members, which will take place on Wednesday, September 25th in the State House. Members from the Ohio Farm Bureau will be leading a workshop in the morning, teaching members how the government systems work and how to inform high government officials about our educational programs. Members then get to eat a catered lunch with many of the state legislatures. Last year, there were nearly 70 state legislators who attended this conference, as well as Governor Kasich who spoke to the group.  The FFA members from our chapter that are attending the Ohio Legislative Leadership Conference this year are Katerina Sharp, Adrian Wymer, Emmy Hollar, Devon Mullen and Susan Householder.

 

Fall Trap Shoot: On Sunday, September 29th, at 1:00 P.M. the chapter will be holding the Fall Trap Shoot at the Green residence. Members and their parents are encouraged to come and shoot or watch. Anyone who wants to participate in the trap shoot will need to bring their own ammunition and firearm. The chapter and the GreenÕs will provide hot dogs, chips and drinks.

 

Ag. Issues Forum: The Ag. Issues Forum is a state contest where teams, made up of 3 to 7 people, give a presentation to various local and community groups, clubs, businesses and organizations, before competing at the state contest in front of a panel of judges. The team must create their presentation over an agriculturally related topic that the state selects. They also must fill out and answer various questions about their topics. The state Ag. Issues Forum contest this year will take place at Wilmington College on Saturday, November 9th. This yearÕs team consists of Katerina Sharp, Devon Mullen, Samantha Young, Katie Krile and Susan Householder.

 

Ag. Communications: This CDE tests studentsÕ knowledge and understanding of the various forms of communication within the industry of agriculture. Each chapter can take a team consisting of three members. Each team must submit a 12 page written media plan, and each member takes a journalism quiz, and completes an editing exercise using all proper AP style marks and laws. Members then work on individual practicums such as, a news release, graphic design and social media campaign. Finally, the team presents a project proposal. This yearÕs team consists of Kaylee Reed, Josie Montoney, and Kayla Luft.

 

Soils CDE: There are two different soil contests: Urban Soils and Rural Soils. The Urban Soils CDE teaches participants how to judge soil for urban usages, such as installing a driveway, basement or septic system. The Rural Soils CDE judges at the same site as the Urban team but for agricultural purposes. Contestants determine what needs to be done to the site so that it can be used to grow crops successfully or if it can be used for agricultural purposes at all. Both CDE teams must compete a test and judge four soil pits. If you are interested, sign up on the contest board and contact Mr. Tilley for more information.

 

 Forestry CDE: Members competing in the Forestry Career Development Event have the chance to learn how to identify different kinds of trees, forestry tools, how many board feet of lumber can be cut and used from a tree, how to use a compass and how to identify the type of wood used in everyday products. This CDE also consists of bark and leaf ID and an online test. Members who choose to sign up for this contest must also complete two practicums. The practicums for this year are chain saw parts ID, map reading and forest diseases/pest. Mr. Tilley is coaching the Forestry CDE team again this year. The team will be competing in the District 7 contest held at Knox Woods and the state contest, held at Hocking College on Saturday, October 5th. Last year, the Forestry team placed 6th in the state, which tied for the highest ever. If youÕre interested on being part of this yearÕs team, see Mr. Tilley ASAP.

Past Happenings

Thad Davis Memorial 5K:  The Thad Davis Memorial 5K Run/Walk, sponsored by the A-C Alumni Association, was held on the Saturday, June 15th. This is only the second year for this event and it was a great success with over 100 participants. The FFA was again asked to help and had eight members help with this event. The proceeds went to the Amanda-Clearcreek Alumni Scholarship Fund.

 

Tarlton Fire Department Fish Fry:  The Tarlton Fire Department Fish Fry was held on Thursday, June 27th at the Tarlton Town Hall from 3 PM to 7 P.M. This activity is always a great success for the fire department and the 24 FFA members who helped serve the Tarlton community are greatly appreciated.

 

Canoe Trip:  The Amanda-Clearcreek FFA ChapterÕs annual canoe trip was held again at Paint Creek this year. Twelve of our FFA members went canoeing and, of course, had a blast! This was a great social experience for all of our chapter members. The event was held on Tuesday, July 2nd.

 

A-C Alumni Banquet Table Set-Up: The A-C Alumni Banquet took place at the school on Saturday, June 1st. The banquet is designed for graduating students who have received scholarship awards to come and thank their sponsors. The FFA had thirteen members arrive early before the event to help set-up the tables and prepare the room.

 

Summer Ag. Breakfasts:  Just like during the school year, the chapter has Ag. Breakfasts in the summer too. Each breakfast took place at 8:00 A.M. The June Ag. Breakfast took place on Friday the 7th at FrischÕs. The July Ag. Breakfast was held on Tuesday the 2nd at the Laurelville Dinner. The August Ag. Breakfast took place on Friday the 2nd at Bob Evans. These are fun, social events that members can participate in and eat good food.

 

Ohio Leadership Camp:  OLC this year took place from June 21st through the 24th at FFA Camp Muskingum. The Ohio Farm Bureau hosts this event each year for youth throughout the state of Ohio. Our chapter sent Kaylee Reed, Susan Householder and Kayla Luft to OLC this year through a scholarship that each of the girls won from the chapter at the Chapter Banquet, held in May. Adrian Wymer also attended OLC this past summer. Adrian was one of the members to win the Memorial Award to attend the Washington Leadership Conference in Washington, DC this summer at the banquet for the chapter this past year, but due to a change at the National level, will not be able to attend WLC until next summer. Due to this change, the chapter decided to allow him the chance to attend OLC this summer. At Leadership Camp, youth and FFA members alike participated in many workshops on team building and leadership skills. They also completed a re-enactment of the Underground Railroad, to gain a better understanding of the history and significance of the event.

 

FFA Camp: Amanda-Clearcreek FFA chapter members went to the 5th session of FFA Camp again this summer, which was held from July 8th through the 12th. The theme for camp this year was the Hunger Games. As always, FFA Camp is a great opportunity for members to meet new people and learn better leadership skills. At camp, FFA members can kayak, canoe, motorboat, participate in sports tournaments, complete a high ropes course, and/or shoot a shotgun, rifle or learn archery. All of the members who attended camp gained leadership skills, unforgettable memories and friends that will last a lifetime. We had 31 FFA members from Amanda-Clearcreek attend the fifth session of FFA camp this year. The 2013 camp staff and state officers, including our very own Nick Brumfield, did a great job of teaching and advising FFA Members during camp. This truly is an amazing experience for everyone involved and any member who is eligible should definitely consider attending camp next summer!

 

Officer Retreat: On July 15th, 16th and 17th this past summer, Mr. Tilley and Mr. Sharp took the 2013-2014 Amanda-Clearcreek FFA Chapter Officer Team and assistants to West Virginia, where they planned the events that the chapter will participate in for the upcoming year. While there, they also visited a snake museum, completed a tour of the Smoke Hole caves and hiked to the top of Seneca Rocks.

 

Cross Mound Park Cleanup: Every summer for nearly twenty years, our chapter has gone to Cross Mound Park and planted flowers, spread mulch, made repairs when needed, picked-up trash and brush, swept the picnic area, fix fences, etc. There were seven members who helped clean up the park this year. This was a great opportunity to help preserve one of our nations most unique man made features and something our chapter is planning on continuing to do for many years to come.

 

Adopt-A-Highway: The chapter Adopt-A-Highway this year took place on Friday, August 2nd. Our chapter schedules a day each spring, summer and fall to walk our stretch of 159 between Tommy WayneÕs and Oakland, where members pick-up trash along the highway.

 

Summer Trap Shoot: The summer trap shoot was held this year on August 6th at Mr. SharpÕs home at 12:00 P.M. The fourteen members and their parents who attended were able to enjoy the food and social time with fellow FFA members, as well as shoot if they wanted. This event is also a good opportunity for members to learn firearm safety. The chapter will be having another Trap Shoot this fall on Sunday, September 29th at the Green residence at 1:00 P.M. Members are all invited and encouraged to attend and of course participate if they choose.

 

Pelotonia Bike Tour: On Friday, August 9th the chapter was asked to again help with the Pelotonia Bike Tour. This year the chapter was helping with the clean up after the eventÕs celebration send off the night before. Our chapter has helped with the Pelotonia for several years now. Our FFA members picked up trash, carried and stacked tables and chairs and cleaned up the area after the event was over. There were 6,723 riders overall this year, with numbers growing every year for the support of cancer research. This was a great opportunity for members to contribute for the fight against cancer and participate in a community service activity. There were 32 Amanda-Clearcreek FFA members who volunteered their time to the Pelotonia this summer.