November was pretty peaceful...busy, but peaceful. The freshmen members had the opportunity to attend the EDGE conference. This is a conference that is fairly new, and the first time that District 7 decided to host it. It is meant to prepare freshmen members for what the FFA can offer. It also helps to build on leadership skills, which is why the Chapter officers were invited to attend.
The members that attended, went to Central City and met in their theater.
They were taught leadership building skills and were giving a chance to bond.
We were able to have some students attend Pathways to Careers. This event was held in Grand Island at the State Fair Grounds. Students who attended were able to learn a little more about a variety of agricultural pathways and the professions that are in each. It was a lot of fun to take our students, who willingly decided that their phones were not going to distract them from learning. They took every opportunity that they could, and I think really enjoyed the time spent not only with each other but learning about future possibilities.
We also were able to have our annual Thanksgiving meal with the FBLA students. After we ate, and cleaned, we held a short meeting.
During the month of December, we were busy with Contests and the Freshmen finishing up earning their Greenhand Degree. Members Vanessa Hiebner and Sidney Hurlbut participated in Job Interview, receiving a blue and red respectively. Krynn Arbuck and Karah Joyner both received a red in Junior Public Speaking. Kyle Ott received a blue and Kori Siebert received a red in Extemporaneous speaking. Addie Swartzendruber received a red in Natural Resources. Brooklyn Epp received a purple and Peyton Ott received a blue in Creed Speaking.
The next week, we did our annual "Caroling for Cans" where we were able to collect quite a bit of food for the NHS food drive. We also were able to help deliver the packages of food to the families.
The "Greenhands" tried their hand at learning how to tie ties! This is always a fun time, as it is both fun to watch and fun to teach.
This is a picture of the Greenhands trying to tie ties this year.
This is a picture from 4 years ago, when the seniors were freshmen and learning how to tie ties.
Before Christmas break, we held our monthly meeting. Afterwards, some members stayed around to play a game of "Never Have I Ever." Though they were a bit confused as to whether the topics pertained to them, they did seem to have fun.
After Christmas break, we started working on cleaning up our record books so that they were ready for Proficiency Awards and State Degrees. Keeping track of a record book is an integral part of the agriculture education three circle component. By doing this, we are hoping to help students keep track of their financial records that way when they become upstanding citizens, they will know what they can and cannot afford.
In the middle of January we hosted our third annual Welding competition. It is always a lot of fun to see who can weld, and just to be able to socialize with people that we don't get to see everyday.
Even though we had two snow days last week, the freshmen class was able to have two guest speakers. These speakers talked about the importance of nutrients in the soil. The first speaker, Melissa Buehler, talked about how we don't have a lot of topsoil to be able to raise crops on. She also got the students to think about possible ways that they could promote the important roles that nutrients play.
Our other speaker, Tammy Ott, talked about her involvement in FFA. She also spent some time talking about the importance of nutrients from an agronomist's point of view, as she works for Channel Seed. Her information was great knowledge for the kids. Sometimes, I wish we could have school in the summer so that the kids could actually see the issues that nutrient deficiencies present on a crop. And then I think, how nice it would be to just have a greenhouse so that we can demonstrate this importance at any time of the year. ;)
Also, we had 5 out of 8 proficiency awards be selected to go on to state review. In Outdoor Recreation, we had Vanessa Hiebner and Lane Huebert selected. In Swine Production-Placement, we had Trevor Friesen. In Grain Production-Placement we had Addie Swartzendruber. In Diversified Crop Production-Placement we had Austin Stuhr. Others who entered their proficiencies were: Cheyenne Hiebner-Ag Services, Karah Joyner-Ag Services, and Connor Boehr-Diversified Crop Production. Congratulations to everyone!
Things that we are looking forward to: Cattlemen's Classic on February 17. FFA week will be February 22-26. Also, the Henderson Homeshow will be held on February 27. The Freshmen are creating a presentation to promote Nutrients in raising healthy plants. Be sure to come see their presentation and stop by our booth.
P.S. I'm sorry about the lack of pictures. Technology is not agreeing with this update!
