February of 2014

By Katerina Sharp, Reporter

Next FFA Meeting

The next FFA meeting will take place on Monday, February 17^th at 7:00 P.M. in the Ag. Center. Officer elections will also be taking place at this meeting, so any member interested in running for an office will need to fill out an application and go through an interview before the deadline. Mr. Sharp and Mr. Tilley will announce more on this as it nears. The Ag. Challenge following the meeting will be the Scavenger Hunt.

Upcoming Events

Ag Breakfast: The February Ag. Breakfast will take place on Friday, February 7^th at 6:15 A.M. at Tee Jaye’s. All members are encouraged to attend, as this is a fun, social event with good food!

Top Fall Fundraiser’s Trip: The purpose of this trip is to reward those members who took the time to sell 25 or more boxes or baskets of fruit and provide them with an educational trip experience. Members attending this trip will be leaving the school on Friday, February 14^th and traveling to Louisville, Kentucky to the National Farm Machinery Show and Tractor Pulls. Also while on this trip, members will get to go on several tours and walk around the trade show. Members will be returning back to the school on Sunday, February 16^th. The members who will be attending the Louisville Trip are: Susan Householder, Mallory Seitz, Katerina Sharp, Ben Slykerman, Devon Mullen, Alek Doss, Katie Krile, Shayla Morrison, Kaylee Reed, Adrian Wymer, AJ Wymer, Dylan Mullen, Cody Gallant, Joce Palombo, Carlie Krile, Josh Metzon Austin Stai, Nelson Craycraft, Susan Householder, Maddie Colburn, Desirae Logsdon, Sydney Stinson, Sonny Drake, Mariah Arledge, Austin Smith, Garret Smith, Shelby Humphreys, Rachel Stoneburner, and Ashley Pritchard.

National FFA Week: National FFA Week this year will take place from Monday, February 17^th to Friday, February 21^st. The purpose of FFA Week is to recognize the accomplishments that the FFA has made over the years and to demonstrate to others what the FFA is truly about. Our Student Development Committee decides each year on what activities out chapter will do throughout the week to celebrate this event. The schedule is:

Monday – FFA Shirt Day

Tuesday – Blue & Gold Day, FFA Lunch $5

Wednesday – Truck & Tractor Day, Camo Day

Thursday – Agricultural Shirt Day, Game Night

Friday – FFA Jacket & Official Dress Day, Dodge Ball

212° Leadership Conference: The 212º Leadership Conference is hosted at Union Local High School each year and will take place this year on Saturday, February 22^nd through Sunday, February 23^rd. FFA members from around Ohio are invited to attend the conference, where members will spend most of Saturday with the National FFA Staff, going through a leadership workshop. This conference gives FFA members the opportunity to learn new leadership skills, work together as a team, and to meet new FFA members.  Members also get to participate in different activities, such as dodge ball, line dancing, tug-of-war, card games, basketball, learning activities, etc throughout the night, since this is a lock-in activity. Mr. Sharp and Mr. Tilley will be passing out permission forms in class soon. Contact them if you are interested.

Upcoming Contests

Spring Skills Contests: The following are a list of upcoming CDE’s that our chapter competes in that are considered to be “Spring Skills Contests”: General Livestock Judging, Dairy Cattle Judging, Equine Management, Poultry, Nature Interpretation, Wildlife Management, Agronomy, and Meats. Anybody interested in any of these contests needs to sign up on the boards in Mr. Tilley’s room ASAP. Organizational meetings will begin in a few weeks.

Ag. & Industrial Diagnostics: The Tractor Troubleshooting CDE tests a team's ability to find problems on a tractor. This contest was started in 1972. In the 1990's and early 2000's, the contest consisted of a test and between 3 and 6 tractors that have 2 problems each. 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. The members signed up to compete in this contest are: Austin Shannon, Cody Roark, Joey Drake, and Billy L’huillier.

Ag Sales: The Agricultural Sales CDE is designed to test the knowledge and understanding of students in the area of Agricultural Sales. This contest includes a multiple-choice general knowledge test, a sales demonstration, and four practicums: telephone skills, advertising and promotion, product display, and customer relations. The top two teams in our district will proceed to the state level. The District 7 contest this year will take place at Lancaster High School on Wednesday, February 12^th. The members of this team are: Rachel Stoneburner. Mallory Seitz, Sydney Stinson, Alek Doss, Layla Renner, Katie Hooker, Ellie Tiple, Joce Palombo, and Aubrey Meenach.

Job Interview: The Job Interview Contest is designed to test members’ ability to prepare a resume, write a follow-up letter, and interview for a mock employment opportunity. Currently, the contest is broken into five areas that are divided by grade level. This also includes a category for first year junior and seniors. Members must win the district contest in order to proceed to the state level. The District Contest this year will take place on Wednesday, February 12^th at Lancaster High School. Due to extra member participation, Mr. Tilley will be holding a chapter run-off to determine who the final team is. As of now, Austin Smith is competing in the freshman category, Kelsey Adkins in the sophomore category, Susan Householder, Austin Stai, Kayla Luft, and Devon Mullen are all signed up for the junior category, Mary Smeltzer is signed up for the first year junior/senior category, and Katie Krile is signed up for the senior category.

County Public Speaking: There are currently four public speaking areas offered by the Ohio FFA Association. Creed Speaking is available only to freshmen that must recite the FFA Creed and then answer a series of questions about the Creed following their presentation. The Beginning Prepared area is designed mostly for sophomores who present a 5 to 7 minute speech on any agricultural topic of their choosing. The Prepared Speaking contest, often referred to as 'Senior Prepared', is open to members in all four-grade levels, but generally involves junior and senior members who must create and present a 6 to 8 minute speech on any agricultural topic to a panel of judges. The fourth area of Public Speaking is the Extemporaneous Speaking contest. This area is open to all four-grade levels. Extemporaneous speakers must draw an agricultural topic and are then given 30 minutes to develop a four to six minute speech from materials that they have brought with them and their own personal knowledge. Members will be competing at the county level at Liberty Union High School on Wednesday, February 5^th and again at the district level on Wednesday, February 19^th at Amanda-Clearcreek High School if they qualify. The members from our chapters are: Layla Renner - Creed Speaking; Samantha Young - Beginning Prepared; Josie Montoney - Prepared; and Kaylee Reed - Extemporaneous.

Past Happenings

State and American FFA Degrees: All of the applications for State and American FFA degrees were due Friday, January 31^st. To qualify for either of these two degrees is a huge accomplishment, for they require a lot of effort on the member’s part. Susan Householder has applied for her State FFA Degree this year and Jenna Ferguson and John Miller have applied for their American FFA Degree.

Greenhand Quiz CDE: The Greenhand Quiz CDE tests the students’ knowledge and history of the FFA. The contest consists of a multiple-choice test dealing with past and present information about the FFA. A chapter may enter as many members as they would like, with the top three scores counting for the overall team score. This contest is only open to freshmen. The freshman participants who competed on the team this year are: Shaylyn Stai, Lilly Seifert, Billy L’huillier, Joey Drake, Austin Smith, Donavin aDillon, Katie Hooker, Mallory Seitz, Ellie Tiple, Keaton Baldwin, Lexie Kougher, Carlie Krile, Chris Conrad, Sarah Streets, Dylan Warga, Courtney Smith, Layla Renner, Joce Palombo, and Mitch Cassley.

Chapter FFA Degree: The Chapter FFA Degree is the highest degree a chapter can present to its members. There are multiple requirements that a member must complete, including earning their Greenhand FFA Degree, before they can be awarded with the Chapter FFA Degree. The following FFA members were awarded their Chapter FFA Degree at the January FFA meeting: Matt Marshal, Sydney Stinson, Kelsey Adkins, Maddie Helser, Shelby Humphreys, Desirae Logsdon, Dustin Bresler, Kassidy McClure, James Smith, Aubrey Meenach, Sonny Drake, Brian Abner, Josie Montoney, Jacob Bresler, Nelson Craycraft, and Jonathon Hackworth.

Ag. Breakfast: The January Ag. Breakfast was held on Friday, January 10^th at 6:15 A.M. at Scramblers. There were 29 members in attendance. As always, this is a fun activity that gives members the chance to get to know each other better and eat really good food!

Proficiency Awards: For a member to be eligible to fill out a proficiency award, their SAE project must first be Ag. related. They must then fill out a strenuous application and turn in their completed project book(s) and general record book. These will be judged in the district and the top 4 in each category will continue on to the state. Members who make it to the state will then have to complete a project board and an interview at the Ohio State FFA Convention in the spring. This takes a lot of extra time and effort and it is a huge accomplishment for a member’s proficiency award to be in the top 4 in the state. The following members have completed their proficiency award applications: Katerina Sharp, Katie Krile, Rachel Stoneburner, Dylan Wamsley, Kaylee Reed, Johnny Lemaster, Devon Mullen, Desirae Logston, and Dylan Mullen.

Officer Books: Throughout the year, as the chapter officers complete their various duties, they accumulate a lot of information. The three offices that require a completed book are: Secretary, Treasurer, and Reporter. The Secretary’s book, which was completed this year by Susan Householder, consists of all of the chapter correspondence, meeting notes, members’ attendance, etc. The Treasurer’s book, which was completed by Kaylee Reed, has records of all of the receipts and dispersements that our chapter makes throughout the year. The Reporter’s book, which was completed by Katerina Sharp, contains pictures from the chapter’s various activities throughout the year, newsletters, news releases, etc. These books require a tremendous amount of work and over the last few years, all three officer books have earned a gold rating. We hope all three of these officers will continue to set the bar high at the District 7 evaluations, to be held in early February.