WEST SALEM, Ohio — Northwestern FFA members Kirsten Boreman and Kade Tegtmeier took first place in their divisions in the district Public Speaking contest Feb. 10 and moved on to the state contest March 6.
Kirsten’s prepared speech, “Changes in the Dairy Industry” was fifth in the state for her division of Beginning Prepared. For the Extemporaneous contest Kade drew the topic of “Biosecurity in Agriculture” and placed sixth in his division.
The Northwestern FFA chapter just finished up its annual strawberry sale fundraiser. Members sold 555 flats of strawberries this year. The fruits were delivered March 3. The chapter is prepping for its next fundraiser, the greenhouse flower sale in May.
On Feb. 17th, the chapter held its annual greenhand/chapter ceremony.
Greenhand degrees were awarded to: Darren Basista, Issac Beun, Jozielynn Brenner, Brooklyn Brinker, Jonathan Burgess, Owen Cassidy, Kayla Cutter, Mateo Dague, Morgan Ervin, Owen Ferriman, Bladen Friend, Nathaniel Fulton, Logan Garman, Jamison Gilbert, Mallory Gilbert, Caeden Graham, Aaron Hales, Will Hamey, Elle Hanshaw, Kelly Harper, Keegan Johns, Brianna Lance, Anthony Linscott, Austin Mooney, Avery Mullet, Mason Myers, Joshua Pinkley, Carson Polak, Denny Ray, Alexa Riffel, Ella Saal, Caydence Scale, Ethan Schwartz, Andrew Sims, Miranda Smith, Chloe Starcher, Thomas Stawicki, Brook Stinemetz, Easton Thomas, Emily Thompson, Mariah Thompson, Alysa Troyan, Anthony Welch, Mary Wellert, Gavin Witucki, Taylor Wurst and Madalyn Yasch.
The chapter also had several members who earned their chapter FFA degree. Chapter degrees were awarded to: Kaleb Badger, Kirsten Boreman, Aubrey Browning, Haley Caldwell, Hayden Cline, Audrey Franks, Jacoby Gilbert, Andrew Hatfield, Melanie Imhoff, Gabby Ream, Ava Stoller, Kade Tegtmeier, Troy Tope, Lauren Vaughan, Preston Wilcox and Hanna Wilson.
State Sentinel Victoria Snyder and Northwestern FFA alum Greg Dague spoke at the ceremony.
The Northwestern FFA Ag Sales team competed in the district competition and took first place. The team will move on to the state contest. The members who competed were Stoller, Desi Smith, Jadeyn Berry and Dugan Mclaughlin.
The chapter celebrated FFA week in several ways. To kick off the week, the school had spirit days: Tuesday camo day, Thursday pajama day and Friday blue and gold or farmer day. The FFA also hosted a coloring contest in order to involve the elementary school in the FFA Week celebrations. The chapter also hosted its annual teacher breakfast, where the chapter officers serve breakfast to the teachers. After the teacher breakfast, for the first time ever, students were also invited to breakfast this year with dodgeball, corn hole, badminton and basketball with the officers afterward.
To finish off the week, the chapter celebrated with a school-wide assembly with the high school and middle school students with many events. Students from every grade participated in milk chugging, tractor races, tug of war, plunger races, frozen T-shirts and doughnuts on a string.
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UTICA, Ohio — Five members of the Utica FFA chapter participated in the district Ag Sales and Public Speaking contests Feb. 17.
The ag sales team consisted of Kenneth Davenport, Jordan Heald, Emily Hill and Abby Paxton. They placed seventh in the contest.
Paxton placed third with a silver rating in the Beginning Prepared Public Speaking contest. Olivia Dickson recited the FFA creed and answered questions about it. She placed seventh overall with a bronze rating.
The Utica FFA chapter celebrated National FFA week Feb. 22-27 and held several activities to celebrate. All teachers in the high school and middle school were given a small treat to thank them for their support of the FFA chapter. FFA members had the opportunity to participate in Minute to Win It games during lunch. The high school and middle school were invited to participate in the dress up spirit week days. All hat day money was donated to the Walking Wild Rescue. Students were also invited to participate in the FFA emblem scavenger hunt, where students looked for an FFA emblem that was hidden in different parts of the schools. Students were given a prize when they found the FFA emblem.
Abby Kellett will receive her State FFA Degree at the end of April. Amanda Annett, Autumn Drumm and Shaeley Warner are eligible to apply for the American Degree.
Annett has also applied for three other FFA awards. She is currently first place in the chapter’s FFA district and top four in the state for her proficiency awards. She will interview March 25 and her placing will be announced at the State FFA Convention in April.
Amanda was also named Ohio’s Star American in Agricultural Placement. This is an application that combines the student’s American Degree application with a proficiency application, as well as an essay.
Amanda will represent Ohio and the Utica FFA chapter on the national level.
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SULLIVAN, Ohio — The Black River FFA Nursery and Landscaping Team participated in the virtual State Career Development Event Feb. 19.
This year’s team consisted of Chloee Howard, Katlyn Kubitz, Kennadi Fusco, Sarah Racut, Issac Starling and Kelsie DeLong. The team earned fifth place overall in the state competition and will receive a state top 10 banner.
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EDON, Ohio — In celebration of FFA Week, the Edon FFA chapter organized an event called “Coins for Cancer” and encouraged students in all grades to bring in change over the course of the week.
The class with the most money collected earned a doughnut party, with all proceeds going to the Cancer Assistance of Williams County.
The winner was Mrs. Hamman’s third-grade class, which brought in $372.54. In total, the students and faculty at Edon raised $1,356.71 during the event.
This was the third year that the FFA held a fundraiser for this organization, and because of the success of the event, they plan on making it an annual community service project.
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