March of 2025
By Alayna Leppert, Reporter
Newsletter Update
We would like to thank Emma Strickler for her excellent year of service as our 2023-2024 A-C FFA Chapter Reporter. We would also at this time like to welcome Alayna Leppert as our new 2025-2026 A-C FFA Reporter. We look forward to great things from Alayna who has started off on the right foot with a really nice newsletter for you this month. As a result of our recent officer elections and switch in chapter officers this newsletter is a bit behind. Please look forward to getting back to our normal schedule next month. Thank you.
Next FFA Meeting
The next A-C FFA meeting will be held on Monday, April 14th at 7pm in the 3-12 cafeteria. Upon the completion of the meeting, members present will participate in the Ag Challenge, which is the volleyball tournament . Each class will have a male team and a female team. Both contain at most five members. When it comes to competing, freshmen will go against sophomores and juniors will go against seniors. Whoever wins these, will move onto the championship.
Upcoming Events
Ag Breakfast: The April Ag Breakfast will be held on Friday, April 4th at 6.a.m. at Scramblers in Lancaster. This is a new location for us and we look forward to going there and having a good time and a great breakfast. All members are welcomed and encouraged to go as it gives you a chance to relax and eat good food!
Logan Elm Square Dance: The Logan Elm FFA Chapter hosted a square dance on Monday, March 10th from 6-8 pm at the Logan Elm Middle School. Being invited along with many other chapters, all members were encouraged to go. Members got the chance to meet new people and learn some fun dances. This was the third year we have attended this event and a great time was had by all in attendance.
Mulch Sale: The annual A-C FFA Chapter mulch sale has started! This sale is a good way to get FFA Buxx for trips so everyone is encouraged to participate. Anyone wishing to purchase mulch can contact an FFA Member for assistance. This is a very important fundraiser for our chapter.
Nationwide Children’s Hospital Hog Raffle: The A-C FFA Chapter is raffled off two half hogs, to which all proceeds will go to Nationwide Children's Hospital. Tickets were $2 a piece and a whole book of 10 tickets was $20. This raffle ended on March 21st. Thanks to many generous people and the efforts of many of our A-C FFA Members the Chapter raised over $700 this year for Children's Hospital.
Upcoming Contests
General Livestock CDE: This career development event (CDE) is based on the member’s abilities to judge the 4 main meat for animals: beef cattle, swine, sheep, and goats. When competing, all participants are split into groups and are required to rank many classes of livestock from best to worst, with two types of classes per species. Members are also required to take an online test regarding animal diseases, history, gestation periods, carcass weight, breeding charts and many more topics. This year’s team includes: Braeleigh Blosser, Troy Bush, Demi Lee, Abbie Leist, Ava Loel, Raylee Westhoven, Smanatha Buckley, Julia Cowdrey, and Ariana Norris. These members will compete at the state semi-finals on March 22nd at the Ohio State Expo Center located in the Ohio State Fairgrounds. Best of luck to all!
Nature Interpretation CDE: In this CDE, members are required to identify different mammals, birds, non-woody plants, reptiles and equipment in the form of pictures, the actual item and a written test. On top of that, the team will complete three practicums, including animal call identification, reading nature signs and understanding of nature interpretation. Our team this year is made up of Mara Anderson, Sophia Dossman, Averie Frank, KyAnn Jones, and Reese Melton. With their competition on March 29th, make sure to wish them good luck!
Agronomy CDE: Along with the rest of the CDE’s, the Agronomy team including Coltyn Anderson, Olivia Chaffin, Justin Seymour, and Reid Strickler have been working extremely hard. In this competition, members are required to know things such as crop identification, soil science, pest/disease management, crop production, and technology in agriculture. Their state competition is on March 22, best of luck!
Wildlife Management CDE: Being in close relation to the Nature Interpretation competition, this however contains a much larger range of identification. The people on this team will identify different mammals, birds, fish, food, and cover plants, amphibians/reptiles and equipment. On top of an onsite online test, members are required to complete three practicums which can include reading topographical maps, determining age and sex of animals and controlling nuisance animals. The members taking part of this team are: Caidyn Garee, Blaze Makenzie, Taelynn Meade, and Travis Spence. Best of luck to these members who compete on March 29th.
Past Happenings
Agricultural Sales CDE: Throughout this entire competition the team consisting of Madison Cordle, Haley Robinson, Cate Buckley, and Emma Strickler worked extremely hard. From competing at the county CDE where they placed 2nd to the district 7 contest where they placed 2nd as well. Those placing’s led them to the State Level where they competed against the 19 other top teams in Ohio. They placed 5th in the State of Ohio. Congratulations girls!
February FFA Meeting - Officer Elections: The Amanda-Clearcreek FFA Chapter held its monthly meeting on Monday February 24th at 7pm in the school cafeteria. During this meeting, the new officer team was elected. There were seven candidates who applied for a position, who had to submit an application and go through an interview process prior to the meeting. Before the elections the 7 candidates gave a short speech. Results were tabulated, and your 2025-2026 officer team is:
President - Emma Strickler
Vice-President - Catherine Buckley
Secretary - Ariana Norris
Treasurer - Sophia Dossman
Reporter - Alayna Leppert
Sentinel - Greta Helser
Student Advisor - Olivia Chaffin
The new officer team is extremely excited to guide our chapter into another great year! There was no Ag challenge due to the length of the officer elections.
Ag Breakfast: The March Ag Breakfast took place on Friday, March 7th at 6 a.m. at Tim Horton’s in Lancaster. This activity was open to all members and was a good way to eat good food and relax before the school day!
National FFA Week: This year National FFA Week started on February 15th and ended on February 22nd. This allowed FFA members to show and appreciate the accomplishments of the agricultural industry while also displaying the achievements of the National FFA Organization. However, due to a holiday and a shortened week the Amanda-Clearcreek FFA Chapter celebrated this week on March 3rd to the 7th. Members were able to dress up for the theme days and participate in the activities throughout the week. The schedule for this year was:
Monday - “PJ Day”
Tuesday - “Camo Day”
Wednesday - “FFA History Day” (Bring three FFA facts to class and present)
Thursday - “Official Dress/Jacket Day” and Game Night
Friday - FFA T-Shirt Day
Public Speaking CDE: There are 4 different types of public speaking Career Development Events FFA members can choose from: FFA Creed, Beginning Prepared, Advanced Prepared, and Extemporaneous. This year Riley Strickler and Grace Martin competed in the Creed Speaking Contest. Riley placed 4th at the Drop the Mic Invitational, 1st at the Wilmington Invitational, 2nd at the Fairfield County competition, and placed 2nd at the district 7 competition. She worked hard and earned her way to the state level where she placed around 14th in the state of Ohio. Grace competed in the Drop the Mic invitational, Placed 3rd in her room at the Wilmington Invitational, 3rd at the Fairfield County competition. Olivia Stout and Alayna Leppert competed in the Beginning Prepared Speaking Contest. Olivia placed 4th at the Drop the Mic Invitational, 3rd in her room at the Wilmington Invitational and 3rd at the county competition. Alayna competed at the Drop the Mic Invitational, placed 3rd in her room at the Wilmington Invitational, 2nd at the county competition, and 2nd at the district competition. She earned her way to the state level where she placed around 14th in the state of Ohio. Emma Strickler competed in the Advanced Prepared Public Speaking competition. She placed 1st at the Drop the Mic Invitational, 1st at the county competition and 2nd at the district level advancing to the Ohio State Public Speaking competition. Emma proceeded to place 1st in the State of Ohio for the Advanced Prepared competition, earning her way to the National competition this fall where she will represent the Ohio FFA at the 98th National FFA Convention and Expo. Congratulations to all these girls and their achievements!
Greenhand Quiz CDE: The Greenhand Quiz CDE is an online exam held on the state level that is open to all freshmen in the FFA. This quiz asks the members questions regarding things such as parliamentary procedure and the history/values of the FFA Organization. Of all the CDE’s, this is the biggest one by far. Out of over 3,000 members that competed, Bella Metz placed 100th in the State of Ohio. This is a very respectable accomplishment and we are so proud of this achievement!
State Agricultural Communications CDE: This year representing our chapter in this Career Development Event was Troy Busch, Smanatha Buckley, Demi Lee, and Riley Strickler. In much preparation, the team had to participate in a practicum consisting of 4 communication areas (a feature story, magazine layout, broadcast production and social media plan). To achieve all of this it takes 3 hours and is followed up by a 3 page communication plan, which you present at the press conference that all competitors will attend. After all this hard work the team placed 8th in the State of Ohio. We are proud of your hard work!
Top Fall Fundraiser’s Trip: To be eligible for the Top Fall Fundraiser’s Trip to Louisville, Kentucky, members were required to sell at least 25 boxes of fruit and snacks in the Fall Fruit and Snack sale. This year's trip lasted from February 14th to February 16th. We had 21 members attend this trip: Peter Smith, Braeigh Blosser, Haley Robinson, Caidyn Garee, Savanna Holley, Olivia Chaffin, Alayna Leppert, Grace Martin, Riley Strickler, Sam Buckley, Averie Frank, Caleb McGee, Justin Seymour, Ava Loel, Rylyn Foster, Clinton Foster, Christian Galloway, Aleiya Johnson, Kara Johnson, Brandt Blosser, and William Francis along with Mr. Tilley and Mr. Sharp. Additionally, we also had the chaperons Ben Blosser, Megan Francis, Kendall Foster, and Chad Galloway. The biggest activity that we do during this trip is the National Farm Machinery Show and National Truck and Tractor Pulls. These members also got to visit the Cincinnati History Museum and Ron’s Machine Shop/Salty Dog Museum. On the way home the chapter stopped at Jungle Jim’s International Food Market in Cincinnati and were given the chance to try many new foods from around the world. Through this time members were able to have a lot of fun and build bigger connections with each other, even sitting through 4 hours of traffic on the way home! Thank you to all chaperons and members who made this trip possible!
State FFA Degree Recipients: The State FFA Degree is the highest degree that a state can award to their members. These individuals who earn this degree must meet all of the requirements listed in the Official FFA Manual and they must have satisfactory scholastic records of agricultural involvement. Recipients of this degree represent the Ohio FFA at the highest level. This year we had five members earn their degree. The members receiving them at this year's State Convention are Emma Strickler, Catherine Buckley, Travis Spence, Caidyn Garee and Madison Cordle. Congratulations to these members!
Smile!
State Skills (Agronomy and Livestock) State Agricultural Sales
Logan Elm Square Dance State Public Speaking
2025-2026 Officer Team Top Fall Fundraiser’s Trip
