AW FFA Vice-President of Building Communities, Jacob Zajkowski
On February 26, 2020, the Anthony Wayne FFA Chapter celebrated National FFA Week. The celebration started with the annual teacher and staff luncheon for all high school and junior high teachers and staff members. This annual event allows the school’s staff to celebrate the great achievements of our organization and also take the time to thank all faculty members for their help in making our chapter great. The theme for the luncheon this year was Ohio fresh food. All of the food that was provided was grown and made in Northwest Ohio. The teachers enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches, salad, potato chips, cookies and buckeyes while talking with other staff from the campus. NatureFresh in Delta donated tomatoes, and Turkeyfoot Creek Creamery in Wauseon donated goat feta cheese. Anthony Wayne FFA is a satellite of Penta Career Center.
The 2020 Ohio FFA State Convention is right around the corner and Ohio’s Country Journal and Ohio Ag Net is on the search for outstanding Ohio FFA members to help serve as student reporters for this year’s event.
In our tenth year of the student reporter program, selected FFA members will get the opportunity to help cover the convention and work alongside our news staff, including Matt Reese, Dale Minyo, and Kolt Buchenroth. Ever wonder what it’s like to do our job? This is your chance!
The live coverage of the Ohio FFA Convention will be posted on www.ocj.com and various social media outlets with reporters helping to host news coverage in addition to a couple veteran student reporters.
Students will assist in gathering information, shoot photos and video of newsworthy items and people, share their commentary of what happened in each session, and much more.
To be considered:
Applicants must be attending both days of the Ohio FFA State Convention April 30 and May 1, 2020.
The National FFA Organization’s GIVE THE GIFT OF THE BLUE program has reached a milestone. The program gifted it 10,000th jacket last week during National FFA Week when Allison Burns of North Miami High School in Indiana was presented with her own jacket.
The program was established in 2014 in response to a large number of members who do not own an FFA jacket. The FFA estimates more than half of its members do not have a FFA jacket to wear for official functions.
Individual donors and corporate sponsors fund the GIVE THE GIFT OF THE BLUE program.… Continue reading
The Zane Trace FFA Chapter, was represented by 13 members at the 212-360 Union Local High School FFA Lock in. The lock in took place February 22-23 2020. The training is made up of 6 different leadership sessions to include personal growth,mental growth,emotional growth,physical growth,social growth and lifelong growth. The philosophy of this lock in was SHOW UP, SPEAK UP, BUILD UP. This philosophy was displayed in multiple places in the school. While this training helps to fulfill a requirement for the State Degree much more was gained than just fulfilling a requirement. Along with the mandatory requirements students were able to have a fun night with other FFA Chapter members to include square dancing,hypnotist,inflatables, line dancing, ice cream party, and dodgeball. This was an amazing opportunity and is highly recommended from all those who attended.
Matt and Kolt kick off National FFA Week with State FFA President at large, Alec Ogg. Dale attended Ag Day at the Capital and talked to Frank Burkett and Yvonne Lesicko while he was there. And Dusty appears on the podcast once again after he interviewed Keeley Overmyer on her Soy research.… Continue reading
The Norwayne FFA hosted a Feed-a-Farmer lunch on Monday, February 17th. In years past, they hosted a breakfast for farmers, but this year they decided to start something new and offer lunch. The event went on from 11am-2pm and was a great success with at least 90 farmers in attendance!
FFA members grilled hamburgers (donated by CAB) and hot dogs (donated by Heffelfinger Meats), and served many delicious side dishes like mac n’ cheese and coleslaw. When asked about the Feed-a-Farmer breakfast, Andy Stands said “My family and I have really come to appreciate the Feed-a-Farmer Day that the FFA puts on every year. It is a great opportunity for the students to show their support to those in the agriculture industry and we are honored to be a part of this special day.”
Many farmers gave feedback and said they preferred the new lunch over the old breakfast and the FFA members also liked coming in to help get the food ready to serve for lunchtime as well.… Continue reading
Milton-Union MVCTC FFA will celebrate National FFA Week this week! Each year, FFA chapters around the country celebrate National FFA Week. It’s a time to share what FFA is and the impact it has on members every day. When our chapter Reporter, Kelsie Tomlinson, was asked, “What is FFA and how has it impacted you?” She replied with, “FFA is a place where I can work as a team while being involved and sharing my ideas. FFA has brought me many new friendships and skills that I will never forget. Being a part of this organization I became a better leader and it will always be very important to me.”
This year National FFA is February 22nd-29th. The Milton-Union MVCTC FFA chapter kicked off their celebration of FFA week with a snow tubing trip at Valley’s Edge and a Livestock Judging Career Development Event in Mt. Gilead, OH. Pictured are Tyler Kress, Emmie Bohse, Darby Welbaum, Cammy Shook, and Jackson Kimmel at the Livestock Judging CDE.… Continue reading
The Miami Trace/Great Oaks FFA members took part in various career development events over the past two weeks including public speaking and ag sales. These contests collmenated a the district competition which was held on February 18th at Ross Butler Tech High School. In the Ag Sales CDE, students have the opportunity to demonstrate skills in sales by participating in a wide range of activities oriented around the total sales process. Marketing of agricultural products is key to profitability in today’s competitive economy, and agricultural sales play a major role in the marketing process. This year students were assigned a product in the landscape design field of agriculture and as a team developed a sales strategy to solicit customers for their designated product. The team members were: Weston Pettit, Blayne Ferguson, Madison Johnson and Kelsey Pettit. The team placed 7th at the district competition.
In addition to Ag Sales, members also competed in the Public Speaking CDE.… Continue reading
On February 18th, Charlie Woods and Colby Forcum, members of the Zane Trace FFA Chapter, competed in the District 7 Agricultural Power Diagnostics Career Development Event. This event allows students the opportunity to try their hand at troubleshooting problems with late model farm and industrial power equipment.
The event, which was held at Franklin Equipment in Groveport, allowed students to work with skid-steers, dump vehicles, farm tractors, and ditch digging equipment.
“This was a lot of fun, and I definitely want to do it again.” Said Charlie Woods.
“It was cool to get a chance to work on equipment like this, because I do a little bit of this at my house for equipment my family owns.” Said Colby Forcum.
These two boys are both freshmen in High School, and they took home a very respectable 6th place finish.
Company launches Flavor of Day Naming Poll and FFA Essay Contest
PRAIRIE DU SAC, Wis.—Feb. 17, 2020—FFA members are our future — they will one day be tasked with the responsibility of helping manage our food supply. That’s why it’s important to celebrate them every day, but especially during National FFA Week, Feb. 22-29, 2020. In honor of this week, Culver’s is inviting guests and FFA members to get involved in two special Thank You Farmers Project initiatives.
This year, Culver’s is launching a special Thank You Farmers Project Fresh Frozen Custard Flavor of the Day. From 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22, to 10 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 28, guests can visit Culver’s Facebook page to vote on what they’d like the new flavor’s name to be — either Mooey Gooey Brownie or Brownie Caramel Cow. The flavor is made with Vanilla Fresh Frozen Custard, chunks of chewy brownies and ribbons of old fashioned salted caramel.… Continue reading
Benjamin Logan FFA students Emma Wenger, Chance Frater, Derek LeVan, and Madison Buettner competed in the Agricultural Communications Career Development Event this past week. This CDE is a team event where students work as a team of communication consultants to develop a written media plan, present the plan to a panel of judges, and, as individuals, apply what they have learned during practicums, a quiz and editing exercise. This team CDE challenges students to communicate effectively while advocating to consumers about agriculture and telling the FFA story. Students will use a variety of media in their plans—social media, broadcast and print advertising, press releases, fliers, brochures, blogging, displays and more. Students build on many skills during this CDE including communication, collaboration, creativity and much more. The team placed 15th in state.… Continue reading
Benjamin Logan FFA member Kendra Kennedy competed in the FFA Creed speaking. The creed speaking CDE consists of citing the FFA creed to an audience. This helps the students build skills in public speaking, organization, professional manner, and helps build self-confidence. The student also has to answer questions about the FFA creed after reciting it, this also helps build on their skills. The skills that they build through this event will help them in the future for jobs, college, handling personal problems, and many other things.
Benjamin Logan FFA members Bradey Ackley and Matt Black participated in the Agricultural Power CDE this past week and earned second place in the district. Tractor troubleshooting is a competition event for FFA members to compete and helps students develop technical knowledge and an ability to work with others to solve complex agricultural problems. The event is built around students learning and executing a “systems approach” – or the process of understanding how solving one problem influences others. The team placed second in the district but students hope to compete again next year and move on to the state level.… Continue reading
On Tuesday, February 11, two members proudly represented the West Holmes FFA Chapter at North Central Ag in New London. Senior Brayden Shumaker and Junior Addison Yates were competing in the District 2 Tractor Troubleshooting Career Development Event. This event is where a piece of equipment is purposefully disabled and it is up to the two teammates to troubleshoot the piece of equipment and get it up and running in as little time as possible. They are scored on accuracy and safety. The team placed 2nd out of 3 teams. The boys will be competing at The University of Northwestern Ohio for the State contest and will have the opportunity to win college scholarships if they place well enough.… Continue reading
Matt, Dale, and Kolt sit down with Risë Labig and talk about all things nature and the film “Silo.” Matt attended and mc’d the Ohio Pork Congress where he talked to OPC President David Shoup, and Melissa Bell. Matt also talked to Tommy Springer from the Fairfield Soil and Water District about Coyote nuisance laws.… Continue reading
On January 18 and 19, the Liberty Union FFA Officer Team attended the 360 and 212 Leadership Conference at the Embassy Suites Dublin-Columbus. These leadership conferences helped the officer team learn new ideas to promote engagement and leadership within the chapter, ideas that they can bring back and use at their monthly meetings.
The 212 section of the conference is for underclassmen FFA members. 212 degrees is the temperature at which water boils, and the point of this section was to bring members to the “boiling point of leadership”, taking them to the next level in their abilities. The themes for this year’s conference were personal and social growth, virtues, establishing confidence, and collaboration.
The 360 section of the conference is for juniors and seniors in the FFA. 360 degrees makes a full circle, and the purpose of this section was to take a “full circle” in chapter leadership. It covered every angle for developing skills and plans for their current chapter and for their future endeavours.… Continue reading
On February 5, 2019, Lucas Slone, Hailey Courts, Teddy Jenson, and Mary Chesnut of the Liberty Union FFA Chapter competed at the Fairfield County Public Speaking CDE Competition at the Liberty Union Middle School. This county contest holds four competitions: Creed, Beginning Prepared, Advanced Prepared, and Extemporaneous Speaking. In the creed competition, first year agriculture education students memorize E.M. Tiffany’s FFA Creed, present it to the best of their ability, and answer questions based on the Creed. In the Beginning Prepared Speaking competition, members write and present a 5 to 7 minute long speech that they answer questions based on. In Advanced Prepared Speaking, members write and present a 6 to 8 minute speech and answer questions. In Extemporaneous Speaking, members pick a topic at random, research it for 30 minutes, and then present a 4 to 6 minute speech based off of it.
At the county competition, Teddy Jenson presented the creed, Mary Chesnut did Beginning Prepared on her speech “The Effects of Wasteful Packaging on the Environment”, Hailey Courts did Advanced Prepared on “The Effects of Buying Locally Grown Food“, and Lucas Slone did Extemporaneous Speaking.… Continue reading
The District 5 FFA Public Speaking Career Development Event was held Wednesday, February 12, hosted by Memorial High School in Saint Marys. FFA Chapters competing in the District Event were from Auglaize, Darke, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, and Shelby counties.
FFA members competing in the FFA Creed Speaking Event memorized and recited the FFA Creed and answered questions on their interpretation of the FFA Creed. This contest is open to first year FFA members only. Representing Miami East-MVCTC was Isaac Beal. Beal places fifth.
Emma Sutherly competed in the Beginning Prepared Speaking Event. She wrote and presented a five to seven minute speech then answered questions. Her speech topic was the importance of goat meat to feeding the world’s growing population. Sutherly placed second, received a plaque from the District 5 FFA Chapters, and advanced to the State FFA Speaking Event in March.
The Extemporaneous Speaking Event members are given an agriculture topic then have 30 minutes to prepare a 4 to 6 minute speech and follow-up answer questions.… Continue reading
The West Liberty-Salem General Livestock Team traveled to New Madison on Saturday to compete in the PATRIOT Livestock Judging Contest, the team’s first contest of the season. The Reasons team consisting of Adalyn Caudill, Cooper Havens, Kyndall Metz, Lance Baldwin and Dawson Jenkins finished in first place. Adalyn led the team with a second place individual finish, Cooper was 8th, Kyndall was 12th, Lance was 15th and Dawson was 18th. The Non-Reasons team finished 9th in the Non-Reasons contest. Payton Eckurd led the Non-Reasons team with a 16th place finish, followed by Wylie Harbour 47th, Marissa Bailey 52nd and Ava Buck 60th. Thank you Tri-Village FFA Alumni for hosting the event.… Continue reading
Recently several members of the Miami East-MVCTC FFA Chapter competed in the District 5 FFA Agricultural Sales Career Development Event hosted by Preble Shawnee High School.
The Agricultural Sales team consisted of Ashlee Deaton, Alex Fergerson, Emma Sutherly, and Braden Zekas. The team members each completed a test on agricultural sales, prepared a team sales presentation, and demonstrated their ability to sell an agricultural product.
Braden Zekas was the highest placing individual from Miami East. The team placed ninth out of 15 teams.
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