Application season is behind us...

Things have been extremely busy around here.  All record books were closed out, and applications were filled out.  Applications season is now behind us!  Yeah!!!  Congratulations to our state degree candidates, which have all been selected to receive their state degree.  These candidates are Paige Mestl, Jordan Heinrichs, Parker Goertzen, Cole Nickels, and Lydia Quiring.

Congratulations also needs to go to Vanessa Hiebner and Addie Swartzendruber, who's proficiency applications have been selected to go on to state competition.  Proficiency awards are a review of what a students' SAE is and how well they reflect on goals and accomplishments.  Vanessa entered into the Outdoor Recreation SAE through her job as a lifeguard.  Addie entered into Grain Production through her SAE of helping out with the family farm.

Our animal science class has gone through consumer concerns, and classifications of animal agriculture.  They had a guest speaker come in to talk about Nebraska Beef Checkoff.  Thanks to Beef Checkoff presenter Doug Straight for teaching us about how the money is collected and where the money goes to.

Our freshmen have been working on a project to promote the use of fertilizers.  Fertilizers really aren't a bad deal, but they have a bad rep.  According to one of our freshmen, "Fertilizers/Nutrients can help plants grow larger and healthier then if the soil and water didn't hold nutrients.  Over the weeks we learned about different kinds of nutrients, I learned the importance of phosphorous, nitrogen, and potassium.  We also looked at pictures of how plants look when they don't get enough of each nutrient.  Without these nutrients the plant will not be able to reach its full potential, and produce enough food to feed the world."  Students had two guest speakers come in to class.  One guest speaker was Melissa Buehler, a Nutrients for Life Representative.  She reinforced why nutrients are important, and why it's important to be knowledgeable about nutrients from the consumer view point.  She also presented a contest called Helping Communities Grow.  The agscience kids are working on participation in this contest.

The second speaker that the agscience kids had was Gary Zoubek, York County Extension Agent.  He talked to the kids about the practical application of nutrients in soils and how and why to check for the nutrients.  He also reinforced that though fertilizer is not a bad thing, we must watch at how much we apply to our soils.  If we over apply nutrients, that's when we start to harm the environment.

Students have come up with ways to get the word out about nutrients, through posters and a music video.  The video has led to some good conversations, and a memorable dance party in the middle of class.

Be sure to stay tuned in for updates on this project.  The competition ends March 2.

Today, we had a state officer visit.  Colton Flower is the State FFA Secretary.  He talked to the kids about marketing agriculture education, and asked the kids how they would market an agriculture education program.

He also challenged them to work together to build the biggest/tallest tower.  This allowed the students to collaborate, as well as not accept failure.

Congrats to the 5th period class for creating a tower that was over 12inches tall.

Be sure to check back on this blog to see our progression of the Helping Communities Grow contest as well as our FFA week activities.

January Update

I believe that I forgot to update once we got close to Christmas.  The Holidays are exciting for me, and I was finally getting to go back to southeast Missouri!

Before we got to Christmas though, members participated in the Caroling for Cans event.  We teamed up with NHS and FBLA this year, and were able to bring in over 600lbs of food!  That's amazing!  Thank you to all of you in the Henderson and Bradshaw communities for helping to provide those less fortunate during the holidays!!!

Carolers came back to tables full of cookies and hot chocolate or apple cider, to warm up from the cold.

We were able to hold one of my favorite days, in December as well....How to Tie a Tie Day.  During this day, the freshmen class is taught how to tie ties, and then challenged to compete against each other on who's knot looks the best, and who can tie the fastest.

We also held the Greenhand Degree Ceremony.  Freshmen members decided to make shirts to specify their recognition.  Plus, they got to add their hand to the wall!  It's fun to see how that wall will change year after year!

 Greenhand Members receive their FFA Jacket with their Greenhand pin already attached during the Greenhand Degree Ceremony.

 Freshmen Greenhand Shirts that the class made to signify their ranking in the FFA.

 Greenhand candidates came in before school to dye their hands green, a Heartland tradition.

Students working on creating their shirts.

Once we got back to school in January, students began to finish out their 2014 record books, as well as filling out applications for Proficiency awards and State Degrees.  While filling out either application is a daunting task, students get a good look at how much money they made, how much money they spent, and how they have actually grown through their Supervised Agriculture Experiences (SAEs).

Members were finally able to have an actual evening meeting in early January to discuss upcoming events, such as the Welding Competition, CDEs, FFA Week, and Community Day activities.

The Community Welding Competition was held January 22.  We missed a few of our usual supporters, but we still had fun.  The judges were ag teachers from Aurora and Fillmore Central.

We had 18 competitors sign up for ARC welding, MIG welding, and OA welding.  5 of our own members competed as well.  We also had 2 elementary students try their hand at the competition, as well as a 5 year old.

5 year old Noah Miller tries his hand at ARC welding, thanks to Matthew Hiebner's helmet.  Sorry Matthew...I have no idea where he grabbed it from.

Member Yanik Luebbert tries his hand at OA welding.

Competitors try their hand at ARC welding.

Members Ben Winter and Trevor Friesen try their hand at the MIG competition.

Members Paige Mestl and Ben Driewer try to help Liz Mestl with OA welding.

The table of welds to be judged.

Competitors awaiting results.  Who's going to win.

Winners of the welding competition were awarded cash prizes this year.  From Left to Right: Overall winner Jon Sanderson, ARC winner Rick Hiebner, and OA winner Yanik Luebbert.

Stay tuned to future updates of our chapter and classes.  Students are currently working on a variety of projects, including learning about the importance of fertilizer.  Members will also get the chance to go to Cattlemen's Classic on February 18.  And finally, plans are underway for National FFA week set for February 22-28.

District LSE's

FFA members attended District Leadership Skills Events in Aurora Nebraska.  Schools that compete in our district are: Aurora, Boone Central, Central City, Cross County, Fullerton, Hampton, Heartland, High Plains, Palmer, Riverside, St. Edward, and Twin River.

During this competition, members are asked to compete in contests such as Public Speaking events (Junior Public, Senior Public, Natural Resources, Cooperatives, and Extemporaneous), Creed Speaking, Ag Demonstration, Job Interview, and Parliamentary Procedure (Senior and Junior).

The Heartland members were involved in all but Ag Demonstration and Parliamentary Procedure.

Students did very well for their first time competing in these events, as all but three were freshmen.

Lane Huebert and Austin Stuhr competed in Extemporaneous Speaking.  They were asked to draw a topic, and were given 30 minutes to write a 4 minute speech.

 Paige Mestl and Lydia Quiring competed in Job Interview.  They were not able to see how well they competed the day of the contest.

 Karah Joyner (wrote about how the creed influences her) and Kyra Dick (spoke about why we need to give speeches) competed in Junior Public Speaking.  They, like Job Interview, were not able to see how they competed the day of the contest.

 Cheyenne Hiebner (spoke about the Dust Bowl) and Devon Stamp (spoke about Dogs) in the Natural Resource competition.

 Connor Boehr and Taylor Quiring gave Cooperative speeches.  Taylor received second place, which qualifies her for state.

Bailey Peters and Krynn Arbuck did the Creed contest.

National Convention

On Tuesday, October 28, Heartland FFA members left school on the trip to Louisville.  They stopped to load a charter bus at McCool Junction.  From there, the seven students stopped at Palmyra, Nebraska City, and Squaw Creek (MO) for pick ups of 4 other FFA chapters.

Every year, Heartland joins McCool, Osceola, Freeman, Palmyra, Nebraska City, Falls City, Pawnee City on the annual trip to National FFA Convention.  This year we were joined by the Lawrence Nelson FFA chapter.

On Wednesday, October 29, the charter bus made a stop at Hummert International which is a greenhouse manufacturing facility.  They not only sell parts to greenhouses, but they also mix potting soils, have cuttings/seedlings for sale, as well as any thing that is essential to growing healthy plants in a greenhouse.  Students toured the facility, as well as were able to see there hydroponics unit.

After touring Hummert, students were taken to Purina Farms Visitor Center.  They learned a little of how pet food is made, were able to witness a cow being milk, test their strength compared to a horse, and weigh themselves.  Students ended the day at Purina at a dog show, where they watched dogs do stunts (catch frisbees and jump off of platforms into water).

Students then headed on to Louisville, where they attended the opening session on Thursday morning.  During the session they got to see the National Band and Chorus perform.  They were also able to hear motivational speaker, Nick Vuijcic.  After the session, students were able to attend the FFA shopping mall, watch some FFA talent, as well as the Career and College Fair.  Students were also asked to attend at least one leadership workshop while at the Convention on Thursday.

On Friday, October 31st, students toured various places around Kentucky.  They started the morning off at the Louisville Slugger Museum.  Here they learned the process of making the iconic baseball bats.

After the Slugger Museum, students were driven to a Dairy Farm.  This Dairy Farm has a unique floor for all the cows that are currently milking.  Instead of being on a normal concrete or dirt floor, these ladies are treated to a combination of sawdust and manure.  The owners say that since they have changed the flooring of their barn, they have had a huge increase in the production of milk.  Due to the sanitary conditions keeping the cows healthier.  Students were also able to pet a 3 day old calf, and some cats.

After the dairy, students were taken to Mammoth Caves state park.  They all took the tour of a cave, even if they were a little afraid of tight spaces and being underground. :)

On Saturday, November 1, students attended the American Degree Ceremony and then loaded back on the bus for a long journey back to Nebraska.  Students returned home around 1am on Sunday November 2.