FFA News

On Tuesday February 1st, members of the Northwestern FFA Chapter met at Triway Lanes in Wooster for a night of bowling and pizza.  Jadeyn Berry, Hanna Wilson, Mallory Gilbert, Melanie Imhoff, Lauren Vaughan, Garrot Way, Chet McNeil, Kaylee Cherry, Sami Herman, Kirsten Boreman, Kate Johnson, Nevaeh Kirk, Makenna Connelly and Cheyenne Friend all attended. This event serves as a reward for members who have participated in the chapter’s fundraising throughout the year, although it is open to all members.  Any member who sold 10 or more cases of fruit received free bowling.  Everyone in attendance received free all-you-eat pizza. This annual event also serves as a time for younger members to get to know older members better.  The chapter would like to extend a thank you to Triway Lanes for the opportunity to bowl!… Continue reading

On Monday, February 7, 2022, the Northwestern-Wayne FFA Chapter traveled to Snow Trails to go tubing with other FFA chapters from around the area. Members who attended the event from Northwestern were Jadeyn Berry, Hanna Wilson, Mallory Gilbert, Lauren Vaughan, Hayden Cline, Melanie Imhoff, Westlea Stoltz, Kade Tegtmeier, Kaleb Badger, Chet McNeil, Case Hickson, Haley Caldwell, Taylor Wurst, Caeden Graham, and Kirsten Boreman. Along with the chapter, Smithville, Triway, The Wayne County Career Center, West Holmes, Hillsdale, Loundville, East Holmes, and Norwayne all attended. Members went tubing together, met new people, and enjoyed pizza! A total of 234 FFA members attended this event!… Continue reading

Matthew Osting and Braden Zekas recently competed in the State Agricultural Power Diagnostics (formerly known as Tractor Trouble Shooting) Career Development Event hosted by the University of Northwestern Ohio in Lima. Matthew and Braden are both members of the Miami East-MVCTC FFA Chapter at Miami East High School.

During the contest the team troubleshot two bugs in each of five tractors. They had to identify the problems and fix them in less than twenty minutes. Prior to the contest they took a test over tractor maintenance and repair.

A special appreciation goes to coaches and helpers for the training of the team. The lead coach was Denny Zerkle, Lost Creek Repair. The team also had practice sessions with Jarrett Winner and Family, Brent and Christine Pence of Lynn Allen Farms, Apple Farm Service in Covington, Mr. Dan Schmeising at Upper Valley Career Technology Center, Bobcat of Troy, HG Violet Equipment in Delphos, and Farmers Equipment in Urbana.… Continue reading

On February 15th, 29 members took the Greenhand quiz. This quiz is about the history of the FFA, the organization, and the FFA creed. The team placed 14th out of 152 teams. Individually, Ian Barr was 50th, Andi Schuch was 73rd, Jenna Sheldon was 137th, Alex Pringle was 174th, Garrett Fowler was 185th, Haylee Conner was 301st, Gabby Yates was 348th, Quentin Vehrs was 368th, Lexy Starner 370th, Alexa Tate was 385th, Colby Long was 489th, Casey Ogi was 592nd, Maddie Williamson was 715th, Justice Hendrix was 741st, Brody Gindelsburger was 820th, Jewel Brown was 910th, Keith Hawkins was 1,002nd, Madison Pearce Laferty was 1,074th, Zora Starner was 1,299th, Ava Eberhard was 1,422nd, Hailey Richert was 1,460th, Miley Snow was 1,562nd, Blazedyn Mullins was 1,858th, Drake Yoder was 1,918th, Hayden Smith and Lakensey Guthrie were 2,038th, Lily Plant was 2,111th, and Elijah Williams Dixon was 2,737th. There were 2,779 individuals in the contest.… Continue reading

On Tuesday, March 1, 2022 members of the Northwestern FFA Chapter competed in the District 3 Ag Sales contest held at Northwestern High School. Jadeyn Berry, Dugan McLaughlin, Ava Stoller, Kade Tegtmeier, Taylor Wurst, and Mallory Gilbert all participated. The ag sales contest teaches FFA members about the aspects of selling a product, as well as marketing techniques.  Participants are scored on their ability to overcome objections during a sales presentation, a customer relations practicum, and a written test pertaining to marketing. 
The team placed 1st overall in the district, with Tegtmeier placing 1st, Stoller 3rd, and McLaughlin 4th individually.  The team will be advancing to the state contest held on March 14th. Good luck at State!… Continue reading

On Wednesday, February 9th, 2022, three members of the Northwestern FFA Chapter competed in the District Public Speaking contest held at Glen Oak High School. 
Taylor Wurst participated in the Advanced Prepared Speech Contest. She prepared a 5-7 minute speech to present at the contest, as well as answered  questions about her topic. Her topic was “Drug Use in Horses.” Throughout her speech, Wurst explained different medications used in horses and their effects. Following her presentation there was a questioning period of 5 minutes. In the contest, she placed 1st.
Kayla Cutter participated in the Beginning Prepared Speech Contest. Her 4 to 6 minute speech topic was, “Body Language of a Leader.” She explained different types of body languages and how they are presented in leaders. Following her presentation there was a 5 minute questioning period about her speech. She placed 2nd.Kelsee Smith competed in the FFA Creed speaking contest. This contest is based on a member’s knowledge of the FFA Creed, as well as their ability to present the creed.… Continue reading

On Monday February 7th West Holmes FFA members went to Snow Trails with 9 other chapters for the annual snow tubing event. Members include: Dyllan Bender, Kalan Bowling, Ian Barr, Maison Carter, Cora Crilow, Hailey Conner, Laina Croskey, Maren Drazga, Ethan Feikert, Garrett Fowler, Olivia Gerber, Brody Gindlesburger, Keith Hawkins, Justice Hendrix, Liberty Hendrix, Garrett Houin, Sarah Irwin, Amy Hughes, Jimmy Lesiak, Derek Miller, Pacee Miller, Ally Ogi, Casey Ogi, Taelor Patterson, Alex Pringle, Alysa Pringle, Bree Pringle, Leah Reining, Natalie Rohr, Torrie Savage, Andi Schuch, Becca Schuch, Jenna Sheldon, Chloe Shumaker, Lexy Starner, Zora Starner, Alexa Tate, Ashley Tate, Quentin Vehrs, and Elijah Williams-Dixon. The members then snow tubed for 2 hours and ate pizza. … Continue reading

The March 2022 Miami East-MVCTC FFA Member of the Month is Matthew Osting. He is a junior and third year member of the Miami East-MVCTC FFA Chapter. His parents are John and Duanna Osting of Troy.

Matthew was selected because he is a member of the state qualifying Agricultural Power Diagnostics Career Development team. He is also receiving the State FFA Degree at the upcoming State FFA Convention. His Supervised Agricultural Experience includes job placement on a Lynn Allen Farm, a local feed, hay, and livestock farm.

Every month of the school year the Miami East-MVCTC FFA will select a student to be the FFA Member of the Month.  The officer team will nominate one member that has been actively involved in the FFA chapter, school and community activities.  If selected, the member will be recognized at the monthly FFA meeting, have their picture displayed in the Miami East Ag Room, and will receive a special accolade in celebration of their accomplishment.… Continue reading

On February 9th, the West Holmes FFA chapter had 3 members participate in the District 2 Tractor Troubleshooting contest. Members were Logan VanSickle and Quentin Vehrs, Wyatt Myers was the alternate. They placed 3rd in the district. This event is where a piece of equipment is purposefully disabled and it is up to the teammates to troubleshoot the piece of equipment and get it up and running in as little time as possible, they work on 5 tractors. They are scored on accuracy and safety. They also take a general knowledge test.… Continue reading

Sausage Breakfast Survives the Ice Storm!

The Zane Trace FFA Chapter continued working the entire first week of February to get ready for the 44th Annual Sausage Breakfast. The work nights on February 1st and 2nd were beyond successful. After all this hard work, an ice storm hit on February 4th and the breakfast was sadly postponed. The chapter kept their heads up and continued working for the big day to come. On February 11, many members woke at 2:30am to serve the long awaited meals. After a tiresome morning, the chapter concluded that a total of 604 meals were served. Along with these meals, the chapter has made $4,795 for Nationwide Children’s Hospitals, Junior Fair Board, and the Pete Dunkle Scholarship Fund. Many students were grateful for the opportunity to serve the Zane Trace community, and they cannot wait for this again next year!

ZT Elementary Students go Hog Wild for Pork Lessons

On Tuesday February 8th Lylli Kelley competed in Creed Speaking for the public speaking CDE. The purpose of the Creed Speaking Career Development event is to provide FFA members the opportunity to develop oral communication skills, confidence, and the ability to appear before groups through Agricultural Public Speaking activities. The Creed CDE is available to 7th, 8th and 9th grade students, as they become members of the FFA.… Continue reading

The Miami Valley Career Technology Center (MVCTC) Electives, Business, Information Technology, and Agriculture Department is proud to announce the February Department’s Career Tech Student of the Month Lainey Roberts (Eaton).

Lainey Roberts (Eaton) is a senior in Veterinary Science.  Dr. Christa Nealeigh, Instructor, shared that Lainey has been a star student in promoting, supporting, and participating in FFA.  Lainey is always an active member and is outstanding at encouraging other students to become involved in FFA.  Lainey was great support to our current FFA Reporter and helped her finish and receive a Gold Rating for her MVCTC FFA POA Reporter book.  Lainey has also been diligent in completing her application for her FFA State Degree.  It was a difficult year to fulfill all of the requirements due to COVID in 2021, but Lainey was able to complete and has submitted her application for her State Degree.

Congratulations to Lainey on her outstanding representation of MVCTC and her career technical program. … Continue reading

On Friday February 11th Owen O’Brien and Kane Gibson participated in the Agricultural Power Career Development Event at the John Deere Training Center.

Owen O’Brien is a junior and Kane Gibson is a sophomore. FFA member Owen O’Brien said “This was a great learning experience and I will be able to use these skills the rest of my life.”

The purpose of this Career Development Event (CDE) is an extension of the Agricultural Education classroom and laboratory. Additionally, this CDE serves as an authentic assessment designed to evaluate students’ knowledge in recognizing and repairing malfunctions in agricultural and/or industrial power equipment. The skills Agricultural Education students’ employ in this CDE are the same skills required by agricultural and industrial technicians.… Continue reading

Recently the Miami County and District 5 FFA Public Speaking Career Development Events were held. The County competition was held in early February, hosted by the Upper Valley Career Center in Piqua. Miami County FFA Chapters participating included Bradford, Covington, Miami East, Milton Union, Newton, and Upper Valley Career Center. The top two speakers in each category advanced to the district competition.
The District 5 FFA Public Speaking Contest was held mid-February. It was hosted by Coldwater High School. District 5 consists of schools from Auglaize, Darke, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, and Shelby Counties.
Fletcher Harris competed in the Beginning Prepared Speaking Event. He researched, wrote, presented and answered questions on a five to seven-minute speech. Harris’s speech concerned the importance of African Swine Fever. He placed second in the county contest and seventh in the district.
The Extemporaneous Speaking Event members are given an agriculture topic then have 30 minutes to prepare a four to six-minute speech and follow-up answer questions.… Continue reading

Science fair was a big hit this year! The Planimal and Livestock classes enjoyed experimenting with different AG related topics. One of the most interesting topics from the planimal classes was by Colton Rhoda and Austin Hamlink. They experimented on different deer food and what food they eat more. The boys set up a trail camera and set up three different kinds of minerals for deer to eat. They had very good results, the deer liked the one with the most nutrients. Colton said his favorite part of the science fair was; “experimenting and spending time with his friends and classmates!” Great job to the winners of the Science Fair! Tied for first place were Kya Csapo and Morgan Wiles, and Olivia Stoudmire. Tied for Second, was Blake Simmons and Marley Snyder. The third place winners were Kyle Olszewski and Luke Larrison! Congratulations to these hardworking students!… Continue reading

On February 12th, the West Holmes FFA agricultural communications team competed in the state contest. The team placed 4th in the state. Individual placings were Ashley Tate 4th, Cora Crilow 12th, Sarah Irwin 28th, and Alysa Pringle 50th. Agricultural Communications is a 4 person team that creates a proposal and presentation about an agricultural topic.  This year’s scenario was to promote a FFA member who promotes agriculture. Members were also asked to take a test on general communications and complete an AP Style editing exercise.  After the team presentation, the team attended a mock press conference and did either a journalistic writing, opinion writing, created a website, or created a video. … Continue reading

On February 8th, the West Holmes FFA chapter hosted a fundraiser at the Berlin Farmstead. Members were greeters, hostesses, and table cleaners. Members of the community came out to support the chapter. Thank you to everyone who came out to support the chapter and to the Farmstead for allowing us to host the event! … Continue reading

On February 9th, four West Holmes FFA members participated in the state Nursery Landscape contest. The team placed 17th in the state. Individually Alex Pringle was 74th, Quentin Vehrs was 75th, Colby Long was 92nd, and Adam Mast was 137th. Prior to competing, these members had to compete in an online test. The test consisted of general safety questions, information on the green industry, and how to read seed and fertilizer labels.   
During the contest, members had to identify plants and insects. The team also had to answer some general safety questions after the test. They also had to identify landscaping tools and read a blueprint. … Continue reading

Matthew Osting and Braden Zekas recently competed in the District Agricultural Power Diagnostics (formerly known as Tractor Trouble Shooting) Career Development Event hosted by the Darke County FFA Chapters and held at Koenig Equipment in Greenville. Matthew and Braden are both members of the Miami East-MVCTC FFA Chapter at Miami East High School.

During the contest the team troubleshot two bugs in each of five tractors. They had to identify the problems and fix them in less than twenty minutes. Prior to the contest they took a test over tractor maintenance and repair.

A special appreciation goes to coaches and helpers for the training of the team. The lead coach was Denny Zerkle of Lost Creek Repair. The team also had a practice session with Jarrett Winner, Apple Farm Service in Covington, Farmers Equipment in Urbana, and Dan Schmeising.

The team won the contest. They placed 1st in the district out of 21 teams.… Continue reading

It is National FFA Week and a great opportunity to support thousands of FFA members on Give FFA Day on Feb. 24.
Contributions made on Give FFA Day will support various statewide programming including student award programs, the recruitment and retention of current and future agricultural educators, Ohio FFA Camp, the Ohio FFA officer team and general activities and initiatives. Donors can designate their gift to which of these areas that matter to them most.
In addition, Sunrise Cooperative is matching gifts, up to $25,000, to the Ohio FFA Foundation to help donations make twice the impact. For more than 94 years, the organization has strived to make a positive difference in students’ lives through agricultural education.
“FFA has helped me believe in myself and showed me how important it is to believe in others. I was pushed out of my comfort zone more times than I can count, and before I knew it, I was accomplishing more than I ever dreamed I could,” said Cassie Mavis, a Fairfield FFA member who is currently serving as a state vice president at large.… Continue reading