2022 & 2023 FFA Tribute

A Salute To Our Local Williams & Fulton County FFA Chapeters celebrating

National

FFA WEEK February 18 – 25, 2023

Archbold • Delta Edgerton • Edon • Evergreen Fayette • Four County • Hilltop North Central • Pettisville Stryker • Wauseon

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Archbold FFA

Archbold FFA 2022 Year In Review

2022-2023 ARCHBOLD FFA ... Left to Right: Row 1: Baylee Lumbrezer, Secretary; Aaron Miller, Student Advisor; Titus Rufenacht, Sentinel; Tayanna Bagrowski, Reporter; Cole Plassman, President; Kacie Wolf, Historian; Zoey Ripke, Vice President; Rayne Kinsman, Student Advisor; Maddie Thiel, Treasurer. Row 2: Keith Rose, Wyatt Armstrong, Eve Crossgrove, Gracie Wolf, Kristen Riley, Tommi Bok, Gabe Chapa, Kaleb Gigax, Dylan Aeschliman, Kyler Boulton, Lance Bauer, Dakota Armstrong. Row 3: Becca Rupp, Ryann Burkholder, Kaylen Behnfeldt, Jaci Ripke, Breah Ruger, Anna Wendt, Mason Bickel, Sonny Phillips, Kole Boettger, Micah Nofziger, Eddie Yoder, Kurt Krueger. Row 4: Maddison Youngquist, Brad Voll, Aiden Kruse, Brodie Dominique, Charlie Jones, Ian Grime, Jett Baun, Tristan Wyse, Nathaniel Schaffner, Nahum Aeschliman, Cameron Yoder, Carter Grime. Row 5: Augusta Martin, Landynn Krugh, Alanna Pedraza, Emerson O’Brien, Tess Ames, Makayla Bentley, Jace Cline, Oliver Siebert, Caleb Harrow, Tessa Nafziger, Remi Ryan, Lexi Ripke. Row 6: Bradley Williams, Wyatt Lumbrezer, Max Burrowes, Sean Garcia, Jason Grime, Saydi Kruse, Makena Thiel, Preston Nosfziger, Colton Nofziger, Lydia Frey, Irelyn Hug, Kassie Gigax. Row 7: Braxton Milliman, Dane Miller, Jace Beck, Jeremiah Mermer, Olivia Miller, Alana Tracz, Kira Murillo, Gabby Oregon, Ava Johnson, Mariah Mireles, Jalynne Schroeder, Kylie Wanemacher. Row 8: Kaden Kruse, Very-Gus Abalos, Ryan Bryant, Brady Partin, Santos Torres, Anthony McCullough, Kenedy Fitzenrieter, Taelor Baden, Kelsey Aeschliman, Addison Kinsman, Brynn Hurst. Row 9: Angelo Silva, Trinity Lauber, Blake McDonough, Caleb Grime, Taygen Hobbs, Jeronimo Morales, Bryce Vandenberghe, Karlee Detmer, Micah Schmidt, Jr. Azua.

By: Tayanna Bagrowski 2022-2023 FFA Reporter

After a few years of uncertainty for the Archbold FFA Chapter, things are finally turning around. With contests finally being held in person again, Archbold FFA members are excelling more than ever. Their continued perseverance and hard work has made for a great year for the Chapter.

To start off 2022, the officer team, accompanied by some freshmen FFA members, presented to the 8th Grade students at the Middle School in order to recruit members for the next school year. After giving a slideshow presentation on what FFA is all about, the high schoolers led some activities such as cup stacking and spaghetti tower building in order to teach teamwork.

To end the presentation, the students got to eat dirt pudding, which resembled the soil unit of the freshman class.

In early May, eleven FFA members got the opportunity to attend the Ohio FFA Convention. On the way to Columbus, they toured Kalmbach Feeds, where they learned all about different types of livestock feed and how it is processed. At the Convention, the students attended various group sessions which included award ceremonies, keynote speakers, and officer inductions.

They were also able to explore the FFA Expo in their free time, where they could shop, visit college reps, and attend leadership workshops. On the last day of the convention, Cole Plassman got the chance to walk across the stage as he received his State Degree. Towards the end of May, the Archbold FFA Chapter hosted its annual elementary petting zoo. At this event, FFA members educate elementary school students about different kinds of livestock as the kids get the chance to pet them.

The Archbold FFA Chapter also participates in many events outside of school. For example, some of the members came together to make cookies and frosting for their booth at the annual Kenn Feld Group Kid’s Day. The members helped kids decorate various agriculturethemed cookies including tractors, barns, livestock, and more! A little while later, some FFA members worked for the Archbold FFA booth at the Backyard Bash, which helped raise money for the chapter. In addition, many FFA members volunteered their time to work at the beef and pork booths at the Fulton County Fair.

As the school year began, FFA members got the chance to participate in various different contests. In September, both the Urban Soils team and the Ag Soils team placed 3rd qualifying them for the state contest.

Sophomore Tessa Nafziger placed 1st overall individually at Districts. Congratulations!

Some of the FFA officers also got the chance to travel to Columbus to attend the Ohio Legislative Leadership Conference where they learned how a bill is put on the floor of the house and works its way into law. They also got the chance to practice lobbying for their cause and eat lunch with some Ohio legislators.

Every year, the chapter holds its annual Ag Business BBQ to thank members of the community that contribute to the chapter. The livestock science classes raise the chickens themselves in the barn for 4-5 weeks. The chapter spends the morning prepping and cooking the chicken, so they can deliver them to businesses around lunchtime. In 2022 we cooked and delivered over 250 meals to businesses in our community.

In October, some of the members got to participate in the district dairy cattle and dairy foods contest. The dairy cattle team placed 8th and the dairy foods team placed 5th.

At the end of the month, seventeen members attend-

ed the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis. On the way, the students toured J&M Manufacturing where they learned all about the making of various types of farm equipment. They also got to tour POET Biorefining where they learned about how corn is processed into ethanol. The students ended their day with a visit to Indy Scream Park where they got to enjoy a variety of different haunted house experiences.

November was a very busy month for the Archbold FFA chapter. In early November, eight students competed in the County Job Interview Contest. Freshmen members Alana Tracz and Kira Murillo placed 3rd and 4th, respectively; Sophomores Emerson O’Brien and Augusta Martin placed 5th and 6th, respectively; Juniors Tayanna Bagrowski and Rayne Kinsman placed 1st and 3rd, respectively, and senior members Tommi Bok and Eve Crossgrove placed 3rd and 4th, respectively. With her first-place finish, Tayanna advanced to the district contest where she placed 1st and moved on to the state contest. At the state contest, Tayanna placed 5th in her division.

Also in November, a team consisting of Titus Rufenacht, Aaron Miller, Baylee Lumbrezer, and Tayanna Bagrowski competed in the district food science contest. As a team, they placed 6th and Tayanna placed 6th overall individually, qualifying her for the state competition. About a week later, the Archbold FFA officer team competed at the county parliamentary procedure contest. The team, led by chairman Cole Plassman and accompanied by officers Baylee Lumbrezer, Tayanna Bagrowski, Maddie Thiel, Titus Rufenacht, and Aaron Miller placed 3rd.

To end the year, the Archbold FFA held its annual Christmas Cheer Food Drive and our Fruit Sale Fundraiser. The Food Drive is a joint effort between the Elementary and High School buildings, with over 4,000 items collected in 2022. The Fruit Sale Fundraiser is our Chapter’s largest fundraiser, which accounts for 65% of our annual income. We would like to thank the community for once again supporting us by purchasing the items we have to offer.

Looking ahead to 2023, we expect more of the same from our Chapter, FFA Members, and the Archbold Community!

CONTINUED ON PAGE D3

AG BUSINESS BBQ … Wyatt Lumbrezer and Nicholas Fry flip a rack of chicken for the Ag Business BBQ held in the fall.

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D2 - "The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News)

Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

Archbold FFA (Continued)

NATIONAL FFA CONVENTION … Archbold FFA Members Toured J&M Manufacturing in Fort Recovery, where they were able to see all aspects of grain cart production, on their way to the National FFA Convention.

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FFA OFFICERS … FFA Officers from left: Cole Plassman, President; Aaron Miller, Student Advisor; Baylee Lumbrezer, Secretary; Tayana Bagrowski, Reporter; Zoey Ripke, Vice President attended the Ohio Legislative Leadership Conference at the Ohio Statehouse on September 29.

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Four County Career Center FFA By: Janet Knierim Four County Career Center FFA Chapter members include over 130 Agriculture/Diesel Mechanics, Diesel Mechanics, Floral Design, Landscape & Greenhouse Technologies, Powersports, and Veteri-

narian Assistant students.

These students work on chapter projects, compete in district, state, and national FFA leadership and skill competitions, and sponsor student assemblies throughout the school year.

FOUR COUNTY CAREER CENTER FFA … Shown displaying their FFA school spirit is the over 130 student membership. Ag/Diesel Mechanics - Jason Elson, Instructor, Michael Betz, William Brown, Matthew Cox, Toby Croninger, Caden Damman, Hayden Dickman, Carson Dominique, Clayton Dulle, Riley Ehlers, Storm Goebel, Trevor Haury, Devyn Helmke, Nathaniel Henderson, Larry Klingensmith, Jr., Aiden Lamb, Bryce Meyers, Zachary Puehler, Ayden Quick, Jocelyn Ramos, Xander Rasey, Lance Reitzel, Corbin Renner, Jordan Rodriguez, Alex Rohdy, Dakota Sherick, Logan Speiser, Connor Towers, Michael Whitlock. Diesel Mechanics - Denton Blue, Instructor, Carter Bernal, Dylan Cammack, Kaden Goebel, Kayden Hageman, Shannon Hohenberger, Dominick Humes, Constance Long, Lane Maassel, Donald Meyer, Alex Miller, Trent Murdock, Carter O’Neill, Adrian Oehler, Logan Peebles, Ashwhyn Petersen, Hayden Phillips, David Piasecki, Ricky Riffe, Ashton Rose, Jacob Russell, Payton Shepard, Masen Towns, Joshua Underwood, Nicholas Vollmar, Andrew Ward, Justin West, William Wittenmyer. Floral Design - Florence Luzny, Instructor, Peytience Aliemenious, Kiara Baldridge, Nevaeh Barcia, Madison Braun, Raina Garza, Halee Ivy, Destiny Kessinger, Brooklyn Leahy, Jade McClish, Austyn Miklovic, Jenna Norman, Macy Nutter, Shannon Schulte, Austin Wolf. Landscape & Greenhouse Technologies - Eric Hite, Instructor, Ivan Applin, Michael Crawford, Kolbi Horst, Aubrey Jones-Taylor, Zane Mengerink-Lather, Cody Minnich, Bryce Raynor, Ashton Salazar, Alexis Todd, Dakota West. Powersports - Larry Soles, Instructor, Destin Armbruster, Gavin Bell, Christopher Brickel, Riley Brown, Desirae Carroll, Jared Christenson, Gage Egner, Eyon Frederick, Jason Gebers, Keiden Jones, Cody Kruse, Nicholas Kruzel, Logan LaCreca, Layne Neff, Clayton O’Neal, Aidan Olvera, Elijah Rose, Micah Spring, Brody Terry, Mason Vitek, Evan Walters. Veterinarian Assistant - Stephanie Pippin, Instructor, Alyssa Bender, Xander Braden, Carmine Castaneda, Georgia Chupurdy, Addison Conners, Kayden Cravens, Isabelle Croninger, Tauren Davis, Jordan Durbin, Maryn Findling, Elli Fleischman, Karsyn Gillen, Kamryn Halsell, Rebekah Harley, Katelyn Hays, Olivia Joyner, Jackson Keiser, Ashley Krill, Zayna Kuesel, Dyna Lands, Mikhaela Long, Alona Mahnke, David Mancer, Isabelle Martin, Cailin Nafziger, Evelyn Nardone, Kamron Raub, Alexandria Rupp, Bailey Sabo, Kara Schnitkey, Christian Sherwood, Emilee Treace, Kaylie Wallace.

Four County Career Center FFA Chapter members are celebrating National FFA Week and participating in activities throughout the week.

The FFA Officers will visit the OSU Extension offices in the four-county area,

FFA members will hold contests between career and technical programs, officers will sponsor a Teacher Appreciation Day for all teachers at the Career Center, and members will compete in FFA District contests.

Officers of the 2022-2023 Four County Career Center FFA Chapter include (FRONT - LEFT TO RIGHT) President - Payton Shepard (Napoleon) Diesel Mechanics; Vice President - Don Meyer (Patrick Henry) Diesel Mechanics; Secretary - Maryn Findling (Liberty Center) Veterinarian Assistant; Treasurer - Xander Braden (Patrick Henry) Veterinarian Assistant; (BACK - LEFT TO RIGHT) Reporter - Ashton Rose (Defiance) Diesel Mechanics; Sentinel - Brooklyn Leahy (Napoleon) Floral Design; and Student Advisor - Addison Conners (Delta) Veterinarian Assistant. Career Center Advisors include Jason Elston, Agriculture/Diesel Mechanics; Florence Luzny, Floral Design; Eric Hite, Landscape & Greenhouse Technologies; Denton Blue, Diesel Mechanics; Larry Soles, Powersports; and Stephanie Pippin, Veterinarian Assistant.

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Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

"The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News) - D3

Delta FFA

CONFERENCE … A group of Delta FFA members had a great time when they were CUMMINS CENTER VISIT … Brody Waugh, Luke Snyder, Josh White, Emma Wing, able to attend NWO Connect and I Am Conference in 2022.

Hunter St. John, Rylan Andrews, Mace Reckner had this Delta FFA picture taken after the tour at Cummins Research Center in 2022. students were there they goat.

By: Alana Hyott Each year at the fair, Last summer, the Pike- had the opportunity to exDelta-York FFA Officer plore many of the impor- the Delta FFA Chapter team conducted their an- tant places in our nation’s likes to contribute to the nual officer retreat at Mo- capital, such as Iwo Jima, community by participathican State Park, having Korean, and WWII Memo- ing in volunteer activities two nights and three days rials and the Lincoln, Jef- such as working in the to explore the area. Fun ferson, Washington, FDR, Beef Producers Stand and Pork Producers Stand. activities such as obsta- and MLK monuments.

While at WLC students Different shifts were given cle courses, go-karts and movie nights were all a focused on service learn- and at the end workers ing and personal growth. received a sandwich for part of this adventure.

The officer retreat is On the way to Washing- their help.

Each FFA Chapter used to help bond the of- ton, they stopped at Herficers in a timely manner shey's Chocolate World helps to put together a before the school year. and Gettysburg. On the Fulton County FFA Booth Meetings were held in the way home we stopped and in the Junior Fair Buildmidst of all the activities saw the 9/11 Pentagon ing. Together we display as a time to calm down Memorial and the Flight our award winners such as State and American Deand start our work for the 93 Memorial.

Time flew by this sum- grees, Proficiency Awards, year ahead. The yearly schedule was made and mer and the next thing top CDE winners. Other goals were set. Students we knew it was time for projects taken include welding, also worked on SAE visits our annual pond party. woodworking, vegetables, flowers, agrifor their projects, a float Students brought snacks cultural communications, for the Delta Chicken Fest such as pop, chips, cookLEADERSHIP NIGHT … This group of Delta FFA chapter members got to attend the Parade, and assembled ies, hotdogs, and buns for and crops. Congratula- Ohio FFA State Leadership Night held at Elmwood High School in 2022.

Big Wheels for a safety a well put together lunch. tions to everyone who parThe activities while there ticipated this year. day.

September brought During the summer, were swimming, fishing, members Hunter St. John chatting and slip and PAC Family Day that was and James Borck at- slides. Thank you to the held at Delta High School. tended Ohio FFA Summer Barnes family for gener- The chapter hosted a petCamp. While at camp, ously supporting the Del- ting zoo, cornhole, pedal tractor driving, and a FFA members partici- ta FFA. The Fulton County raffle. All raffle ticket purpated in Ohio FFA State chases were contributed Officer sessions on lead- Fair was a success for the towards our chapter. ership, personal growth, participants here in the Students started the and career success. Mem- chapter. Starting off with CDE year with Rural and bers also enjoyed plenty the annual Straw Loading Urban Soil Judging CDE, of great food, had time to Contest, the team creatwhere they competed in play team activities and ed by Brennan Bronson, County, Districts, and Walter Hallett and Connor have some self-reflection. earned a trip to State.

To keep with our sum- Sintobin took first place.

Students were also sucmer adventures, Mrs. Four chapter members cessful in Food Science Schulze took five stu- showed their animals. & Technology where they dents; LexiAnn Brown, LexiAnn Brown and Hanplaced second in Districts Anthony Pelton, Alana nah Barnes showed dairy and earned a trip to the Hyott, Luke Snyder, and beef feeder calves. KenState Contest.

Olivia Tipton to Washing- dra Ersham showed her Throughout the rest of ton Leadership Confer- pig and her beef breeding the fall students had opence (WLC) in Washing- heifer, and Sarah Rich- portunities such as Diston D.C. for a week. While ardson showed her pack trict Dairy Products and Dairy Cattle, Job Interview, National FFA Convention, State Leadership Night, County Trap shoot, District 1 Connect and I Am Conferences, and Fall Fruit Sales.

Heading into the holiday season, members volunteered at ACE Hardware to collect donations and serve lunch to raise money and collect toys for the Fulton County Christmas Cheer Toy Drive.

Then we had a float in the PIGLET SNUGGLES … Delta FFA member, LexiAnn Brown, enjoyed time with the Delta Community Christ- piglet that she brought to PAC day. mas Parade and completed a Letters to Santa Project at Delta Elementary where we collected student’s letters to Santa and ALWAYS LEARNING IN FFA … This shot was taken of made sure they got to the Delta FFA Parliamentarian, Kendra Ehrsam, holding a right place and received a chicken for the first time. It was a fun moment, as can response from Santa and his Elves. be seen on her face.

Overall, this year has been a great one for the Delta FFA Chapter. We are developing our premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through our programs and activities. We look forward to the coming months of 8th grade DELTA FFA OFFICERS … Posing by this great hitching post are Delta FFA Offirecruitment, CDE con- cer Team, from left to right Kendra Ehrsam -Parliamentarian, Sarah Richardson, tests, State FFA Conven- LexiAnn Brown, Walter Hallett IV - Treasurer, Hannah Barnes - Secretary, Alana tion, Ag Day, and learning Hyott - Reporter, Luke Snyder - Historian, and Anthony Pelton - Vice President. Not present for photo was Brennan Bronson – Student Advisor. opportunities.

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D4 - "The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News)

Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

Edon FFA

EDON FFA MEMBERS … 1st row (front row, left to right): Miss (Mary Ellen Bliss, Maddison Gearig, Marley Moyer, Georgia Howard, Allyson Derck, Emma Howard, Grace Reitzel, John Goebel, Max Radabaugh, Jarrett Trasuch and Skylar Osborn. 2nd row: Joslyn Horne, Reese Hand, Peyton Trausch, Wade Parrish, MacKenzie Spangler and Emma Hickman. 3rd row: Claudia Ballesteros Razola, Alexis Dulle, Anne Hug, Natalie Wofford, Colton Willis, Rowan Synder, Blake Baker, Carter Steinke, Hayden Tennant and Zayne Oberlin. 4th row: Ella Osborn, Emma Trent, Grace Ripke, Adi Briner, Amanda Schwartz, Maddie Ogden, Kendol Brigle, Gauge Nester, Elijah Trausch, Eli Dickmann, Briggs Gallehue and Zoei Heller. 5th row (back row): Aiden Gearhart, Justin Horne, Genna Ripke, Addyson Fritch, Alaska Stefano, Abigail Waters, Teighlor Zwick, Joseph Sparks, Westen Hickman, Grant Reed, Kayleigh Christian and Collan Vollmar.

By: Jarrett Trausch The Edon FFA Chapter had a busy and successful year. On January 25th, Max Radabaugh, Peyton Trausch, Emma Howard, and Clayton Dulle took the online Ohio FFA Grain Merchandising CDE exam, placing 31st in the state. Members are tested in the areas of grain merchandising to stimulate interest and to make students aware of the complex decision-making process associated with merchandising agricultural products.

The junior and senior leadership officers traveled on January 21st to the FFA Leadership Summit at Huntington University to meet other FFA officers, listen to speakers, participate in leadership activities and tour the university campus.

February proved to be a busy month with many activities to be involved with the Edon FFA Chapter.

The online Greenhand Quiz CDE’s purpose is to assess knowledge of FFA and provide students with another incentive to participate in a competency-based activity.

The team placed 100th with members Allyson Derck,

AIDEN MUEHLFELD … Aidan Muehlfeld was an Edon FFA member to be a 2022 American FFA Degree Recipient.

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Cohen Hulbert, Marley Moyer, Lloa Mountz, Natalie Wofford, Blake Baker, Sophia Voss, Alexander Ogden, Leyla Avila-Garcia, and Mason Pinkham. The District 1 Ag Power CDE Team of Lance Reitizel and Jarrett Trausch placed 4th. In the Ohio Farm & Agribusiness Management Online Quiz CDE Joseph Boyer placed 84th in the state.

FFA Week was held February 19th-25th, and kicked off with the annual FFA Community Breakfast, free to community, as a way to interact and thank continued support of the chapter while promoting agriculture.

Other highlights from FFA Week include FFA spirit dress up days, incubating chickens with second graders, the annual schoolwide petting zoo, Ag Olympics games, Food for America and Coins for Cancer. Coins for Cancer is a school wide competition and fundraiser benefiting the Cancer Assistance of Williams County.

Edon FFA was able to make a donation of $1,356.72.

At the beginning of March, the Edon Chapter participated in a variety of CDEs. On March 2nd, our FFA members participated in the District Springs contest.

Equine member Sophia Voss placed 29th and the livestock team members Kendall Sheline, Jarrett Trausch, Emma Howard, and John Goebel placed 32nd. The Ag Power team of John Goebel, Clayton Dulle, Skylar Osborn competed in the District One Contest.

Edon FFA held the tradition of Tractor Drive-in Day on April 22nd where students drove farm equipment, held safety demonstrations for younger students, allowing them the opportunity to climb up in the tractors, and had a tractor parade around the school building.

On April 30th, the Edon FFA Chapter held its 83rd Annual FFA Banquet at Edon Northwest High School.

Members and guests were provided with a dessert bar and refreshments for social time before the banquet.

After the social time, the banquet began with a welcome from Emma Howard, Edon FFA Chapter president. As the program formally began. Mr. Stevens, Edon Northwest Local School superintendent, gave opening remarks on behalf of administration before the introduction of guests who were present. The following donors were then recognized for their support of the chapter through donations and works: Precise Metal Form, State Bank, Hicksville Bank, Cooper Farms, Frye Brothers, Trausch Brothers Farms, Kenn-Feld Group, Williams County Dairy Association, and Edon FFA Alumni. The Greenhand Ceremony began with 49 Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resource students receiving their Greenhand FFA Degree.

The awards ceremony continued with the installation of 17 Chapter FFA degrees. Continuing the program, honorary chapter degree was bestowed upon Mr. Wes Dye and Mrs. Kaysie Nester for their dedication to the chapter that has been above and beyond. The distinguished service award went to Mrs. Cindy Seaman for continued work in the FFA Alumni serving as its president. State degree recipients of the past State FFA Convention were recognized: Kerrin Towers, Austin Huffman, Paige Briner, and McKenna Hickman. Students who were going to receive their degree at May’s state convention were also recognized: Emma Howard, Maddison Gearig, and Kendall Sheline. Jacob Dulle was recognized for earning his American FFA Degree at the previous National FFA Convention and Alea Brant, Paige Briner, Aidan Muehlfeld and Shane Zulch were recognized as they would be receiving their American Degree at the 95th National FFA Convention.

Students who participated in numerous FFA events that took place outside the classroom were recognized for their involvement. Members were also recognized for their participation in Career Development Events

(CDEs) throughout the 2020-2021 school year. These CDEs included: Ag Soils, Urban Soils, Job Interview, Novice Parliamentary Procedure, Advanced Parliamentary Procedure, Grain Merchandising, Greenhand Quiz, Farm Business Management, Ag Power Diagnostics, Ag Mechanical Skills, General Livestock Judging, and Equine Judging.

Next in the banquet program was recognizing chapter proficiency awards. The Food Science and Service Placement Proficiency awards went to Ethan Riter and Brianna Herr. The Sheep Production Entrepreneurship Proficiency award was given to Joseph Boyer. The Small Animal Production and Care Proficiency was awarded to Anne Hug. The Swine Production Entrepreneurship Proficiency was awarded to Maddison Gearig, and Kendall Sheline. The Vegetable Production Entrepreneurship Proficiency was awarded to Marley Moyer.

In the area of Wildlife Production and Management Entrepreneurship, the award was given to Parker Kelley.

Time was then taken to recognize those members who were the top 5 fund raisers from our 2022 cheese, and sausage sale who were: In 5th Place Emma and Georgia Howard with $648.50, 4th Place was Kendall Siebenaler with $669.50, In 3rd Place Rowan Snyder with $671.50, 2nd Place was Jarrett Trausch with $709.00, 1st Place was Max Radabaugh with $991.50.

Scholarship awards were given to students that excelled in the areas of scholarship, leadership, and service. They were Cohen Hulbert (freshman), Kendall Siebenaler (sophomore), Caden Nester (junior), and Olivia Mitchell (senior). The next set of individuals demonstrated this and were recognized for their dedication by giving them the Leadership Award: Marley Moyer, Clayton Dulle, Ethan Riter, and Hayden Dye. Senior Awards were given to the graduating seniors for their participation and impact they have left of the Edon FFA Chapter.

Mrs. Hannah Everetts gave remarks for the evening recapping the successful year of the chapter and thanking the Edon community for their support of her over the years as she transitions into a new chapter. During the ceremony she introduced Miss Maryellen Bliss who would be stepping into the role of being the Edon Agricultural Educator and FFA advisor.

To complete the evening, the 2022-2023 FFA Officer Team of: Emma Howard (President), Grace Reitzel, (Vice President), Maddison Gearig (Secretary), Skylar Osborn (Treasurer), Jarrett Trausch (Reporter), Allyson Derck (Student Advisor), Max Radabaugh (Sentinel) and John Goebel (Parliamentarian), Georgia Howard (Historian), Marley Moyer (Chaplin) were installed.

The month of May provided opportunities for students to travel to Columbus, Ohio for the Ohio FFA State Convention to listen to keynote speakers, take agricultural tours, and be recognized on stage for degrees and awards. Then at the 4th General Session, three of the members were honored on the stage. Olivia Mitchell was recognized for her Gold Rated Treasurer book, Kerrin Towers was recognized for her Gold Rated Reporter book, and Carlie Kiess was recognized for her Gold Rated Secretary book.

The Degree Ceremony at the 5th General Session started at 6:30 PM, the State Degree Session began and the group celebrated with Maddison Gearig, Emma Howard, and Kendall Sheline as they received the coveted State FFA Degree!

In preparation for Mother’s Day, Edon FFA members participated in outreach education with the 1st graders, teaching about the life cycle of a plant, and then painting flower pots and planting flowers with members’ help to give to the important women in their lives.

Thank you to Nye’s Greenhouse for the flowers and soil!

The summer months allowed students to grow outside the classroom. In June, there were visits to evaluate the progress of students supervised agricultural experiences through home visits or visits to their placements. Then in July, members Joslyn Horne and William Follett traveled to Ohio FFA Camp Muskingum to attend the 5th session of Summer FFA Camp. They were able to network with students from all over the state of Ohio, compete in sports tournaments, participate in leadership activities facilitated by state officers among other activities in the great outdoors.

In August, before the school year started, the Edon FFA chapter officers met at the Edon Ag room for their annual training. The officers participated in team building activities, personality tests, and planned the Program of Activities for the next school year. Officers planned to bring many activities to the table to find ways to provide exceptional experiences for an engaged membership. The first program of the school year was the Edon FFA Lunch Cookout.

To start out the month of September, the Edon FFA Chapter was well represented at the 2022 Williams County Fair. Saturday, September 10th marked the first day of the Williams County Fair and the Edon FFA Chapter already had some winners! Students submitted their still projects that were made ...

CONTINUED ON PAGE D6

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Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

"The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News) - D5

Edon FFA (Continued) in the previous school year to be evaluated against other Williams County students. Kole Olds notably took best of show for his small metal project of a welding type demonstration board.

At the Williams County royalty competition, members of the Edon Chapter represented their chapter and community through the process of submitting an application, interviews, and the onstage portion that took place during the fair. Grace Reitzel was crowned the 2022 Williams County Fair Queen and Reese Hand was crowned the 2022 Williams County Fair Princess! Congratulations goes to all of the members who participated in numerous livestock shows and sales, representing the Edon FFA Chapter and showing the dedication they put into these projects with others.

On Monday, September 26th Skylar Osborn competed in the District 1 Soil Judging CDE at the Defiance County Soil and Water Conservation District.

They judged three soil pits and selected the best management practices for each pit, took a general knowledge test, and completed a soil survey for Defiance County.

To start off the activities for the month of October, the Dairy Cattle Evaluation Team, which consisted of Eli Dickmann, Ella Osborn, Elijah Trausch, Skylar Osborn, Reese Hand, and Gauage Nester placed 14th at the District 1 competition at Krill Dairy on October 13th. They evaluated two classes of Holstein cows, two classes of Holstein heifers, completed a written general knowledge exam, placed Holstein cow pedigrees and completed a Sire selection. The Dairy Foods team placed 9th place with members: Devin Hoffman, Kendol Brigle, Kayleigh Christian, and Addy Fritch.

From October 26 -29, sixteen of the chapter members, Jarrett Trausch, John Goebel, Ella Osborn, Emma Trent, Allyson Derck, Grace Reitzel,

Alexis Dulle, Christopher Joice, Skylar Osborn, Reese Hand, Josyln Horne, and Emma Howard went to the National Convention along with Miss Bliss. They left on October 26th with Ayersville and Archbold chapters and on their way took tours at J&M Manufacturing and POET Bioprocessing. To end the first day, students visited Indy Scream Park and had the opportunity to go through haunted attractions.

On October 27th , they went to the 95th National FFA Convention, attending the Opening Session where they heard from Cole Baerlocher (21-22 National FFA President), Joe Hogsett (Mayor of Indianapolis) and Keynote speaker Tamika Catchings (WNBA player, commentator, and four-time Olympic Gold Medalist). During the day, students visited the FFA Career Expo where they were able to network

with collegiate opportunities and industry professionals. Students could be found roaming around the shopping expo spending funds on great finds. To end the evening, Edon Chapter went to the Buckeye Bash where chapters from all over Ohio come together to dance and interact with other Ohio members.

To wrap up the 2022 National FFA Convention on October 29th, four Edon FFA graduate members, Alea Brandt, Paige Briner, Shane Zulch, and Adian Muehlfeld received their American FFA Degree. These graduate members received the highest award a member in this organization may receive.

In November, the Novice Parliamentary Procedure was held at Northwest Community State Community College.

Students compete to demonstrate their knowledge of Robert’s Rules of Order.

They advanced to the districts competition with members Westen Hickman (President), Ella Osborn (Vice President), Genna Ripke (Secretary), Grace Ripke (Treasurer), Addyson Fritch (Reporter), Emma Trent (Sentinel), Elijah Trausch (Member), and Gauge Nester (Student Advisor).

To wrap up 2022, on December 6th the Edon FFA Chapter hosted an Ohio FFA State Leadership Night sponsored

by Ohio Corn and Wheat. This night of networking and learning about leadership was led by Aubrey Scwhartz, Ohio FFA State President and Graham Carson, Ohio FFA State Secretary. Around 60 members from multiple schools were in attendance. The evening concluded with Edon Pizza for everyone.

The year of 2022 was a successful year and we look forward to the adventures in 2023!

NATIONAL CONVENTION … These students from Edon FFA got to go to the 2022 National FFA Convention (Back Row L to R): Ella Osborn, Emma Trent, Christoper Joice, Natalie Wofford, Skylar Osborn, John Goebel and Jarrett Trausch. (Front Row L to R): Anne Hug, Allyson Derck, Grace Reitzel, Maddison Gearig, Emma Howard, Joslyn Horn, Emma Howard and Addyson Fritch.

EDON FFA BANQUET … (Back Row L to R): Skylar Osborn, Treasurer; Jarrett Trausch, Reporter; John Goebel, Parliamentarian; Max Radabaugh, Sentinel. (Front Row L to R): Grace Reitzel, Vice President; Georgia Howard, Historian; Emma Howard, President; Maddison Gearig, Secretary; Allyson Derck, Student Advisor; Marley Moyer, Chaplain.

SHANE ZULCH … Shane Zulch, of Edon FFA Chapter, was a 2022 American FFA Degree Recipient.

NOVICE PARLIAMENTARY … The Edon FFA Novice Parliamentary Procedure Team for 2022 posed with their AG director Mary Ellen Bliss. (Back Row L to R): Elijah Trausch, Gauge Nester, Westen Hickman, Grace Ripke, Emma Trent and Miss Bliss (Front Row L to R): Ella Osborn, Genna Ripke and Addyson Fritch.

PAIGE BRINER … Paige Briner of Edon FFA was a 2022 American FFA Degree Recipient.

ALEA BRANDT … Edon FFA member, Alea Brandt was recipient of the 2022 American FFA Degree.

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D6 - "The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News)

Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

Edgerton FFA

EDGERTON FFA CHAPTER … Back Row: Dominic Gill, Chantz Chrisman, Kyli Hazelton, Baylee Barnette, Dezarae Goebel, Caden Burkhardt, Kenneth Miller, Layne Cape, Taylor Dietsch, Blake Flower, Adyn Herman, and Jay Dockery. Middle Row: Harrison Whiteman, Brianna Shankster, Alivia Farnham, Alyssa Landis, Ava Herman, Ashlee Hug, Olivia Martenies, Lydia Walters, Alaryana Chrisman, Hope Hamblin, Payton Wehri, Bryce Schroeder, Adam Gruver, and Avery Perez. Front Row: Levi Hess, Grace Herman, Gretchen Keppeler, McKenna Warner, Giselle Romero, Roxy Kennel, Clara Gerschutz, Ava Herman, Corbin Wilson, Cole Huard, Ross Dockery, Ambrose Flower and Noah Grandey. Not Pictured: Elissa Bowen, Ray Pelz, Makayla Keppeler, Caden Franz, Jacob DuVal, Derek Bowers, Elijah Martin, Gavin Hawkins, Jacob Steffes, Jeromy Gonzales, Shaun Murphy, Sandra Ortiz Lete, and Paula Uzcategui Pipaon.

By: Ava M. Herman & Giselle Romero

Hard work and dedication lead to successes for the Edgerton FFA Chapter at the start of the 2022- 23 school year.

The FFA started the year with a kick-off party in August with 40 students attending and having an evening full of food and activities. This year Williams County Schools were privileged to host the Dairy

cattle and Dairy Foods district contests. We rented our dunk tank out to many amazing events and organizations; hosted tailgates for the homecoming football season; showed and succeeded at the Williams County Fair; assisted the dairy association and beef producers at the fair; traveled to London, Ohio for Farm Science Review; participated in District Soils Judging; watched mem-

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bers get inducted to the National Honor Society; sold delicious fruit during our annual fruit sales, and sorted and delivered our fruit; took online state food science, ag mechanics and technology, and animal behavior tests; attended a quick one day trip to the National FFA Convention; hosted a concession stand during a toy auction in town; participated in Job Interview; competed in sub-district and district parliamentary procedure; attended state leadership night; hosted the State FFA President; greeted elementary students on Fridays; and so much more!

The Edgerton FFA members can stay busy and involved.

With the many activities we did came successes, as well as great learning moments. We started the year with the Williams County Fair where a handful of FFA members showed their animals and did very well.

We also represented our community well in helping to work the Dairy Producers at the Milkshake stand and the Beef Producers.

We are grateful for an incredible community.

We had 8 members participate in the District 1 Ag Soils contest with the team placing 17th. Jay Dockery led our team, placing 86. The remainder of the team consisted of Avery Perez, Gretchen Keppeler, Ray Pelz, Giselle Romero, Noah Grandey, Adyn Herman and Ava Herman.

They learned and did well participating.

The FFA Members kicked off Fruit Sales in October and finished it up the week of December 5th. We sold over $20,000 in fruit, nuts, BBQ Sauce, and Jerky. We donated the extra fruit to a local food pantry. The members enjoy sorting and delivering fruit each year.

October also brings with it the District One Dairy Cattle and Dairy Products contests. This year our Dairy Cattle Team placed 5th in the district

with a team of 12 members. Adyn Herman led our team placing 3rd individually, Gretchen Keppeler, Blake Flower, and Makayla Keppeler rounded out our top four and Ava M. Herman, Ross Dockery, Ashlee Hug, Elissa Bowen, Giselle Romero, Jay Dockery, Ray Pelz, and Ava L. Herman finished up our team. At this contest we evaluate cows and heifers for the dairy character and quality.

Food Science, Ag Technology and Mechanics, Animal Behavior and Welfare and Animal Management were all offered as

State online tests, prior to the in-person contests. We had a few members participate in these online tests.

In Food science we had Ashlee Hug, Sandra Ortiz Lete, Clara Gerschutz, Brianna Shankster, Ava M. Herman, Roxy Kennell, Paula Uzcategui Pipaon, and Lydia Walters. Ag technology and Mechanics was taken by Taylor Dietsch, Adyn Herman, Jay Dockery, Shaun Murphy, and Blake Flower. Animal Behavior and Welfare: Makayla Keppeler, Avery Perez, Gretchen Keppeler, and Giselle Romero. Finally Animal Management was taken by: Makayla Keppeler and Chantz Chrisman.

These were great learning opportunities.

We also took 13 members to attend the National FFA Convention on October 27. We attended sessions, walked the career show and shopping center and explored tours near Indianapolis. For many members, this was their first time at the National FFA Convention, so sharing in all the first-time experiences was great for all involved.

November started out with the sub-district job interview contest where we had 5 members participate. Jacob Steffes competed in division one where he placed and moved on to the District Contest.

Giselle Romero and Ava M. Herman both competed in the division two contest, Giselle placed and was able to move on to the dis-

trict contest as well. Ashlee Hug and Elissa Bowen competed in division four and were both placed and moved on to districts. We are so proud of their hard work!

Edgerton FFA also participated in the sub-district Parliamentary procedure contest. Our Novice Team consisted of Dezarae Goebel, Brianna Shankster, Allysa Landis, Grace Herman, Ava Herman, Jacob Steffes, Kyli Hazelton, and Kelsie Perez. They placed 1st at the Subdistrict and moved on to the District contest where they placed 4th! Our Advanced team was made up of Elissa Bowen, Makayala Keppeler, Clara Gerschutz, Giselle Romero, Ava Herman, Adyn Herman. They placed 2nd at subdistricts.

We ended our semester with an incentive taking 15 members to Pokagon State Park to go tobogganing.

Some of our upcoming events for the spring will be many contests and FFA Week. We are looking forward to many events. We hope the community will come out and support our program during FFA Week activities.

We will be hosting our annual pancake breakfast on February 25 from 7:00 AM until 11:00 AM. We are thankful for our community and the tremendous support we receive every year! We hope to see lots of participation in FFA week and the contests as we venture into 2023.

CONTINUED ON D15

EDGERTON NOVICE PARLIAMENTARY … The 2022 Edgerton FFA Novice Parliamentary Procedure team took 4th place at the district event. Dezarea Goebel, Ava Herman, Kyli Hazelton, Grace Herman, Alyssa Landis, Kelsie Perez, Brianna Shankster, and Jacob Steffes.

STATE LEADERSHIP NIGHT … Nine of Edgerton FFA members participated in Edon's State FFA Leadership Night, hearing from a few of the State FFA Officers and learning “it is okay to be a leader as well as a follower in some cases.” Seen at the event were Derek Bower, Isaiah Rupp, Elissa Bowen, Ashlee Hug, Ray Pelz, Adyn Herman, Dezarea Goebel, Brianna Shankster, and Payton Wehri (not pictured Blake Flower).

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Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

"The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News) - D7

Evergreen FFA

NATIONAL FFA CONVENTION … In October, eight FFA members had the opportunity to attend the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. This was the first time attending for these members. At the convention, the members toured various agricultural-related companies as well as attended several general sessions. The National FFA Convention is held yearly and hosts approximately 65,000 FFA members each year.

By: Alexis Howell The Evergreen FFA Chapter is celebrating its 55th year with 80 FFA members who are dedicated to developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success.

At the end of the 2021-2022 school year, the FFA chapter held its annual Spring Banquet, where 10 graduating FFA seniors were recognized for their dedication to the FFA program.

At the conclusion of the 2021-2022 school year, the longtime Agricultural Education Teacher and FFA Advisor, Susan Hanifan retired from the school after teaching for twenty years. Following her departure, Miss Alexis Howell was hired to fulfill Mrs. Hanifan’s position at Evergreen Local Schools.

Over the summer, the new FFA officers for the 20222023 school year were inducted into their officer positions. This year’s president is senior, Kyle Feeback; the secretary is junior, Jessica Campbell; the treasurer is sophomore, Meegan Gleckler; and the reporter is senior, Haley Entenmann.

In early June, the chapter sent four FFA members to FFA Camp in Muskingum, Ohio. The members that went to camp were Haley Entenmann, Kyle Feeback, JJ Lemle, and Diesel Stoykoff. These members attended camp with other FFA members from across the state and the Ohio FFA State Officer Team. The members had the opportunity to engage in leadership training, conservation education, and various camp activities, such as fishing, hiking, swimming, canoeing, and high ropes.

In July, the officers conducted a Kiddie Tractor Pedal Pull for the community of Lyons during their Chicken BBQ Festival. The event was sponsored by the Evergreen FFA Alumni and the chapter members helped facilitate the event. There were four age groups with over 20 kids in total participating.

Since the start of the 2022-2023 school year, the chapter has been involved actively in contests, leadership events, and community service projects. This year, the chapter has had an enormous number of first-year members who received their Greenhand Degree.

In December, the chapter inducted 45 new members into the program. The requirements for our members to receive this honor were to enroll in an agricultural education course, recite the FFA motto, and learn the FFA history, as well as nine other requirements.

Early in the 2022-2023 school year, the Evergreen Chapter participated in the Fulton County Fair. At the fair, the chapter had 65 projects displayed through poster and woodworking projects. Members did a great job by receiving an A or B ribbon on their projects.

Several of the Evergreen FFA members also had livestock projects ranging from dairy cattle to rabbits to poultry. Overall, the chapter had a great week displaying their livestock and still projects at the fair. Members also took time out of their busy fair schedules to volunteer at the Fulton County Pork Producers stand on Tuesday.

Working the Pork Producers stand is a twelve-hour day for members. This event would not be possible without the support of the Lytton Fox Hunters, Evergreen Administrators and Bus Drivers, Evergreen FFA Alumni, and other community supporters.

Following the Fulton County Fair, the FFA members competed in a variety of Career Development Events (CDE). These contests included: Soils Judging, Milk Quality & Products, Dairy Cattle Judging, Job Interview, Parliamentary Procedure, Public Speaking Contests, Ag Communications, and Ag Sales.

The chapter also competed in the Fulton County Trap Shoot Contest. Since the beginning of the school year over 75% of our members have competed in a CDE. Within these competitions, members are able to learn a variety of skills from interviewing to news writing to soil evaluation based on urban and rural practices. In the Fulton County Job Interview Contest, sophomore Taylor Johnson placed 2nd.

In September, the officers participated in the Ohio Legislative Leadership Conference at the Ohio Capitol Building in Columbus, Ohio. This was the first year the chapter participated in this event. The officers were able to learn about policy and advocating for agriculture.

The officers were also able to tour the capitol building and learn about its history. The chapter also attended Farm Science Review in London, Ohio for the first time in several years. 14 members attended the trip where they were able to see the newest agricultural technology related to the crop and animal sciences industry. The members were also able to network with other agricultural and conservation organizations that hosted displays and presentations.

In late October, the chapter took eight FFA members to the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.

This was the first time any of the current members had attended this event. While at the convention, members were able to listen to keynote speakers and tour a variety of agribusinesses and industry-related facilities.

Throughout the months of October and November, the FFA Chapter participated in the traditional FFA Fundraiser - Fruit Sales. The chapter sold fruit, peanuts, tree nuts, BBQ sauces, honey, maple syrup, cheeses, meat sticks, and candles. Throughout the sale, the chapter sold over $16,000 of product. To encourage the members

SOILS JUDGING COMPETITION … 60 of our FFA members competed at the Fulton County Soils Judging Competition in September. The members had to evaluate the soil and land based on its ability to grow crops and build structures on it. 16 of our members were able to move on to the District competition later that month.

to sell and reach the chapter goal of $15,000 of product sold, members who sold $400 earned their FFA jacket.

This year, 19 FFA members reached this goal and received their jackets. The fruit was then delivered in early December. Thank you to everyone who supported the fundraising efforts of the FFA members.

Alongside the 19 members who received their jackets through the fruit sale fundraiser, seven other first-year FFA members were fortunate enough to receive their FFA jackets through the Ohio FFA Jacket Grant program. All first-year members submitted an application to apply for the grant. The Ohio FFA was fortunate enough to receive donations for 200 jackets in total.

One of the requirements for Evergreen FFA members is to complete a community service project throughout the school year. Since the start of the school year, over 60% of the members have completed at least one service project.

The chapter actively helps with the Fulton County Christmas Cheer Program. The Friday before Thanksgiving, members assisted with the Christmas Cheer Toy Drive Kickoff at Ace Hardware in Wauseon, Ohio. A unique community service project for Evergreen FFA is the Thanksgiving Dinners. Each year, the chapter coordinates a food and monetary drive to receive donations for families in need of Thanksgiving Dinners. In November, the chapter partnered with the Evergreen High School Student Council and Evergreen Elementary to receive donations. The dinners are distributed directly to Evergreen families. Through the donations, the chapter was able to assemble thirteen family-size Thanksgiving Dinners for the local Evergreen families. The additional items donated were then given to the Fulton County Christmas Cheer Program.

Later in December, the chapter sent an additional group of members to assist with the distribution of the toys to families at the Fulton County Fairgrounds. The final event of the Christmas Season for the chapter was assisting with the Fulton County Christmas in the Cabin event. This was an event hosted by Fulton County Ohio Means Job Agency. The FFA set up a table for the twonight event and conducted an activity with the children coming to see Santa. The FFA members helped the children make “Reindeer Food”.

The new year kicked off a new group of FFA contests.

Members participated in the Agricultural Communications, Agricultural Sales, Agricultural Biotechnology, Public Speaking, Grain Merchandising, Greenhand FFA Quiz, and Environmental Management contests. For the current members, these were all new FFA contests that they were able to try. Members enjoyed learning about the various opportunities within FFA. National FFA Week is something that the Evergreen Chapter is looking forward to celebrating. This year, the chapter has decided to host several new activities for the school and community. There will be a spirit week, where the high school students can choose to dress up. The chapter is coordinating an agricultural olympics event for all high school students. The members hope to conduct an alumni and community supporters breakfast along with a staff luncheon.

Following FFA Week, one of the FFA members will be traveling to Denver, Colorado for the National FFA Next Generation Conference in Animal Sciences. Back in October, Meegan Gleckler completed a vigorous application process to be selected as one of less than 100 national FFA members to attend this conference. In December, Meegan received the exciting news that she was selected to attend the conference. The trip is in late February.

Meegan will be able to participate with other FFA members from across the country to learn more about the animal sciences industry through roundtable discussions, industry tours, and general sessions at the conference.

Meegan is quite excited to receive such a high honor and be able to attend this conference.

The Evergreen FFA has announced its annual spring banquet date for Saturday, April 22nd, 2023. The chapter has done an excellent job this year and is looking forward to celebrating its achievements at the banquet in April with family, friends, and community supporters. As for now, the chapter will continue its success through the growth of its members.

CONTINUED ON PAGE D15

NEW GREENHANDS … In early December, the Evergreen FFA inducted 45 new Greenhands (first-year members) into its chapter. These members worked throughout the fall semester to complete the nine requirements to obtain their degree as well as submitted a written application.

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D8 - "The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News)

Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

North Central FFA By: Mackenzie Frame North Central FFA has had such an eventful year, we can hardly believe it’s on the home stretch!

Boasting 72 members this year, which is just over a quarter of the HS population, we’ve conquered the fair, numerous projects, our annual fruit sale fundraiser, contests, and tons of other experiences!

The Williams County Fair seemed to be the unofficial kick off to our school year; with numerous members showing livestock, as well as interacting with fairgoers in the Barnyard Friends exhibit, volunteering in the Williams County Dairy Producers milkshake stand, the Williams County Beef Producers stand and the Animal and Me show, before we know it, the week is gone! This year, NC FFA President, Makinzy King, and NC FFA member, Hunter Brown, participated in the Showmanship Sweepstakes, with Hunter taking home top honors for the evening.

As the fall progressed, we hosted our annual fruit sale fundraiser, as well as participated in various judging contests and leadership development events.

A few of our officers traveled to the Ohio Statehouse and spent the day interacting with elected officials while learning about how local government works, as well as the job of a lobbyist.

The NC Ag Department offered six different cours-

NORTH CENTRAL FFA MEMBERS … Front Row: Mackenzie Frame - Reporter, Camden Stoots - Sentinel, Briana Baker - Treasurer, Makinzy King - President, MaKenna Hollstein - Vice President, Sami Cummins - Secretary, Kaiden King - Student Advisor, Jess Tracey - Advisor. 2nd Row: Lily McClanahan, Parker Felt, Skyler Bostater, Erica Knapp, Conner Perez, Wyatt Gruber, Lily Ayers, Millie Layne, Kailysa Hickman, Talen Denstedt, Zain Pitts. 3rd Row: Cailyn Meyers, Islynn Crafts, Brody Taylor, Alyson Cook, Ava Van Auken, Ava Livengood, Ashlee Lyons, Brooke St John, Autumn Anderson, Ethan Eideiner, Keegan Hickman. 4th Row: Drake Massey, Tyler Meyers, Cooper Lashaway, Amaiah Hukill, Rylee Walker, Brenden Solano, Eric Sanchez, Kallie Kindinger, Avrie Casebere, Zoe Guillemette, Emma Taylor. 5th Row: Morgen VanDyke, Alexxander Budd, Carter Eckley, Ben Pettit, Trinity Conrad, Johana Knapp, Annyka Munoz, Jayden Fields, Lauren Pfund, Chevelle Keller, Courtney Ames, Crayton Pace. es for students to enroll in, with a seventh experiential course for eighth grade students to experience being an Ag student for nine weeks. The Mechanical Principles class was honored to be part of the Williams County Habitat for Humanity’s build in Bryan by building a storage shed for the property.

This marks the third shed NC Ag students have built for a Habitat for Humanity build. While our program may look similar to other Ag departments in the county, one course that has taken off at NC is the Floral Design & Marketing course, with this year being our biggest so far. As of the end of 2022, the Advanced

NORTH CENTRAL FFA FLORAL … Advanced Floral Design & Marketing students, Autumn Anderson, Lily Martin, Rea Beck, Makinzy King, and Ashlee Lyons are seen here with the final grave blanket of the 2022 Christmas bereavement project. The class created just over 70 headstone saddles and grave blankets as part of their winter project.

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Floral Design & Marketing students have created more floral arrangements than we can count, as well as just over 70 cemetery saddles and grave blankets as a special Christmas season project. They also designed for four weddings, with five more scheduled across 2023-2024.

As we look toward FFA Week, we plan to involve the entire North Central School district in celebrating our beloved organization. We have our annual FFA Pancake Day scheduled with Katie’s Flying Pancakes, which is equal

parts breakfast and a show, as well as our annual Staff Coffee Break where we treat the NC staff and faculty to a latte of their choice as well as a fresh pastry. We also host a change drive competition throughout the district, which ends up being more competitive in the elementary than anywhere else.

Last year’s change went to Heifer International to purchase pigs for families in third world countries, and wrapped up with first grade teacher, Mrs. Stewart, and HS Principal, Dr. Rozevink, kissing a pig. This year’s

change drive details are not complete yet, but someone will be puckering up to a farm animal!

We finish out the school year with our annual member recognition banquet, our elementary education day, the Ohio FFA Convention, where we will have three State FFA Degrees, as well as three gold rated officers, and a host of other contests, projects, and experiences.

NC FFA members rarely get much time to rest, but the experiences we have are second to none!

CONTINUED ON D10

NORTH CENTRAL FFA HABITAT SHED … NC Ag students, Zain Pitts, Conner Perez, Kailysa Hickman, Cayden Laney, Keegan Hickman, Ethan Eidenier, Ben Pettit, Levi Houser, and Clayton Douglass, posed in front of the storage shed they built for the 2022 Habitat for Humanity build.

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Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

"The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News) - D9

North Central FFA (Continued)

NORTH CENTRAL FFA GOLD OFFICERS … Pictured are Briana Baker - Chapter Treasurer, Mackenzie Frame - Chapter Reporter, and Sami Cummins - Chapter Secretary with their gold rated officer books. They will be recognized at the Ohio FFA Convention in May for their achievement.

NORTH CENTRAL FFA OFFICERS … Pictured from left to right: Briana Baker - Treasurer, Makinzy King - President, Kaiden King - Student Advisor, MaKenna Hollstein - Vice President, Sami Cummins - Secretary, Mackenzie Frame - Reporter, and Camden Stoots - Sentinel

Fayette FFA Finishing up our fall CDEs, our Novice and Advanced Parliamentary Procedure teams advanced to Districts from the County contest and placed 3rd and 4th, respectively.

The members that put in a lot of early practices and studying include Novice - Reilly Bailey, Dawson Schang, Carter

Submitted By: Reporter Demi Storrs and Asst. Reporter Zoie Brown Rounding out the 2021-2022 school year, our members participated in a wide variety of contests ranging from small engines, floriculture, animal management, general livestock, wildlife, equine, and poultry at the district level.

They were also able to try their hand at the State Level preliminary CDEs. We had a very successful banquet to honor all of our members in every aspect that they help our program run.

Many members attended State FFA Convention where we were able to celebrate Hannah Kovar in placing 2nd in her Sheep Production Proficiency award and Brianna Brubaker placing 2nd in her Veterinary Science Proficiency award. Hannah Kovar also received her State FFA Degree at Convention.

We had 12 members attend FFA Camp at FFA Camp Muskingum in Eastern Ohio, and their members were able to meet new friends from across the state and participate in a variety of outdoor activities.

The Fayette FFA has been on a roll coming into the 2022-2023 year! The chapter’s members have been active in activities ranging from Fulton County Fair events, contests, and Leadership Nights.

We had many members showing livestock at the Fair this year and were successful. During the fair, members work at the Pork Stand for two nights during the fair. It gives a chance for members that aren’t involved in showing animals a chance to get involved at the fair.

After the fair, we competed in County and District Soils. Rural Team placed 2nd in the county and 4th at districts, qualifying the team for state participation. This team consisted of Hannah Kovar, Hawk Brehm, Evan Beauregard, and Leslie Burrow. The dairy cattle and dairy foods contests were held at Edgerton this year. We had great participation from each team!

We had members participate in the County Trapshoot event that is held at the Fulton County Sportsman’s club.

Those members were: Hawk Brehm, Caden Leininger, Zander Johnston, Wyatt Bieber, Garrett Costin, Braden Morgan, Riley Burkhard, Reilly Bailey, Erika Fetterman, and Evan Beauregard. This year we placed first in the county! It is

a fun event that the members look forward to each year.

Fayette hosted the county Job Interview contest where each of our participants advanced to the District contest including Div 1 Willow Mitchell and Kelsie Storrs, Div 2 Erika Fetterman, and Div 4 Hannah Kovar and Rebecca Stevenson.

National FFA Convention was attended by the 2022-2023 Officer Team: Hannah Kovar (President), Hannah Hall (VP), Erika Fetterman (Secretary), Andre Alvarez (Asst. Secretary), Lilly Eberly (Treasurer), Demi Storrs (Reporter), Zoie Brown (Asst. Reporter), Evan Beauregard (Sentinel) and Emerysn Sinks (Student Advisor).

While on our way to Indianapolis, we attended Wild Winds Buffalo Farm and learned about how they maintain their herd. We attended the concert put on through the FFA along with other FFA Members at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Thursday, we started off the day with Opening Session of National Convention. We heard from the National Officers and keynote speaker Tamika Catchings.

Once the session was complete, we visited the Expo where members visited industry leaders, colleges, and technical schools to increase their awareness of what is available in the Ag Industry beyond high school.

We attended a group activity participating in Axe Throwing. Fun times were had by all!

Lastly, we mingled with other Ohio FFA Members at the Buckeye Bash.

Members were able to catch up with other members that they have met at FFA Camp or state officers, as well.

To finish off the convention, we attended National Days of Service where we help prepare Newfields Park for the Halloween event they were hosting that weekend.

Brianna Brubaker received her American Degree at Convention this year.

Upon returning to Northwest Ohio, we had members attend an Ohio FFA Leadership night hosted at Elmwood High School. Students were able to mingle with other FFA Members and participate in the State Officer-led workshops.

To get in the holiday spirit, part of our Officer Team participated in the Fulton County Christmas Cheer Toy drive at ACE in Wauseon on November 18th.

Lavinder, Maycee Beers, Wyatt Bieber, Addison Schang, Kennedy Kunkle; Advanced - Hannah Kovar, Hannah Hall, Demi Storrs, Emersyn Sinks, Evan Beauregard, Erika Fetterman, Zoie Brown, Lilly Eberly, and Andre Alvarez.

We look forward to all that 2023 has to offer in the remainder of our year!

NATIONAL FFA CONVENTION … The National FFA Convention held in Indianapolis, IN, was attended by the 2022-2023 Officer Team.

RURAL SOILS … Rural Soils Team placed 2nd in the county and 4th in districts, qualifying the team for state participation.

TRAPSHOOT … Fulton County Traphshoot members placed first in the county.

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D10 - "The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News)

Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

Hilltop FFA By: Shealyn Brown 2022 proved to be a very eventful and successful year for the Millcreek-West Unity FFA Chapter. On January 26th, Ian Hoffman competed in the Sub-District Public Speaking CDE. Ian placed first in Extemporaneous Public Speaking where he drew a topic, had thirty minutes to write a four to six-minute speech about the topic he drew, and then present it. Ian Hoffman moved on to district competition in Extemporaneous Public Speaking where he placed 3rd in District 1.

To start off National FFA Week the officer team traveled to Trine University to try their hand at ice skating, for their officer outing. Later that week, on February 26th, the chapter officer team traveled to local agribusinesses, thanking them for their support of the school chapter and surrounding agriculturalists throughout the past year.

At the beginning of March, the Millcreek-West Unity Chapter also participated in a variety of CDEs (Career Development Events) beginning on March 2nd. The Outdoor Power Equipment team of Bryce Buehrer, Dylan Cammack, and Lakota Siegel placed 7th.

In Floriculture, Ingrid Hoffman placed 12th out of 80 participants. In Animal Management the team of Abby Austin, Libbie Baker, Aiden Funkhouser, and Madi Routt placed 7th, with Libbie placing in the top 20 individually. In Vet Science the team of Lana Baker, Joscelyn Layman, and Alora Siegel placed 7th, with all team members placing in the top 26 individually. On March 6th three of our members participated in the virtual District 1 Agriscience Fair and all three placed first in their respective categories! Hunter Leupp – Food Systems, Julia Schuurman – Animal Systems, and Lakota Siegel – Power Systems.

On March 2nd, 13 of the AFNR students competed in the Ohio Greenhand CDE. As a team they were ranked 94th out of 149 teams. On March 10th, 28 of our FFA member competed in a variety of contests at the District 1 Spring Skills events at the Fulton County Fairgrounds. The Agronomy team of: Scott Bowers, Levi Cox, Ian Hoffman and Matthew Wyse placed 5th. The Equine Management team of Lana Baker, Ingrid Hoffman, Brooke Moreland, Karleen Myers, and Olivia Rossman placed 11th.

The General Livestock team of Leanna Baker, Libbie Baker, Shealyn Brown, Carson Crossgrove, Ericka Dennison, Alivia Flaugher, Hunter Leupp, Joscelyn Layman, Jordan Schaffner, Alora Siegel, and Jonathon Stephens placed 3rd. The Poultry team of Hope Potts and Colton Wood placed 21st. The Wildlife Team of Drew Bailey, Sam Cox, Brian Guillen, Eden Mahlman, Zander Runkel, and Conner Sanders placed 11th, with Sam placing 3rd individually.

On April 2, 2022, the Millcreek West Unity FFA held their annual 86th Annual FFA Banquet at 6:30 PM in the Commons at Hilltop High School. Members and guests were served a meal of pulled pork, baked beans, piggy mac, coleslaw, Chex mix, brownies, and ice cream catered by Red Ember Catering, with the pork being donated by Jacoby’s Ole Smokehouse. After the meal, the Greenhand ceremony began with 15 Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resource students receiving their Greenhand FFA Degree. From these new Greenhands, Levi Cox was selected as the Star Greenhand.

The awards ceremony continued with eight members in Animal and Plant Science being awarded their Chapter FFA Degrees. The Star Chapter Awards were as follows: Star Chapter in Production was Carson Crossgrove, Star Chapter in Agribusiness was Hunter Leupp, Star Chapter in Placement was Matthew Wyse and Star Chapter in Agriscience was Ian Hoffman. There were three members from the chapter who were receiving their State FFA Degree on May 6th at

the State FFA Convention and they were recognized at the banquet: Lana Baker, Ericka Dennison, and Hunter Leupp. In addition, Kodi Brenner and Joe Reamsnyder were honored for being candidates of the American FFA Degree this Fall.

Members were also recognized for their participation in Career Development Events (CDEs) throughout the 2020-2021 school year. These CDEs included: Advanced Parliamentary Procedure, AgriScience Fair, Agronomy, Animal Management, Dairy Cattle Evaluation, Equine Management, Floriculture, General Livestock, Greenhand Quiz, Job Interview, Outdoor Power Equipment, Poultry, Public Speaking, Rural Soil Judging, Vet Science and Wildlife Management. Joscelyn Layman was recognized for her State Gold Rated Reporter’s Book and Alora Siegel was recognized for her State Gold Rated Treasurer’s Book.

The Top 3 Fruit Sales awards went to Ericka Dennison (1st place), Madi Routt (2nd place), and Levi and Sam Cox (3rd place). 23 members were also recognized for having all A’s in Ag for 3 quarters.

28 members were recognized for earning $300 or more in FFA bucks (which is an incentive program). The 11 seniors were recognized for their years in the program along with 6 being recognized for being retiring FFA Officers.

To complete the evening, the 20222023 FFA Officer Team of: Ingrid Hoffman (President), Alora Siegel (Vice President), Joscelyn Layman (Secretary), Brooke Moreland (Treasurer), Shealyn Martin (Reporter), Abby Austin (Student Advisor), Levi Cox (Sentinel) and Olivia Rossman (Student Council Representative), were installed. The evening would not have been possible without the generous donations and contributions of sponsors and community members.

The Millcreek-West Unity FFA Chapter would like to specially thank the following for their support and generosity throughout the 2021-2022 school year: Red Ember Catering for catering the meal, Jacoby’s Ole Smokehouse for donating the pork, Dr. Harris for capturing the evening on camera, North Central FFA for help with the center pieces, and the 2022 Banquet Sponsors: B&G Outdoor Power Equipment Ltd., Oberlin Farms Demolition & Recycling LLC, Miller Family Farms, GGC Feeds LLC, Superior Farm Supply, Wieland Family Farms, Edon Farmers Co-op, Pettisville Grain Company, Rupp Seeds Inc., Unity Antique Power Club, Tom and Jean Gerig, Schaffner Farms, Handyman Hardware, Lennard Farm Trucking, Ohio Ag Equipment, Rimm Kleen Systems, West Unity Lions Club, Williams County Beef Producers, Williams County Dairy Association, Williams County Pork Producers, and The Kenn Feld Group!

At the end of April, we had one of our members, Ingrid Hoffman, participate in the State Floriculture CDE at Ohio State ATI. Ingrid placed 26th out of 114 participants!

The month of May was busy for the Millcreek-West Unity FFA Chapter. To begin the month, ten members attended Ohio State FFA Convention, participated in state band and choir, and received many awards. On May 5th, the members attending convention began their day with a tour of the North Market (a fresh farmer’s market) in Downtown Columbus. There, they were able to try different foods from four of the vendors that included food from around the world!

They then selected their lunches and snacks from the wide variety of vendors and business located at the market.

After the tour and lunch, the group went bowling at Ten Pin Alley. That evening at the second general session, Ian Hoffman was awarded 2nd place in Star State in Agriscience and 3rd place in Agriscience Proficiency - Integrated Systems.

The following day, May 6th, the mem-

MILLCREEK WEST UNITY FFA … Back Row (6th Row) - Carson Crossgrove, Brian Guillen, Drew Bailey. 5th Row - Malaki Comer, Nate Wieland, Aaden Judy, Scott Bowers, Austin Verdin, Landon Stuckey. 4th Row - Bryce Peters, Hope Potts, Jordan Schaffner, Lakota Siegel, Blake Tarkington, Zakk Cammack, Austin Ankney.

3rd Row - Riley Clendenin, Myah Higgins, Sophia Crossgrove, Kennedy Bailey, Aaliyah McCauley, Maggie Altman, Jonathon Stephens. 2nd Row - Sam Cox, Conner Sanders, Libbie Baker, Madi Routt, Aiden Funkhouser, Devin Dempsey, Cameron Schlosser. 1st Row - Miss Frey, Olivia Rossman, Brooke Moreland, Alora Siegel, Abby Austin, Ingrid Hoffman, Levi Cox, Shealyn Martin, Joscelyn Layman. bers began their day at the Ohio Expo Center with State FFA Band and Choir practice for Ingrid Hoffman, Olivia Rossman, and Conner Sanders. Then at the 4th General Session, five of the members were honored on the stage. Alora Siegel was recognized for her Gold Rated Treasurer book, Joscelyn Layman was recognized for her Gold Rated Reporter book, Julia Schuurman placed 1st in Agriscience Fair Division 5 Animal Systems, Lakota Siegel placed 2nd in Agriscience Fair Division 1 Power Systems, and Hunter Leupp placed 2nd in Agriscience Fair Division 5 Social Systems!

At 4:45 p.m. the State Band and Choir participants presented musical pieces in preparation for the State Degree Ceremony at the 5th General Session. At 6:30 PM the State Degree Session began and the group celebrated with Lana Baker, Ericka Dennison, and Hunter Leupp as they received the coveted State FFA Degree!

May 10-16, 2022 the Millcreek-West Unity FFA Chapter celebrated their FFA Week. The week was filled with a variety of activities and events for MillcreekWest Unity Local School students and staff as well as FFA members.

On Tuesday, May 10th, the chapter hosted Ag Minute-To-Win-It games for the kindergarten through 6th grade students. The chapter members had a fun time working with the elementary students by leading them through a variety of tasks to complete in 1 minute or less.

Examples of the games included: “Fast Fashion” where students had to get dressed in Official Dress in under 1 minute, and “Seed Sort” where students had to sort three different kinds of seeds into their correct groupings in one minute or less. At the end of each time slot, the students who earned the most tickets from completing the activities correctly in one minute or less were entered in a drawing for the prize of Ag Minute-ToWin-It Champion for their grade level.

In the evening, two members (Levi Cox and Ingrid Hoffman) attended the District 1 FFA Officer Training and Banquet. During the first hour, Levi and Ingrid attended training sessions and workshops hosted by past State FFA Officers. After the training sessions, the District 1 FFA came together for a meal and recognized FFA members for their accomplishments throughout the year.

The Millcreek-West Unity Chapter came home with a good amount of hardware!

The following day, May 12th, FFA members were invited to the Ag Room for their annual FFA Bucks Auction.

FFA Bucks is the chapter’s incentive program where FFA members can earn “FFA money” for being active in the FFA and attending meetings and conferenc-

es, as well as competing in Career Development Events. While FFA members enjoyed a lunch of pizza (from Wyse Guys), chips, and pop they used their cumulative FFA Bucks to bid on a variety of auction items including, FFA apparel, pop, candy, and gift cards.

Friday, May 14th, the entire chapter hosted an Ag Awareness Day for the school. Groups of FFA members were paired together to create a hands-on display representing a facet of the agricultural industry. The various sectors represented included the agricultural technology, beef, corn, dairy, equine, goat, horticulture, natural resource, sheep, small animal, soybean, swine, and wheat industries. As students attended this event, they rotated through each industry and were able to learn more about that sector from the FFA members and hands on activities.

Through the generous donations of sponsors (American Dairy Association Mideast, American Farm Bureau, American Lamb Board, Ohio Beef Council, Ohio Corn and Wheat, and Ohio Pork Council) the chapter was able to send home goodie bags and educational materials with each elementary student! A highlight was the soft serve ice cream machine borrowed from Brown Electric!

On the following Monday, May 16th, the Millcreek-West Unity FFA Chapter finished their FFA Week Celebration with the 2022-2023 Millcreek-West Unity FFA Chapter Officers of Abby Austin, Levi Cox, Ingrid Hoffman, Joscelyn Layman, Shealyn Martin, Brooke Moreland, Olivia Rossman, and Alora Siegel celebrating and thanking the school staff for their service to the school by hosting a Burger Bash luncheon. The officers enjoyed preparing the meal of hamburgers and sausage (with the sausage donated by the Williams County Pork Producers), all the toppings, fruit, veggies, and Cookies on Demand Cookies for those who put so much time and effort into the students’ future!

Millcreek-West Unity FFA Officer Training took place June 20th. The day started off with a Road Rally where they were broken up into two teams and had to complete 13 different tasks throughout the community. The winners received a gift card to Buffalo Wild Wings.

After lunch, the team took their officer team pictures and played yard games, followed by a cookout at Shealyn’s house.

July was a month of volunteering for the Millcreek-West Unity FFA Chapter.

During June and July, the Summer Park and Rec program served free ...

CONTINUED ON PAGE D12

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Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

"The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News) - D11

Hilltop FFA (Continued) meals to community children. This was organized

by Noelle Chester and on July 11th - 15th, Abby Austin, Libbie Baker, Levi Cox, Ingrid Hoffman, Brooke Moreland and Miss Frey helped serve the meals.

On July 31st Abby Austin, Libbie Baker, Aiden Funkhouser, Taryn Gillespie, Ingrid Hoffman and Miss Frey traveled to the Ohio State Fair and Expo Center in Columbus, Ohio to volunteer at the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association Beef Stand. There they served burgers, ribeyes, sliders, and all beef hotdogs to fairgoers.

To start out the month of September, the MillcreekWest Unity FFA Chapter was well represented at the 2022 Williams County Fair. Saturday, September 10th marked the first day of the Williams County Fair and the Millcreek-West Unity FFA Chapter already had some winners! Jordan Schaffner was Best of Show with his Field Corn Project and Sam Cox was Best of Show in the Small Wood category with his Bandsaw Box. We also had Scott Bowers, Zakk Cammack, Levi Cox, Carson Crossgrove, Ingrid Hoffman, Alora Siegel, Lakota Siegel, and Colton Wood submit projects in classes for corn, soybeans, wheat, hay, scientific research, small wood, and small metal projects.

Sunday, September 11th was eventful for the Millcreek West Unity FFA Chapter. To start off the day Brooke Moreland showed her horse and was Champion Senior Showman, making her eligible for the Showman of Showmen contest on Wednesday. She also placed first in the following contests: Barrels, Pole Bending, Key Hole, Flags, Speed and Control, and Cones and Barrels. At the swine show, Lindee Lammon and Jordan Schaffner exhibited their market hogs. Lindee won Grand Champion Pair of Hogs (which makes this 5 years in a row, and a new record for the category), Grand Champion Spot, and 5th Overall Market Hog. The chapter was also busy making and serving milkshakes to fairgoers at the Williams County Dairy Association stand.

Monday, September 12th was another busy day for the Millcreek West Unity FFA Chapter. The morning started off with Libbie Baker, Conner Sanders, and Lakota Siegel exhibiting their rabbit projects.

Lakota placed 1st in Intermediate Showmanship and Conner was 2nd in the same division. In the afternoon, the beef exhibitors: Scott Bowers, Carson Crossgrove, Sophia Crossgrove, Myah Higgins and Lindee Lammon did a great job showing off their beef projects. Throughout the day our members who weren’t busy with their livestock projects helped the Williams County Beef Producers, serving customers and making sandwiches.

Wednesday night, September 14th Brooke Moreland represented the Horse Division in the Showman of Showmen contest at the fair. She studied hard and exhibited horses, beef cattle, dairy cattle, sheep, goats, swine, rabbits and poultry. Saturday, September 24th, started out our FFA contest season.

Sam Cox along with 157 competitors participated in the State Forestry CDE at Hocking College in Nelsonville, OH. Sam completed a written exam, identified various species of trees, read and interpreted a topography map, calculated the price of timber in a timber cruising practicum, and wrote coordinates using a compass. He then placed 32nd overall.

On Monday, September 26th Drew Bailey, Scott Bowers, Carson Crossgrove, Levi Cox, Zander Runkel, Johnathon Stephens, and Colton Wood competed in the District 1 Soil Judging CDE at the Defiance County Soil and Water Conservation District. They judged three soil pits and selected the best management practices for each pit, took a general knowledge test, and completed a soil survey for Defiance County. The team ended up placing 13th out of 23 teams.

On Wednesday, September 28th, four members of our officer team, Shealyn Brown, Levi Cox, Ingrid Hoffman, Brooke Moreland, traveled to the Ohio State House for the Ohio FFA Legislative Leadership

Conference. These four learned more about our state government and got to compete in an activity where they had to convince others to vote on a legislative issue. They placed fourth out of twelve in that activity. They also listened to the Director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Dorothy Pelanda, and Senator Bob Peterson of Ohio’s 17th Senate District.

To start off the activities for the month of October, the Dairy Cattle Evaluation Team, which consisted of Libbie Baker, Shealyn Brown, Sophia Crossgrove, Myah Higgins, and Jordan Schaffner, placed 9th at the District 1 competition at Krill Dairy on October 13th. They evaluated two classes of Holstein cows, two classes of Holstein heifers, completed a written general knowledge exam, placed Holstein cow pedigrees and completed a Sire selection.

From October 26th29th, six of the chapter members, Levi Cox, Ingrid Hoffman, Olivia Rossman, Conner Sanders, Lakota Seigel, and Jordan Schaffner, and one of our graduated members, Julia Shuurman, went to National Convention along with Ms. Frey. They left on October 25th and first went to Kentucky at Churchill Downs where they toured the facility and decorated used horse shoes from horses on the track. Next, they toured the Louisville Slugger Museum. To end the first day, they traveled to Indianapolis to compete in an escape room race against the North Central FFA chapter to solve puzzles in order to be the first to escape.

On October 27th, they went to the 95th National FFA Convention and attended the Opening Session where they heard from Cole Baerlocher (21-22 National FFA President), Joe Hogsett (Mayor of Indianapolis) and Keynote speaker Tamika Catchings (WNBA player, commentator, and four-time Olympic Gold Medalist). Later that day, during the 2nd General Session, they watched as Julia Schuurman placed 6th in the nation with her Division 5 Animal Systems Agriscience Fair project.

To finish off the day, they played several rounds of

MILLCREEK-WEST UNITY FFA OFFICERS … 22-23 Millcreek-West Unity FFA Officer Team is made up of Alora Siegel, Abby Austin, Joscelyn Layman, Levi Cox, Ingrid Hoffman, Brooke Moreland, Shealyn Brown, and Olivia Rossman. duckpin bowling at Atomic Duckpin Bowling.

October 28th, the members that went to National Convention, ate at “The Garage”, and toured the Bottleworks District which at one time had been a CocaCola bottling company. In the evening they attended the hypnotist show, where Randy Andrews hypnotized several ag teachers in a comedy show. To round out the convention trip, the chapter celebrated as Kodi Brenner and Joe Reamsnyder received the highest degree that the FFA Organization can bestow upon its’ members, the American FFA Degree.

Millcreek-West Unity FFA chapter members came home from a successful National Convention week at the end of October and jumped right into Job Interview and Parliamentary Procedure Career Development Events along with volunteer opportunities. On November 1st three of our FFA members competed in the Williams County Job Interview Leadership Development Event.

Zakkary Cammack, Brooke Moreland, and Lakota Siegel developed a cover letter and resume, filled out an employment application, completed a job interview, and wrote a follow-up letter based on their interviews to compete with other members from across the county. Lakota placed 1st in Division 1 – Freshmen and Zakkary was 3rd. Brooke placed 1st in Division 2 – Sophomores. Lakota and Brooke then advanced to the District 1 Job Interview LDE on November 8th to compete against FFA members from across the other 7 counties in our district.

Lakota placed 2nd in Division 1 – Freshmen and Brooke placed 2nd in Division 2 – Sophomores.

On November 7th, five of our members, Austin Ankney, Zakkary Cammack, Levi Cox, Sam Cox, and Hope Potts, traveled to Elmwood High School for a State Leadership Workshop lead by three members of the State FFA Officer Team.

They learned about teamwork and leadership, then enjoyed pizza with other FFA members from across the district.

November 12th, seven of our members and Miss Frey volunteered at the West Unity Lion’s Club Feather Party Bingo. At the Feather Party Bingo, members helped the Lion’s Club members collect Bingo tickets and hand out prizes to participants. FFA members included: Zakkary Cammack, Levi Cox, Sam Cox, Aaden Judy, Hope Potts, Olivia Rossman, and Lakota Seigel.

The Advanced Parliamentary Procedure team consisted of the 2022-2023 FFA Officer team of Abby Austin, Shealyn Brown, Levi Cox, Ingrid Hoffman, Joscelyn Layman, Brooke Moreland, Olivia Rossman, and Alora Seigel. They competed in the Williams County Advanced Parliamentary Procedure Leadership Development Event on November 17th and placed 1st in county competition. The Parliamentary Procedure event requires participants to complete a 25-question test on their knowledge of parliamentary procedure and then perform a 12-minute or less

mock meeting applying the rules of parliamentary law.

December began with the chapter hosting a school-wide Can Drive to collect non-perishable items to restock our school food pantry. Items were collected on December 9th and 13th from each of the elementary classes and high school academy rooms. Collectively, 2,802 items were donated!

The 2nd grade brought in the most with 890 items, and the kindergarten and kinder cadets were second with 567 items. Nora Frank brought in the most items with over 200! Miss Yoh’s academy brought in the most food for the high school with 100 items, and Miss Frey’s academy was second with 63. Needless to say, the school food pantry is now overflowing, with all the donations going to support those in the Hilltop community!

December 16th our chapter hosted the Ohio State FFA President: Aubrey Schwartz. Aubrey lead each of the classes in a workshop on communication. The Millcreek-West Unity officer team then hosted Aubrey for lunch and a team Christmas party.

On December 18th, the officer team had their annual winter outing at Trine University in Angola, Indiana where they successfully/not so successfully learned to ice skate. They finished the evening with a meal at Buffalo Wild Wings.

JOE REAMSNYDER … Joe Reamsnyder, of the Millcreek-West Unity FFA, was honored with the 2022 American FFA Degree.

LANA BAKER…Millcreek-West Unity FFA member Lana Baker was a State FFA Degree Recipient.

KODI BRENNER … Kodi Brenner was a recipient of the 2022 American FFA Degree. Kodi is a member of the Millcreek-West Unity FFA.

ERIKA DENNISON … The State FFA Degree was received by Erika Dennison, member of Millcreek-West Unity FFA.

HUNTER LEUPP … Millcreek-West Unity FFA member Hunter Leupp received the 2022 State FFA Degree.

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D12 - "The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News)

Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

Pettisville FFA

PETTISVILLE FFA 2022-2023 … 1st Row L to R: Delana Damman, Treasurer; Lily Wiemken, Student Advisor; Mina Wesche, Secretary; Luke Van Den Berghe, Vice President; Jonah Harmon, President; Leah Beck, Sentinel; Morgan Blosser, Assistant Sentinel; Karter Zachrich, Reporter; Benjamin Boger, Second Vice President. 2nd Row L to R: Kelly Wyse, Jaret Beck, Alec Rychener, Darrin Fenicle, Cayden Jacoby, Ella Richer, Josiah Burks, Kaleb Wyse, Jayden Bleikamp, Assistant Officer; 3rd Row L to R: Noelle Fox, Reagan Steele, Oliva Miller, Alexander Bolaney, Joseph Ripke, CJ Ridley Jr., Gabe Hahn, Caitlyn Girdham, Quinn Stickley. 4th Row L to R: Kelsey Bennett, Caden Bishop, Tobin King, Tyler Layton, Gavin Dahlke, Justin Sierra, Natalia Alencastro, Ava Genter, Olivia Beck.

5th row L to R: Samantha Minchella, Gavin Sifuentes, Courtney Wiemken, Kyle Galvin, Brock Stump, Creighton Aeschliman, Nathan Davis. Members missing from the picture include Caleb Priddy, River Vajen, Sophie Sterken, Paris Coopshaw, Aiden Paxson, Braden Mullins, Logan, Paul Christian Aschliman, and Chase Miller.

2022 CAREER FLIERS … Pettisville FFA National Convention attendees made and hung up careers in agriculture fliers to help share information from the National FFA Convention Exp. Syngenta and Rupp Seed sponsored a grant that partially paid for the trip. L-R are Ella Richer, Ava Genter, Olivia Beck, Mina Wesche, Delana Damman, Morgan Blosser, Lilly Wiemken, Leah Beck, and Karter Zachrich.

SOILS … Freshmen Kyle Galvin, left, and Brock Stump work in a soil pit during the county soil judging contest held on the south side of Archbold. They are performing the ribbon test to determine the type of soil in this field and digging to find the water table. Both competed in the Urban Soils Contest. This contest is set up by the Fulton County SWCD.

By: Karter Zachrich Over the past year, the Pettisville FFA has been active. This is a review of the year.

In January, the juniors and seniors attended a career day at Sauder Village Founder’s Hall. They learned about agricultural and related career opportunities.

Later in January, a few members participated in the public speaking contest. In February our FFA held a french toast and sausage breakfast during FFA week as a thank-you to the school and community.

We also held an ag-related coloring contest for K – 3 rd graders. FFA officers picked winners in each class and awarded prizes. In March our FFA held our 2022 FFA Banquet and Awards special meeting. Members competed in multiple Career Development Events happening in March with many FFA members from our chapter participating.

We held our Animal Day for the K-3 students at school in April.

FFA members brought in young animals and taught about the animals.

For Earth Day and Arbor Day, the FFA packed trees for the Fulton County First Graders in cooperation with the Fulton County SWCD. In May, State FFA Convention was held with multiple Pettisville FFA members attending.

Two members received the State FFA Degree and two members won

their division of the AgriScience fair. There were three officers from our FFA that were recognized for having Gold Rated Officer Books. Our FFA also organized and packed 60 Stop the Bleed Bags for all the classrooms and buses.

During the summer, an FFA officer retreat was held to help us learn to work as a team. We played games to become aware of how to better ourselves as an officer.

Kenn-Feld Group in Archbold held their Kids Day for younger kids to have some fun and explore agricultural equipment and we partnered with the area FFAs to put on activities for Kids Day. The end of summer found FFA members working on and finishing fair projects and their Supervised Ag Experience projects. We started the school year with multiple Career Development Events happening.

We had people work the Milkshake and Pork Stands to help them raise money for scholarships and promotions.

We also had members attend Farm Science Review in London, OH. Multiple FFA members

attended National FFA Convention in October.

We had two members named National Finalists in Agriscience research and they were recognized on stage. We had two American Degree Recipients as well.

We helped the Alumni with PumpkinFest and started FFA fall sales (our money-maker for the year).

In November, the members turned in product orders, practiced Parliamentary Procedure and Job Interview skills, and continued with the recycling program. Another group of Stop the Bleed bags was assembled and the Environmental Committee started our Winter FFA Pest Hunt.

The county FFA groups all collected toys at Toys for Cheer at Ace Hardware. In December we delivered our fall products and helped set up the Christmas cheer store at the fairgrounds.

During our monthly FFA meeting, we had a tasting day using the fruit items and the AFNR class checked the sugar level of the fruit using a Brix meter.

AGRISCIENCE … L-R: Delana Damman and Ella Richer display their Ohio FFA Agriscience first place certificates. Both were selected to move on to the National FFA Contest. Prizes include cash awards from the Ohio FFA Foundation Sponsors.

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Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

"The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News) - D13

Stryker FFA

CHRISTMAS PARTY … The Stryker FFA members celebrated Christmas with a meal and secret Santa gift exchange.

By: Alex Johnson Stryker FFA has had many new career learning opportunities in the 2022-2023 school year.

Students have learned flexibility and are ahead of the normal schedule for the school year. Students are working on more than 25 service projects for local individuals, farmers, and business owners.

Some highlights from this

year included: submitting over 100 still projects at the Williams County Fair, raising chickens, rabbits, and more than 50 yellow perch, hosting various events at John Deere Kids Day of Play in Archbold, continuing to expand our extensive fall fundraiser into a career growth opportunity for students, and attending State and National FFA Convention.

The flagship program

Williams Soil & Water Conservation District 11246 St. Rt. 15 Montpelier, Ohio

for Stryker FFA is without question the fall fundraiser. With origins as the FFA Fruit Sale, advisor Matt Arnos and the students have transformed it into an expansive career project. Annually, the students design, market, sell, create, fulfill, and deliver custom orders to their customers.

Some of these projects include powder coated custom monogram letters, wood with steel benches, custom laser cut jewelry, and wooden toys. The flyers created by students also included QR codes, so that customers can view videos of

the students manufacturing the projects. Students chose the projects that require programming and operating equipment using a variety of materials including wood and metal. The students are learning how to be proficient with Mastercam, AutoCad, Solidworks, Aspire, Torchmate, Glowforge, and Cura softwares to operate this equipment.

Mr. Arnos has actively been in contact with industries in an effort to ensure the classroom experience provides value to the students. He works to find industries that are

very willing to take an active role in providing this information and materials for the Career Tech Education programs being taught at Stryker Local School.

Many companies have also assisted in acquiring equipment for the school, and providing expertise with the setup and operation of the equipment.

Stryker FFA is thankful to have more than 100 businesses large and small who support the program with their generosity. More than 30 of these businesses have contacted Mr. Arnos discussing student employ-

ment.

Several students are assisting with the school CNC shop scheduling process as project managers, and are gaining experiences that will help them in a manufacturing leadership role. Stryker’s FFA shop activities are unique and groundbreaking in providing students with real-world experiences about working environments. It is our hope to provide employees with proficient employees right out of high school.

Stryker Local School and Mr. Arnos were proud to be recognized in the spring by CNC Software Incorporated, makers of Mastercam software, in Tolland, CT. CNC Software featured Stryker Local School in the Society of Manufacturing Engineers magazine, as a school with opportunities for students to learn machine programming. Scan the QR code with your phone's camera or Google “SME Matt Arnos” to find the magazine article.

Stryker Local School is also reaching its younger grades to better prepare them for career readiness. The Panther Ed Tech elementary program, which is in its fourth year at Stryker, provides project-based learning activities. This kindergarten through 6th grade program introduces students to 3D modeling, 2D design, graphic design, STEM, laser cutting, CNC wood routing, injection molding, drone flying, CNC HAAS mill machining, robotics, electrical circuits, 3D printing, 3D scanning, vinyl cutting, basic hand tools, power tool identifications, green screen production of movies, and many more hands on projects.

The computer software array includes Aspire, Mastercam, Cricut Design and Autocad. This helps students incorporate a great knowledge base to utilize the Engineering Design Process.

CONTINUED ON D15

419-636-9395 • www.williamsswcd.org

PROCESSING … Stryker FFA members processing a side of beef at the annual Stryker FFA Harvest Party.

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D14 - "The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News)

Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

Edgerton (Continued) Evergreen (Continued)

FRUIT BASKETS … Lydia Walters and Ashlee Hug worked hard to prepare most of the Edgerton FFA Fruit baskets which were sold during this years’ fruit sales.

LEADERSHIP NIGHT … In November, ten of our FFA members attended the District 1 Leadership Night at Elmwood High School. These members had the opportunity to engage in leadership activities as well as get to know a few of their State FFA Officers.

SORTING FRUIT … When FFA fruit comes in, all hands are on deck. This is the Edgerton Junior High students helping with quality checks and sorting orders.

Stryker FFA (Continued)

EXTENDING FFA TO ELEMENTARY … Panther Tech lab with Mr. Freshour hosting Mr. Burkholder’s class making bees for the family fun night.

STRYKER FFA OFFICERS … Austin Batterson – Stryker FFA President was held by other officers, (Left to Right) Brodie Campbell - Vice President, Alex Johnson - Reporter, Natalie Bowers - Sentinel, Brooke Collins Student Advisor, Gabby Ramon - Secretary, and Sage Woolace - Treasurer.

3D PRINTER … The Creality conveyor belt 3D printer in the Panther Tech program for the kindergarten thru 6th grade students, printing snowflakes.

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Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

"The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News) - D15

Wauseon FFA

FARM SHOW ... Members from the Wauseon FFA Chapter attending the Fort Wayne Farm show on January 19, 2023.

By: Logan Poorman & Dakotah Yeary

Once again, the Wauseon FFA had another busy year that led the chapter to many awards and accomplishments.

During the months of January and February of 2022, FFA members worked diligently by filling out award applications for State Degrees and for individualized proficiency awards.

FFA members also took the time to recognize the community, parents, and school administration for their support for another year with our traditional banquet we hold each year in April.

At the FFA Banquet, the new officer team was announced and those members consist of: Garrett Leininger – President, Aiden Goings – Vice-President, Ali Moser – Treasurer, Zorah Seifker –

Secretary, Addie Tester – Reporter, Zeph Seifker – Sentinel and Hannah Pilch – Student Advisor, Logan Poorman, Madisyn Ledyard – Assistant Officer.

This past year, we were excited to see five of our FFA members receive their state degree.

Those Members included: Madison Rufenacht, Jane Richer, Daniel Hite, Braxton Goings, and Madison Strauss.

We also had two of our Wauseon FFA Chapter Members walk across the stage in October at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana for their American Degrees - Ian Arps and Jaden Banister.

In the summer months, FFA members worked again to continue to develop their SAEs and their work skills.

This year, the Animal

Science Facility next to the school was utilized to house market hogs that were to be shown at the Fulton County Fair. Students also worked to keep the school farm functioning as well as worked on their projects at home.

Many students exhibited their projects at the Fulton County Fair despite the restrictions and enjoyed the time they spent showcasing their projects.

Also, during the summer months, the newly elected officers completed a two-day officer retreat to plan and set goals for the upcoming year. The officers met at the High School and conducted all of their business and planning items from the building.

The highlight of the training was the workshop hosted by former National FFA President,

Kolsen McCoy, from Ohio.

Once the school year started

back

up,

FFA

Members competed in a chapter and then at state

Agriculture and Urban Soils Competitions. We had members from our chapter advance through all levels up until state, which was where they made their last attempt to advance to nationals.

The National FFA Convention was held at the end of October in Indianapolis, Indiana. FFA Members toured DeBrand Fine Chocolates in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and toured Dandy Breeze Dairy in Sheridan, Indiana. Students also attended convention sessions, checked out the large variety of exhibits at the trade show, and ended the trip by meeting up with the Eastland Chapter from Illinois to begin a chapter exchange program.

FFA Members continued to participate in fall Career Development Events (CDEs) or contests.

Matthew Seiler, Lolly Santillanes, Valeria Armas, Kassidy Zeintek, Riana Woodruff, of which two of them proceeded

past county level to districts, Valeria and Kassidy.

Also, this year our Parliamentary Procedure team placed 1st in the county competition and advanced to the district level in December. Members of this team included: Addie Tester, Garrett Leininger, Ali Moser, Logan Poorman, Zorah Seifker, and Aiden Goings.

To close out 2022, Wauseon FFA Members conducted their annual fruit sale to raise funds for the chapter, and harvested the corn.

The chapter also continued the tradition of working with the other chapters in the county to help with Fulton County Christmas Cheer.

The Wauseon FFA is looking forward to planning another great year of continued success in 2023! Thank you to all of our community members and alumni supporters that have helped us once again have a successful year!

CLASSROOM ... Every day in Ag Class gives each student the opportunity to learn by doing some type of hands-on, inquiry-based learning. Students in the Livestock Selection Class, Ali Moser, Gracie Eberly, and Addie Tester, work together to analyze the bacteria they grew from a biosecurity lab about keeping animals healthy.

OFFICER TEAM ... The 2022-2023 Wauseon FFA Officer Team Consists of Front Row (L-R): Addie Tester - Reporter, Hannah Pilch - Student Advisor, and Zorah Siefker - Secretary. Back Row (L-R): Garrett Leininger - President, Ali Moser - Treasurer, Aiden Goings - Vice-President, Madisyn Ledyard Assistant Officer, and Zeph Siefker - Sentinel. Not Pictured: Logan Poorman.

CONFERENCE ... Members of the Wauseon FFA attended the Connect Conference at Archbold, Ohio led by National FFA Staff.

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D16 - "The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News)

Wednesday, February 15th, 2023

Who knew the impact that a group of young men would have then they formed Future Farmers of America in 1928 in a hotel in Kansas City?

Since then, the organization has experienced tremendous growth and now has over 450,000 members in chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Renamed the national FFA Organization in 1988, the FFA hosts dozens of activities each year to promote the education and progression of agriculture. This National FFA Week, we salute the members of the FFA and the contributions they make to agriculture.

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Wednesday, February 16th, 2022

"The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News) - C1

Archbold FFA Last year was very different-looking year for the members of the Archbold FFA Chapter. With all the uncertainty surrounding what the school year would look like, our members showed a lot of perseverance in face of a lot of adversity.

To start off 2021 the members were busy getting ready compiling their information for the FFA Award season, which brought good news that Andrew Francis, Kalleigh Fry, William Nofziger and Sam Ruffer would earn their State FFA Degrees at the virtual Ohio FFA Celebration at the beginning of May. Additionally, 2020 graduate Katie Goering placed 3rd in Ohio for the second consecutive year in the Agricultural Education Proficiency Area with her job placement experience at Sauder Village.

Three members would also be tapped to receive the highest honor that FFA can bestow upon its members, the American FFA Degree. The 2021 American Degree winners were 2019 graduate Simon Short, as well as 2020 graduates Katie Goering and Kayden Meyer.

The American Degree was officially conferred at the 2021 National FFA Convention in Indianapolis on October 31.

While the Career Development Events looked a lot different in 2021, as they were all held virtually, our members made the most of the situation as best they could. In late January into early February were the Fulton County and District Public Speaking Events.

In 2021, Tayanna Bagrowski and Haylee Valle competed in the FFA Creed Speaking competition; where they memorize and recite the five paragraphs of the FFA Creed. At the County-level, Haylee placed 4th and Tayanna placed 2nd, earning her a spot in the District contest, where she placed 5th. In Beginning Prepared, where a student will compose and present a 5-7 minute speech on an agricultural topic of their choosing; Baylee Lumbrezer placed 3rd at the County. In the Extemporaneous Speaking Event, where a student will draw

from a number of topic areas, chose one of them, and has 30 minutes to research and prepare a 4-6 minute speech; Weston Ruffer placed 1st in the county and 6th at the District.

In early March members of the Agribusiness Management course competed in the Farm Business Management online quiz, placing 2nd in the District and 15th overall in Ohio.

The top 3 individuals were Weston Ruffer, William Nofziger, and Andrew Francis.Later that month, Tommi Bok, Baylee Lumbrezer and Breah Ruger competed in the Equine Management Event, placing 7th in the District. Individually, Tommi was 18th in the State. Weston Ruffer competed in the Ohio Dairy Cattle Evaluation Event, placing 96th out of 488 students.

In the General Livestock Event, the team from Archbold placed 114th of 164 teams, with the high scores being Cole Plassman, Logan Meyers, and Maddie Thiel.

On April 10 we held our annual FFA Awards Banquet, where we recognize the success of our members and our Chapter.

Later that month, Madan Estrada, Micah Schmidt and Kolbi Horst competed in the Agricultural Mechanics online event, placing 44th in the State.

Throughout the summer, FFA members are busy working with their livestock projects for either Henry or Fulton County Fairs. There were also 7 students who took advantage of the Animal Science facility at the school’s campus by raising hogs for their freezers, which were processed in October.

On August 5th the FFA ran a concession stand at the Backyard Bash in Downtown Archbold, with all the proceeds going to benefit Fulton County Christmas Cheer.

In all, along with other programs run throughout the 2020-2021 school year, our chapter made a contribution of $4,000 to Christmas Cheer to help with their service to our local and extended community.

This past fall, Archbold participated in Urban and Agricultural Soil Judging Con-

tests.

For the Ag Soils team, Kennedy Fitzenreiter and Cameron Lemley competed; and for Urban Soils Bryce Meyers, Jordan Rodriguez and Aaron Miller all participated, placing 7th in the District. The Archbold FFA also participated in the Dairy Cattle and Dairy Foods District contests on October 14. The Dairy Cattle Event consists of evaluating dairy cattle for breeding soundness, body type, and genetic traits. The team placed 4th in the District with the top 4 individuals being Baylee Lumbrezer, Titus Rufenacht, Kara Schintkey, and Kalleigh Fry. The Dairy Foods contest has the students identify cheese, perform milk quality tests, and identify defects in both milk and milking equipment. This year’s Team placed 7th 8n the district and was composed of Madan Estrada, Eve Crossgrove, Micah Schmidt, Cole Plassman and Wyatt Armstrong.

At the end of October 12 members attended the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis. On the trip, they toured Unverferth Manufacturing in Kalida where they got to see a global equipment company at work, as well as how they use a mix of modern technology as well as more traditional methods in a modern manufacturing setting. They attended the sessions of the Convention, Career Expo, and were able to interact with other FFA members from across the nation.

In early November six members competed in the Fulton County Job Interview competition. Freshmen members Oliver Siebert and Preston Nofziger placed 3rd and 5th, respectively; Sophomores Tayanna Bagrowski and Callie Nafziger placed 1st and 5th, respectively; Junior Wyatt Armstrong placed 3rd, and Senior Kalleigh Fry placed 2nd.

With their Top 2 finished, Tayanna and Kalleigh qualified for the District event, held November 9th at Oak Harbor High School. At the District contest, Kalleigh finished 3rd, and Tayanna was the District winner. As the District winner, Tayanna

qualified to compete at the State event on December 2nd, making her the first student from Archbold to compete at that level in over 15 years. At the State, she finished 2nd place in her Division. Congratulations!

On November 18 the FFA Officer Team competed in the Fulton County Parliamentary Procedure contest, where they learn the rules of Parliamentary Law and run a business meeting where they perform a number of Parliamentary abilities. At the contest, the team of (Chairman) Kalleigh Fry, Zoey Ripke, Kacie Wolf, Tayanna Bagrowksi, Maddie Thiel, Cole Plassman and Baylee Lumbrezer placed 4th. The last week of November, the FFA organized a canned food drive in the high school and elementary buildings to benefit Fulton County Christmas Cheer. In all, nearly 4000 items were donated by the students during the week. We’d like to thank the students and parents in the community for their continued support of our efforts to contribute to Christmas Cheer. The next week FFA members sorted, organized, packaged and delivered the items from our Fruit Sale; which is our principle fundraiser to support our Chapter’s programming.

This year’s sale totaled just over $35,000; which is a tribute to how well our community supports its FFA Chapter.

With the beginning of the new year, the FFA Members are busy as usual. Currently we are in the process of planning for FFA Awards and Degrees and National FFA Week.

For FFA Week in 2022, our committee is planning a week of activities throughout the building to involve the entire student body, as well as a Coloring Contest for students in Kindergarten through Second Grade.

The last 21-months have been very trying for our members, as well as all students across the state and country; and we look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead and will embrace the challenges they bring.

INFORMATION PROVIDED

Row 1: Tayanna Bagrowski, Reporter; Baylee Lumbrezer, Student Advisor; Kalleigh Fry, President; Maddie Thiel, Treasurer; Cole Plassman, Sentinel. Missing: Zoey Ripke, Vice President; Kacie Wolf, Secretary. Row 2: Augusta Martin, Trisha Rupp, Rayne Kinsman, Kylee Miller, Chloe Aeschliman, Nyah Grime, Kaylee Plassman, Octavio Azua, Rebecca Rupp, Braden Covarrubias. Row 3: Josie Petersen, Alivia Rodriguez, Jaely Gericke, Meghan Stantz, Christina Beltran, Callie Nafziger, Kaylen Behnfeldt, Gabe Chappa, Dylan Aeschliman, Maize Bevins, Alanna Pedraza. Row 4: Nathan Jones, Michael Rising, Nate Schaffner, Yong Rata, Anthony Williams, Bryce Meyers, Colten Beaverson, Nahum Aeschliman, Wyat Ripke, Aiden Kruse, Jett Baun, Charlie Jones. Row 5: Micah Schmidt, Titus Rufenacht, Dakota Armstrong, Bradley Voll, Wyatt Armstrong, Aaron Miller, Oliver Siebert, Caleb Harrow, Logan Peters, Anthony Beltran, Preston Nofziger. Row 6: Lucas Pollock, Olivia Miller, Jordan Rodriguez, Eve Crossgrove, Allie Buehrer, Alyana Perez, Anna Wendt, Madison Whaley, Kennedy Fitzenreiter, Jaci Ripke. Row 7: Troy Jones, Jeronimo Morales, Bryce Vandenberghe, Tristan Wyse, David Oregon, Karlee Detmer, Tess Ames, Emerson O’Brien, Ciara DeLaney, Kelsey Aeschliman, Cameron Lemley, Maddie Steffel. Row 8: Harley Clark, Landynn Krugh, Broden Piercefield, Mason Bickel, Sony Phillips, Taygen Hobbs, Brodie Dominique, Jack Buchhop, Carter Kruse, Micah Nofziger, Braxton Milliman, Kurt Krueger.

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CHRIS GRIME

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C2 - "The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News)

Wednesday, February 16th, 2022

Edgerton FFA Edgerton FFA 2021 Report & Celebration Plans For 2022 National FFA Week Edgerton FFA chapter has had no shortage of involvement across age groups and grades during the 2021-2022 school year. In September, the chapter kicked off the school year by working at the Fair Milkshake stand. This is an annual job the chapter takes on, and there was no shortage of help. As a fundraiser, the chapter held a tailgate before the homecoming football game. They grilled the signature pork patties. As a service activity, the chapter made “Thank A Farmer'' goody bags and delivered them to farmers in the area during Harvest season. In October, 15 members attended the National FFA Convention, held in Indianapolis, Indiana. They joined up with Fairview FFA Chapter and enjoyed many amazing activities including hearing the keynote speaker and retiring officers speeches, visiting a candy factory and Fair Oaks Farm, and seeing Edgerton Graduate and FFA member Madison Freeman walk across the stage and recieve her American Degree. In Novembor, Edgerton held District Leadership Night. Three state officers came to present a workshop on teamwork and how to effectively lead others. Around 100 FFA members from across District 1 were in attendance. Officers are planning two very important events that will take place in Feburary: pancake breakfast and FFA week. Later in 2022, Edgerton FFA will also celebrate State convention, state degree recipients, and recognition banquet. 2021 was an exciting year for Edgerton FFA as they were able to get back to more normal events as well as start new traditions. There are a lot of fun events to look forward to in 2022 as Edgerton FFA works to make a positive difference in the lives of not only their members, but also those in the community around them.

The Edgerton FFA Chapter is excited to celebrate National FFA Week, February 19 -26, 2022. This FFA Week embraces many years of FFA traditions while looking forward to the wonderful things to come in the future. More than 700,000 members across the country will be participating in this year's National FFA Week. All of these members have a passion for Agriculture. Here at Edgerton we have many activities

planned for the week.

We are planning events during our school day as well as our annual FFA community pancake breakfast on Saturday February 26 here at the high school. We love to have our community come out and enjoy our free will donation breakfast.

So far this year we have had many accomplishments as well as many changes. We have been flexible in these changes and adapted to the new. We have participated in Soils Judging, Dairy Cattle Judging, and worked hard on our record books. Through all of this the students have worked extremely hard to do well.

We look forward to many achievements but know there is hard work ahead of us as we strive for high standards. We look forward to many other contests this spring, from Ag sales and power diagnostics to General Livestock Judging, Agronomy, Equine, and many more.

Edgerton is looking forward to many new ideas and

great successes from the students as well as the continued support of the community and school. We are wishing luck to the members who are applying for their State and American Degrees as well as our members who are moving on to district contests.

The Edgerton FFA Chapter will be celebrating National FFA Week by having many different activities.

We will be having spirit days for the whole week. We will host an animal petting zoo for the elementary kids at Edgerton. We will also host a teacher appreciation luncheon for the teachers at Edgerton because they do so much for the students in FFA. All students at Edgerton can participate in the spirit days and not just the kids in FFA. We are proud of the accomplishments of the chapter but look forward to what we can do in the future.

The students involved in Edgerton FFA are working hard and will continue to make strides to success.

INFORMATION PROVIDED

DAIRY CATTLE JUDGING … Students participated in district Dairy Cattle Judging where they evaluated dairy cattle for ideal characteristics. Left to right: Grace Schroeder, Holly Stark, Cory Herman, Carolyn Herman, Blake Flower, Casey Evertts, Gretchen Keppeler, Trinity Slabaugh, Makayla Keppeler, Giselle Romero, Jay Dockery, and Adyn Herman.

THANK A FARMER … Students in our Food science class packed bags that were distributed to local farmers as a way of thanking them for supporting our program.

Left to right: (Sitting) Holly Stark, Brianna Wickerham, Molly Hennessey, Addie Cape, Lydia Walters. (Standing) Olivia Martenies, Grace Schroeder, Sadie Walthers, Ashlee Hug, Luisa Rudersdorf, Elissa Bowen, Mathew Sinclair, Cydney DeGryse, Justin Huffman.

NATIONAL FFA CONVENTION … Students traveled to Indianapolis Indiana to participate in the National FFA Convention activities. Left to right: Elissa Bowen, Grace Schroeder, Makayla Keppeler, Blake Flower, Adyn Herman, Jay Dockery, Lydia Walters, Molly Hennessey, Casey Everetts, Ava Herman, Drew Osmun, Cory Herman, Holly Stark, Gretchen Keppeler, Storm Goebel.

EDGERTON FFA CHAPTER … Row 1: Holly Stark, Drew Osmun, Grace Scroeder, Blake Flower, ELissa Bowen, Shaun Murphy, Makayla Keppeler, Storm Goebel, Molly Hennessey. Row 2: Ashlee Hug, Addison Cape, Olivia Martenies, Cydney DeGryse, Sadie Walthers, Justin Huffman, Taylor Dietsch, Caden Franz, Kenneth Miller.

Row 3: Avery Perez, Ashlyn Brobst, Morgan VanDyke, Ava Herman, Gretchen Keppeler, Giselle Romero, Carolyn Herman, Dominic Gill, Lane Cape, (Row 4) Casey Everetts, Dylan Saul, Jay Dockery, Adyn Herman, Cory Herman, Braden Leppelmeier, Kobe Kittle, Noah Grandey, Cole Payton.

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Wednesday, February 16th, 2022

"The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News) - C3

Edon FFA Edon FFA – 83 Years of Excellence By: Kerrin Towers, Edon FFA Reporter The Edon FFA Chapter is celebrating its 83rd year with seventy-two FFA members who are dedicated to developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success.

Even with the challenges of the past year, our members continue to work hard and develop themselves as leaders who take pride in giving back to the community. During the 2021 FFA Week, members raised $1,356.71 for Cancer Assistance of Williams County through their “Coins for Cancer” challenge. Additionally, members wrote over 200 cards to individuals going through challenges through “The Sunshine Project.”

Finally, in October our members provided snack bags for harvest crews at the Edon Cooperative through their Feeding Farmers event. In total, over 200 bags were made and delivered to local farmers during the harvest season. Students in the Edon FFA program have cumulatively logged over 2,000 hours of community service over the past year.

Members of the Edon FFA Chapter were very busy this past year with Career Development Events as well, participating at the sub-district, district, and state lev-

els. Contests which members participated in include: Grain Merchandising, Farm Business Management, Public Speaking, Ag Mechanics, Ag Power Diagnostics, General Livestock, Envirothon, Soils, Job Interview, and Parliamentary Procedure.

One requirement of our program is that students maintain a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) Program and keep records of their projects. Over the last year, our students have logged more than 8,300 hours in their SAE’s and have had a total economic impact of more than $137,375 in our community.

Hundreds of Edon students have experienced and enjoyed the variety of programs FFA has to offer and have earned awards and accolades for their efforts.

This past May, four members received their State FFA Degrees: Paige Briner, McKenna Hickman, Austin Huffman, and Kerrin Towers. Jacob Dulle represented our chapter on the highest level by receiving his American FFA Degree in October.

Although many of our FFA members do not live on a farm, the FFA gives them the opportunity to learn more about our agriculture-based community. All of our students get involved in the experience whether they have grown up on a farm or not because it teaches them leadership skills and helps them better prepare for their futures. We have had many of our students go to college after graduation for an agricultural major due to their participation in the FFA chapter. We know that none of what we do would be possible without the unselfish contributions of so many individuals throughout our community. Our chapter is incredibly grateful for all the support and assistance that allows us to achieve such high levels of excellence each year.

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C4 - "The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News)

Wednesday, February 16th, 2022

Evergreen FFA FFA Week this year is February 19-26, 2022 and the Evergreen FFA is ready to celebrate! With plans for teacher appreciation, agricultural awareness, agricultural trivia, games, a movie night, FFA member recognition and a dress theme for each day, the Evergreen FFA is poised to have fun and show their colors of National Blue and Corn Gold! But just what have they been up to since last year at this time?

February was still a little low-key last year with restrictions due to COVID, but they learned how to stay safe and have fun. Members in classes competed for top salesperson in the annual FFA Alumni Strawberry Sales.

Needless to say, with the continued support of the community and great sales effort on the part of our members, sales were a huge success with more strawberries sold then previous years. Top selling classes were rewarded with the all popular “foodie day” which included a few of the sweet berries. Cody Sheller was the top sales person at 23 full flats! That is 183 pounds of Florida sweetness.

February was also a time for the FFA to recruit 8th graders. FFA Officers and Members set up an area for incoming Freshman to visit during their orientation program. Posters, projects, a photo-op display and course stations were set up for parents and students alike. This event gave them the opportunity to talk with members and officers of the FFA about the program to see if it might be a good fit for them.

March entered with FFA members preparing for the upcoming Livestock Invitational. Since District 1 Spring Skills Invitational was cancelled, they took the opportunity to participate in their first full online judging contest that was sponsored by the Wilmington College Aggies. It was a different experience for members, but an exciting opportunity to practice their skill remotely. Over 40 members participated in the event. From there many members moved on to try their newfound on-line judging skills at the State level Career Development Event (CDE) participating in General Livestock, Dairy Cattle, Milk Quality and Products, Poultry, Equine Management and Agronomy. Lilly Herr place 1st in District 1 at the state level in Dairy Cattle while Kyle Feeback placed 3rd in Milk Quality and Products. March also saw Mr. Feeback move on from his District win in Beginning Prepared Public Speaking to the state level where he placed 10th over all.

April weather melted snow and the Trash Pickup of Amboy Township took place. FFA Officers organized and assigned roads, drivers and riders to the township roads to rid them of a year’s-worth of trash that had accumulated in the ditches, yards and fields. Armed with good attitudes and trash bags the sanitation crews rounded up enough trash to fill the backend of a pickup. The roads were now clear for spring mowing by the Amboy mowers.

The month of May was busy, busy, busy. Each year members of the FFA present an Ag Awareness Day to the Elementary School second graders. The weather cooperated and the event was spectacular! Members drove their tractors and combines to school and presented tractor safety and safety around equipment. Elementary students had the opportunity to get “up close and personal” to the tractors and combines, even getting the opportunity to sit inside of them and learn how some of the onboard technology works. Elementary students also had the opportunity to visit the livestock area and learn for what purpose animals are raised and how they are housed and fed. FFA members answered questions and allowed the younger students to pet the animals. Environmental Science was another station where students learned about wildlife, their habitats and even had the opportunity to fish. The Soils, Agronomy, Horticulture station was popular with students getting a close up look at pineapples and banana plants grown in the greenhouse. They also had hands on experiences with ribboning soils to determine soil texture. The final station of Woodworking and Carpentry allowed students to operate cordless drills and learn safe use of shop tools. All left the session with hardhats and an understanding about tool safety and operation.

From Ag Awareness FFA members slipped quickly into presenting Wildflower Identification for Evergreen 6th & 7th graders at Camp Palmer. Students and FFA members set out on a scavenger hunt for indigenous wildflowers.

Students had a booklet, that was put together by members, of plants and flowers that could be found on Camp Palmer’s grounds. It was a great opportunity to help the younger students identify poison ivy, sumac and oak.

Students were also taught to look a little bit closer at the diversity of plants, fungi and animals around them.

May ended with the Awards Ceremonies and the distribution of over 87 awards for Career Development Events, 57 Greenhand and Chapter Degree awards, 122 additional awards and 15 Senior Awards. Two $1000 FFA Alumni Scholarships were given out this year, one to Allison Herr and another to Morgan Kohler. Allison is attending ATI with studies in Animal Science and Morgan is attending

the University of Toledo with studies in Environmental Science and Biology. Even if it was not the usual annual feast this year it was a program of achievements to be proud of. New FFA Officers were sworn in and the new team was ready to take over the reins.

Summer started with the officers’ Program of Activities (POA) meeting and the ground work was laid for the upcoming year. Students continued to work hard on their SAEs (Supervised Agricultural Experience) and enjoy the summer break. Kicking off the new year were the annual FFA Alumni Pedal Pulls and planning for Fair and back to school events which included the annual cookout.

The new school year began with new hope. For the Evergreen FFA this is their first year on period schedules which means all 130+ members are in an Agricultural Class for the entire school year. It is hopefully easier to engage students and keep them on task with record keeping and involvement.

The school year also opened with another new opportunity for the Evergreen FFA. An 8th grade Ag program had been added to the Middle School Curriculum. Opportunities are now being offered to younger students to explore Agriculture and the FFA. Four, 9-week programs would fill the year and FFA Officers would have the opportunity to recruit students for the high school program.

Each 9 weeks officer would come into the classroom and discuss opportunities and aspects of the classroom and the FFA. School never begins in Fulton County without thoughts turning quickly to the Fulton County Fair. Members with Animal Projects are busy dusting off their fair gear and others are finishing projects they perhaps just started.

Evergreen once again had a great showing not only in the livestock and horse barns, but the Junior Fair Building as well. FFA senior member Nick Smithmyer was named “Best in Show” for his woodworking project. Other FFA members did well with their woodworking and communications projects receiving A’s and B’s across the board.

Putting in 12 hours at the Fulton County Pork Producers Pork Stand is also a yearly event at the fair. The Evergreen FFA could not complete this task without the help of the Lytton Fox Hunters, Parents, Community Supporters and Alumni Members as well as the Evergreen FFA Members themselves.

With the fair behind them the FFA Looked forward to other coming events. The FFAs Annual Fall Cookout is an event held in September that is meant to introduce new parents and members to officers and older members and their families. Grilling, games, and good company were all part of the event that brought people together and began new friendships. It was a time to inform parents about the up-coming Annual FFA Chicken BBQ, Fruit Sales and program opportunities for their child. Parents and members alike signed up to help with fall activities that would generate money for FFA Camp, Thanksgiving Dinners, Washington Leadership Conference, and jackets, just to name a few.

September also makes the FFA think of Soil Judging.

The Fulton County Soil Judging Contest is a preliminary to the District 1 Soils CDE. The Fulton County Soil and Water team of Eric Riefers and Hannah Herr laid out a challenging contest in which all the FFAs in Fulton County could participate. This is so important in preparing these teams for a district event. It was muddy to say the least, but it prepared the teams for an even muddier event at the District 1 level. Evergreen placed 1st in the District Soils CDE out of 17 teams with Nick Smithmyer placing 1st as an individual and Gracie Boger placing 5th out of 86 individuals.

While CDEs, SAEs and classroom activities are on the minds of FFA members, Community Service is also a big part of the Evergreen FFA. Evergreen FFA members demolished an older structure in the school’s courtyard and replaced it with a new pergola that can be used for lunches, classroom learning, relaxing, photos and more.

October moved in with FFA Members enjoying each other’s company at Movie Night in the Ag Shop. Shop tables were cleared, names were drawn for movie candy and the smell of popcorn filled the air. Members brought their own chairs and arranged them in a theater format (social distancing enforced) and the lights were dimmed.

Everyone want’s to know when the next movie night is. It was a success!

Moving quickly from Soils CDE in September to the Dairy Cattle and Dairy Milk Quality and Products CDEs in October is no easy feat. New members tried their hand at the Dairy Milk contest and found that determining milk off flavors can be gross, and cheese identification confusing with only a couple weeks to prepare. That being said, they have a better idea what to expect the next time. Seasoned Dairy Cattle contestants learn more each year, but their favorite part of the day is the stop for Mexican food on their way home.

Fruit Sales…..what is the FFA and October without Fruit Sales. Thank you to those who bought quantities of fruit that they had no idea how they were going to eat.

Top selling first year members, Jon Hawkins, Braden Studenka and Trevor Johnson all received FFA Jackets for their outstanding salesman qualities! Addison Natter and Alex Sprouse, also top sellers, were treated to FFA gear of their choosing. Top Salesman was Senior Kyle Feeback.

October saw The Trap team lead by Coach Keven Bernheisel and consisting of: Lilly Herr, Ashton Sayers, Issac Ballmer, Nick Smithmyer, Kyle Feeback, Levi Ehrsam, Kyle Krispin, and, Mitchell Gillen, bring the Championship and the traveling trophy home again for another year.

Members practiced at the Fulton County Sportsmen’s Club in Wauseon every Thursday to hone their skills. A “thank you” goes out not only to coach Bernheisel, but also the Sportsmen’s Club and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for their support.

Moving into November and December the Evergreen

FFA along with other Fulton County FFA Chapters and Ace Hardware participated in the Toys for Cheer Event in Wauseon. Chapters set up outside of Ace Hardware and collected donations of money and toys for those children in Fulton County that needed our help to make Christmas a time for children. The weather was cold, but the spirits were warm and giving. Thank you to a giving community.

Each year in November as Thanksgiving approaches, the Evergreen FFA Alumni assembles dinners for district families. Turkey, and all the fixings along with dessert, rolls, butter, veggies, potatoes, and drinks were donated

by FFA members, the community and the FFA Alumni for families that found themselves in need. This year we helped 17 families which totaled 78 individuals. We are all blessed.

January began and our heads turned toward Public Speaking, new Freshman Recruitment and another FFA Week. The new class of 9th graders have elected officers in their class and have taken on the job of 8th grade recruiting for the middle school next year as well as introducing the middle school to their own FFA Week activities. It will be exciting to see where these new ideas and newest members take their ideas. In the high school the first rounds of Public Speaking have been completed. Evergreen FFA hosted the event and we thank those teachers, Alumni and Community Leaders who took part in the event for their time and talents. Meegan Glecker, a freshman, participated in the Public Speaking CDE in the Beginning Prepared portion of the event and placed second.

She will be participating in District 1 CDE event on Feb 7th hosted by the North Central FFA. She is taking all the judge’s suggestions to heart and is practicing, practicing and practicing. The Evergreen FFA wishes her luck.

The article ends here, but the year continues with the Evergreen FFA members encouraged to try new things, supported in their choices, and advised along the way.

Fulton County and its Chapters are the FFA and they believe in developing their members in the areas of Personal Growth, Premier Leadership, and Career Success!

INFORMATION PROVIDED

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Wednesday, February 16th, 2022

"The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News) - C5

Fayette FFA It has been a very busy year for the FFA. They have done quite a few activities this year. Since FFA week last year members have participated in a wide variety of contests, events and activities. Members have been actively involved in in-person FFA events this year.

Many members have taken advantage of being able to participate for the first time in in person FFA events.

Fayette members wrapped up the 2021 school year with awards for many of our students who competed in numerous competitions throughout the school via online Career Development Events. Through their efforts members obtained 16 District 1 FFA team awards and 20 individual awards. Members were also recognized at the Virtual Ohio FFA State Convention.

Brandon Brown, Eli Eberly, Brayden Herman and Addisyn Bentley were awarded their State FFA Degrees.

Brianna Brubaker competed as a state finalist in the Equine Proficiency award area where she placed 3rd in the State.

The summer came and went and of course members were still active. Members Erika Fetterman, Evan Beauregard and Jada Reiking spent a week at Ohio FFA Camp Muskingum where they were able to enjoy fellowship with members from around the state of Ohio as well as interact in many outdoor activities. At the beginning of August, the 2021-2022 Fayette Officer team kicked the year off with their annual officers training and planning event. FFA members and officers participated in conducting a Kiddie Tractor pull for the Fayette Bullthistle Festival as well as participating in the parade the same day.

Members kicked off the school year participating in many events at the Fulton County Fair. The girls’ straw stacking team of Rebecca Stevenson, Jada Reinking and Hannah Kovar placed 1st. Members also competed in the Livestock Judging Contest put on by the Fulton County Ag Teachers. This event allows members of FFA, 4H and their parents to participate

and be a judge for the morning. While at the fair many of the Fayette FFA and 4H members exhibited livestock as well as shop and crop projects. Demi Storrs took home the trophy for the best soybeans. Neveah Powers won the best corn and Austin Fetterman took home first place for the Ag Communications project.

All members did a great job volunteering as well for the Fulton County Pork Producers on both Monday and Wednesday night in the pork stand.

Following the fair, members competed in a wide variety of FFA Career Development Events. They started out with the Agricultural and Urban Soil judging contest. Next came the Dairy Cattle Judging contest as well and the Dairy Milk Products contest where Brooke Vanderveer placed 1st in the district contest. During the month of October members were busy competing in the Fulton County Trapshoot contest as well as hanging out with the Fayette Kindergarteners. Members of the Ag Business class spent 7 Fridays in the kindergarten classrooms teaching them about where their food comes from. At the end of the month the officer team traveled to the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN where they took in keynote speakers, toured various agribusinesses and congratulated the two newest American FFA Degree holders to the Fayette FFA; Rhys Ruger and Tanner Lemley. We wrapped up the year with the Job Interview contest, Food Science Contest as well as the County and District Parliamentary procedure contest. Hannah Kovar, Jada Reinking and Erika Fetterman all competed at the District Job Interview contest where Jada Reinking placed 2nd.

During the Friday before Thanksgiving, FFA officers assisted with the Fulton County Christmas cheer toy kick off. Both the Novice and Advanced parliamentary procedure teams placed in the top four at the district Parliamentary Procedure contest. At the beginning of December members also delivered their fundraiser of Fresh Florida Citrus, nuts, beef jerky and BBQ sauce.

ADVANCED PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE TEAM … Hannah Towns-Hall, Jada Reinking, Neveah Powers, Demi Storrs, Hannah Kovar and Emma Leininger.

Members took a nice break over the winter holiday to gear up for the upcoming award season. They worked on updating their SAE record books and preparing for upcoming contests, and also updated their records to apply for State FFA Degrees, American FFA Degrees and Proficiency awards.

As we begin 2022, FFA members will prepare to compete in the following contests. Wildlife, Outdoor Power and Equipment, floriculture, livestock judging, poultry judging, equine judging as well as state dairy cattle and milk products. Other upcoming events for the Fayette FFA will include our annual strawberry sale, our Annual FFA Banquet on April 2nd, 2022 and upcoming State FFA Convention.

INFORMATION PROVIDED

AMERICAN FFA DEGREES … The two newest American FFA Degree holders to the Fayette FFA, Rhys Ruger and Tanner Lemley were given their awards at the National FFA Convention in October 2021.

DISTRICT JOB INTERVIEW … Contestants Left to right from Fayette FFA were Erika Fetterman, Hannah Kovar and Jada Reinking.

FAYETTE FFA OFFICERS AT CONVENTION … Austin Fetterman, Neveah Powers, Hannah Kovar, Emma Leininger, Jada Reinking, Hannah Towns-Hall, Allie Herman, Kenadie Ramay, Demi Storrs and Owen Lemley attending the opening session of National FFA Convention.

BEAUTIFUL FALL WEATHER … Members assisted the Fayette Community in placing fall decorations throughout the downtown area.

NOVICE PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE TEAM … L to R Riley Bailey, Aysha Shade, Addison Schang, Evan Beauregard, Sophea Eller, Maycee Beers, Zander Johnson and Erika Fetterman.

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C6 - "The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News)

Wednesday, February 16th, 2022

North Central FFA By: Baylee Joice NC FFA Reporter The 2021-2022 school year has been very busy and exciting for NC FFA! We started the year off preparing for the Williams County Fair where we brought a new attraction, the FFA Barn Ball. It was a shooting success. The floral design 2 class also got ready for the fair by planning and creating floral arrangements to be judged. Many students were finishing SAE projects to be shown off in the Gillette building. Mrs. Tracey became a proud mother to a dozen new chicks, as well, as they were hatched on Kids Day in the Barnyard Friends exhibit.

A few NC FFA officers were given the opportunity to travel down to Columbus for the Ohio Legislative Leadership Conference in the Ohio Statehouse. They learned about lobbyists and how difficult it can be to persuade politicians into voting for or against your cause. While there, the officers were able to sit in on a session at the Statehouse. They also met with Representative Jim Hoops and got a chance to sit in Senator Rob McColley’s chair.

North Central FFA had a busy month of October as the annual fruit sale started and the 94th annual National FFA Convention was back in person in Indianapolis. Mrs. Tracey and the 4 senior officers were so excited to spend the week touring Indy and going to sessions. The seniors will definitely miss being a part of the sea of blue and gold.

Lots of volunteering occurred this year, as well. We had members volunteer at the fair, during craft shows, and much more. We started a new annual tradition of going to rake leaves for community members that need the extra help and a few officers even went to help serve lunch at the Senior Center’s annual Christmas luncheon.

On to the outlook for the rest of the year: NC is excited for FFA week. Many activities have been planned, such as inviting Katie’s Pancakes in for a flipping good time when they flip pancakes for all of the students and staff, a ski trip for the members, gifts of staff appreciation, and much more. Preparation for the annual FFA member recognition banquet is underway, where students will receive awards and recognition for participation in Career Development Events, degree recipients, a new officer team will be inducted, and other NC FFA supporters will be recognized. Ag Awareness Day then follows, in May, in which members edu-

cate elementary students about what agriculture is, Members of the NC FFA are very excited about evhow animals affect agriculture, and how agriculture erything we have done this year and everything that plays a big role in life. we hope to accomplish as the year progresses.

NORTH CENTRAL FFA CHAPTER … Row 1: Mrs Tracey, Riley Brown, Hunter Brown, Makinzy King, Emily Lehsten, Jessie Lonabarger, Briana Baker, MaKenna Hollstein. Row 2: Alec Walz, Jalynne Schroeder, Alison Cook, Milli Layne, Kailysa Hickman, Destiny Miller, Ava Livengood, Sami Cummins, Annyka Munoz, Alizabeth Pilmore. Row 3: Ethan Eidenier, Autumn Anderson. Martha Marmolejo, Grecia Dominguez, Alexia Dominguez, Lily McMillen, Ava Van Auken, Brooke St John, Maddi Zimmerman, Talen Denstedt, Keegan Hickman. Row 4: Gavin Shockley, Wyatt Gruber, Katelyn Balser, Joe Burt, Sam Moore, Freddy Schofield, Colin Patten, Camden Stoots, Ryan Bell, and Row 5: Emma Taylor, Jayden Forrester, Lily Ayers, Chevelle Keller, Carlos Cadena, Ben Pettit, Aiden Scott, Trenton Turner.

NC FFA OFFICERS … Baylee Joice - Reporter, Emily Lehsten - Secretary, Makinzy King - Vice President, Riley Brown - President, Jessie Lonabarger - 2nd Vice President, Hunter Brown - Parliamentarian, MaKenna Hollstein - Sentinel, Briana Baker - Treasurer.

NC FLORAL DESIGN … Floral Design members, Ava VanAuken and Emily Lehsten, tie up a bridal bouquet for a local January wedding.

OFFICERS MEET REPRESENTATIVE … Representative Jim Hoops stopped for a photo with NC FFA officers during this year's Ohio Legislative Leadership Conference, held at the Ohio Statehouse, in Columbus.

NC DAIRY CDE … The Livestock Science class participated in District Dairy Cattle Judging, the first in-person contest since COVID.

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Wednesday, February 16th, 2022

"The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News) - C7

Hilltop FFA

HILLTOP FFA CHAPTER…Row 1: Bryce Buehrer, Alora Siegel, Julia Schuurman, Leanna Baker, Ian Hoffman, Hunter Leupp, Jozlyn Jones, Ingrid Hoffman, Joscelyn Layman.

Row 2: Katie Frey (Advisor), Ericka Dennison, Madi Routt, Abby Austin, Alex Horton, Aiden Funkhouser, Matthew Wyse, Ty Creamer. Row 3: Olivia Rossman, Libbie Baker, Conner Sanders, Brooke Moreland, Shealyn Martin, Lindee Lammon, Riley Clendenin, Eden Mahlman, Taryn Gillespie. Row 4: Brianna Feathers, Zakkary Cammack, Leo Cullis, Blake Tarkington, Levi Cox, Sam Cox, Carson Crossgrove, Drew Bailey, Zander Runkel. Row 5: Karleen Myers, Colton Wood, Scott Bowers, Jordan Schaffner, Lakota Siegel, Jonathon Stephens, Dylan Cammack, Gavin Entenman, Jonathon Dunsworth. Row 6: Hope Potts, Morgan Smith, Austin Ankney, Brian Guillen, Nate Matz, Landon Stuckey, Brayden Tyler. Missing: Lana Baker and Alivia Flaugher.

At the end of January two of our members competed in the Sub-District Public Speaking CDE. Bryce Buehrer placed first in Advanced Prepared Public Speaking with his speech on “The Importance of the Bolt in Agriculture.” Ian Hoffman placed first in Extemporaneous Public Speaking where he drew a topic, had thirty minutes to write a four to six-minute speech about the topic, and then present it.

On February 8th the Advanced Animal Science Class was able to participate in the first field trip of the year by traveling to Miss Frey’s house to complete health checks on her puppies. The class had to weigh each of the eleven puppies, calculate how much wormer each should receive, then give them the appropriate dose. Later that evening, Ian Hoffman moved on to district competition in Extemporaneous Public Speaking where he placed 2nd in District 1.

On February 26th, during National FFA Week, the chapter officers traveled to local agribusinesses, thanking them for their support of our chapter and surrounding agriculturalists throughout the past year. That same day, we had six members participate in the District 1 Agriscience Fair. These six participants were Leanna Baker, Bryce Buehrer, Ian Hoffman, Hunter Leupp, Brooke Moreland, and Joe Reamsnyder. Ian placed 1st in Social Systems, Hunter placed 1st in Food Systems, Bryce placed 2nd in Power Systems, and Joe placed 2nd in Plant Systems. Furthermore, we learned that seven members will be receiving the State FFA Degrees in April at the State Convention. These members include Leanna Baker, Bryce Buehrer, Ian Hoffman, Alex Horton, Joe Reamsnyder, Laurynn Weiland, and Matthew Wyse. Additionally, Kodi Brenner received a Gold rating on her Treasurer’s Book and Bryce Buehrer received a Gold rating on his Reporter’s Book. They will be recognized at the State Convention at the end of April also.

At the beginning of March, the Millcreek-West Unity chapter also participated in a variety of CDEs. On March 2nd, 13 of the AFNR students competed in the Ohio Greenhand CDE. As a team they were ranked 94th out of 149 teams. On March 3rd, 29 members participated in the Wilmington College Aggies Invitational. Seven members participated in the Equine Management CDE, 17 members participated in the General Livestock CDE, 2 members participated in Dairy Management CDE and 3 members participated in the Agronomy CDE. The Livestock team placed 41st out of 121 teams, the Equine Management team placed 36th out of 62 teams, the Dairy Cattle team placed 38th out of 47 teams, and the Agronomy team placed 13th out of 27 teams.

On April 17th 2021, the Millcreek West Unity FFA held the 85th Annual FFA Banquet at 6 PM in the Commons at Hilltop High School. Members and parents were treated to a dessert buffet of Doughbox donuts, Cookies on Demand cookies, a chocolate fountain with fruit and snacks, trail mix, and cake cups from Anna’s Sweet Treats. After the dessert reception, the banquet ceremony began with speakers, Kodi Brenner and Ian Hoffman. The Greenhand ceremony had 13 Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resource students receiving their Greenhand FFA Degree.

From these new Greenhands, Brooke Moreland was selected as the Star Greenhand. The awards ceremony continued with six members in Animal and Plant Science being awarded their Chapter FFA Degrees. The Star Chapter Awards were as follows: Star Chapter in Production was Hunter Leupp, Star Chapter in Agribusiness was Leanna Baker, Star Chapter in Placement was Joe Reamsnyder and Star Chapter in Agriscience was Joscelyn Layman.

There were seven members from the chapter who will receive their State FFA Degree and these members were recognized at the banquet: Leanna Baker, Bryce Buehrer, Ian Hoffman, Alex Horton, Joe Reamsnyder, Laurynn Wieland, and Matthew Wyse. Members were also recognized for their participation in Career Development Events (CDEs) throughout the 2020-2021 school year. These CDEs included: Advanced Parliamentary Procedure, Agriscience Fair, Agronomy, Dairy Cattle Evaluation, Equine, Floriculture, Greenhand Quiz, General Livestock Evaluation, Job Interview, Outdoor Power Equipment, Public Speaking, Rural Soil Judging, and Wildlife Management.

From these CDEs, several members were given special awards based on their placing in the District and State.

The Agronomy team placed 3rd in District 1, Ian Hoff-

man placed 1st in Division 5 Social Systems in 2021 State Agriscience Fair, Hunter Leupp placed 2nd in Division 5 Food Systems in 2021 State Agriscience Fair, Brooke Moreland placed 1st in Division 1 2021 State Agriscience Fair, Joe Reamsnyder placed 2nd in Division 5 2021 State Agriscience Fair, Joscelyn Layman placed 1st in Division 1 Plant Systems 2020 National Agriscience Fair, Alora Siegel placed 2nd in Division 1 Power Systems 2020 National Agriscience Fair, the Dairy Evaluation team placed 1st with Leanna Baker placing 3rd individually in District 1, Ian Hoffman placed 2nd in Extemporaneous Public Speaking in District 1, and the Middle School Wildlife Management team placed 1st with Brian Guillen placing 2nd and Cameron Schlosser placing 3rd individually in District 1. Kodi Brenner was recognized for her Gold Rated Treasurer’s Book and Bryce Buehrer was recognized for his Gold Rated Reporter’s Book.

The top three individuals in the 2020 Millcreek-West Unity Fruit Sales program were given a trophy for their hard work and dedication to the program. These three were Laurynn Wieland, Alex Richmond, and Joscelyn Layman. Twenty-five members were also recognized for having all A’s in Ag for the first 3 Quarters of the 20202021 school year, and twenty-one members were recognized for earning $300 or more in “FFA Bucks” (an incentive program for chapter members who participate in FFA activities). Kodi Brenner, Joe Reamsnyder, Laurynn Wieland, and Chase Whitman, the four seniors in the program, were given special recognition for their time in the FFA program. Kodi and Joe were also acknowledged as retiring officers. The installation of the 2021-2022 officer team began after Senior/Retiring Officer Recognition: President Bryce Buehrer, Vice President Julia Schuurman, Secretary Hunter Leupp, Treasurer Alora Siegel, Reporter Joscelyn Layman, Sentinel Ian Hoffman, Student Advisor Leanna Baker, Parliamentarian Ingrid Hoffman and Student Council Representative Jozlyn Jones, and the banquet closed with Bryce Buehrer performing closing ceremonies.

May 11-14, 2021 the Millcreek-West Unity FFA Chapter celebrated their FFA Week. The week was filled with a variety of activities and events for Millcreek-West Unity Local School students and staff as well as FFA members.

On Tuesday, May 11th, the chapter hosted Ag Minute-ToWin-It games for the Kindergarten through 6th grade students. The chapter members had a fun time working with the elementary students by leading them through a variety of tasks to complete in 1 minute or less. Examples of the games include: "Fast Fashion" where students had to get dressed in Official Dress in under 1 minute, and "Seed Sort" where students had to sort three different kinds of seeds into their correct groupings in one minute or less.

At the end of each time slot, the students who earned the most tickets from completing the activities correctly in one minute or less were entered in a drawing for the prize of Ag Minute-To-Win-It Champion for their grade level.

The following day, May 12th, FFA members were invited to the Ag Room for their annual FFA Bucks Auction. FFA Bucks is the chapter’s incentive program where FFA members can earn “FFA money” for being active in the FFA and attending meetings and conferences, as well as competing in Career Development Events. While FFA members enjoyed a lunch of pizza from Wyse Guys, chips, and pop they used their cumulative FFA Bucks to bid on a variety of auction items including, FFA apparel, pop, candy, and gift cards.

Thursday, May 13th, the 2021-2022 Millcreek-West Unity FFA Chapter Officers Leanna Baker, Bryce Buehrer, Ian Hoffman, Ingrid Hoffman, Jozlyn Jones, Joscelyn Layman, Hunter Leupp, Julia Schuurman, and Alora Siegel celebrated and thanked the school staff for their service to the school by hosting a Burger Bash luncheon. The officers enjoyed preparing the meal of hamburgers and sausage (donated by Jacoby’s Ole Smokehouse), all the toppings, fruit, veggies, and Cookies on Demand Cookies for those who spend so much time and effort in the students’ future!

On the last day of the Millcreek-West Unity FFA Chapter’s FFA Week Celebration, Friday May 14th, the entire chapter hosted an Ag Awareness day for the school.

Groups of FFA members were paired together to create a hands-on display representing a facet of the agricultural industry. The various sectors represented included the

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agricultural technology, beef, corn, dairy, equine, goat, horticulture, natural resource, sheep, small animal, soybean, swine, and wheat industries. As students attended this event, they rotated through each industry and were able to learn more about that sector from the FFA members and hands on activities. Through the generous donations of sponsors (American Dairy Association Mideast, American Farm Bureau, American Lamb Board, Ohio Beef Council, Ohio Corn and Wheat, Ohio Pork Council) the chapter was able to send home goodie bags and educational materials with each elementary student!

Millcreek-West Unity FFA Officer Training took place June 28th and 29th. The team began with planning out the year and then completed a team bonding activity where they had to split into two groups, make half of a bridge and then come together at the end to join their two bridges together. They then traveled to Michigan City, IN and spent a bit of time on the beach. The plan was to spend a day at the beach on the 29th, but rain and storms had other plans and the team made the best of it by finding an indoor mini golf course and bumper car center.

Eight Millcreek-West Unity FFA members attended FFA Camp Muskingum on Leesville lake from July 12th-16th.

The first day began with being divided into their “herds” for the week (the FFA Camp theme was Jurassic Park) with others from across Ohio. They played ice-breaker games lead by the State FFA Officer team to get to know one another and go over the week’s schedule and expectations. Throughout the week there were opportunities to participate in sports, shooting, and archery tournaments, as well as take part in “camptivities” to learn more about canoeing, kayaking, boating, shotgun and rifle safety, archery, line dancing, and conservation. The Millcreek-West Unity FFA had an outstanding showing in the archery tournament with Brooke Moreland winning and Shealyn Martin coming in second. Libbie Baker’s “herd” for the week won the volleyball tournament. Campers learned about conservation, teamwork, personal growth, service and leadership throughout the week from the State Officer Team and guest speakers. Their favorite speaker was David Kohout “Talk is Cheap, Inc.” During camp, campers could purchase rubber ducks which were then randomly selected during lunch with the winner getting to give an FFA State Officer a Slushie Shower. Conner Sanders and Ingrid Hoffman both got their rubber ducks selected to give a State Officer a Slushie Shower! The money collected from the purchase of the rubber ducks is donated toward Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Leanna Baker was part of the senior group who had the opportunity to complete a high ropes course. All the campers agreed that the last day was the best day. On the last full day of camp, “herds” competed in water game competitions for “herd” points.

Tyzon Pelfrey made it into the finals for the belly flop competition! Ten rubber ducks were selected at the water games to pie State Officers or Ag teachers. Miss Frey was happy that none of the Millcreek-West Unity kid’s rubber ducks got selected that time! There was then a picnic on the porch with burgers and hotdogs, followed by a dance to finish out the week.

During June and July, the Summer Park and Rec program served free meals to community children. This was organized by Noelle Chester and on July 28th and 29th, Conner Sanders and Miss Frey helped serve the meals.

To start out the month of September, the MillcreekWest Unity FFA Chapter was well represented at the 2021 Williams County Fair. On Saturday, September 11th, the 2021 Williams County Fair kicked off the with the horse, goat and poultry shows. Brooke Moreland took 1st place Intermediate Horse Showman with her horse “Dakota”, Alora Siegel showed her pen of market ducks, and Zander Runkel was 1st place Beginner Goat Showmanship with his goat. FFA Shop and Crop projects were judged Saturday and the Millcreek-West Unity Chapter had many projects receiving “A’s” with two members winning Best of Show. Ian Hoffman was Best of Show with his alfalfa hay and Julia Schuurman was Best of Show with her bandsaw box project.

The following day, September 12th, the swine show began with Lindee Lammon and Jordan Schaffner exhibiting their pigs. Lindee was Champion Intermediate Swine Showman, and also exhibited the Champion AOB Market Hog and Champion Pair of Hogs. In the horse arena, Brooke Moreland competed in the Equine Gymakata competitions. She placed first place in: barrels, pole bending, barrels and cones, flags and the steak race. She was also 1st place in the Equine Senior Skillathon. Throughout the day the Millcreek-West Unity FFA chapter worked at the Williams County Dairy Association stand serving delicious milkshakes to fair-goers!

September 13th was Junior Fair Day, and also the day of the sheep and beef shows. Hunter Leupp had a very successful sheep show. He was Sheep Showman of Showmen, exhibited the Grand Champion Ewe and Reserve Champion Market Lamb! Later in the day, Carson Crossgrove, Joscelyn Layman, Hunter Leupp, and Lindee Lammon exhibited their beef animals. Hunter was Champion CONTINUED ON PAGE C9

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Wednesday, February 16th, 2022

Hilltop FFA (CONTINUED)

poultry, rabbits and sheep.

The Millcreek-West Unity FFA chapter was so proud of Hunter’s hard work!

The final day of the fair ended with the Livestock Sale on September 18th.

The Millcreek-West Unity FFA chapter members were very grateful for the support of business, community members, supporters, and family who came to bid on and purchase their projects!

A week after the conclusion of the fair (September 24th-26th) two first year members, Levi Cox and Lakota Siegel, participated in Greenhand Camp at Ohio FFA Camp Muskingum.

Levi, Lakota and Miss Frey made pit stops at Toft's Ice Cream (Ohio's Oldest Dairy) and Brandywine Falls (part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park) on the way to camp. Once arriving at FFA Camp Muskingum the crew spent two days learning about leadership and teamwork from the State FFA Officers. They also kayaked, played ping pong, danced and made many new friends from across the state.

To round out the month, the Ag Soils team of Scott Bowers, Ty Creamer, Levi Cox, Carson Crossgrove, Zander Runkel, Jonathon Stephens, and Matthew Wyse competed in the District 1 Ag Soils Career Development Event.

This young team did a great job judging three soil pits, taking a comprehensive soil knowledge test, and answering questions about the

Ottawa County Soil Survey.

The team placed 13th out of 23 teams.

October began with a bang for the Millcreek-West Unity FFA Chapter. It startSenior Beef Showman and ed on October 1st as the Beef Showman of Showchapter first learned that men, and Carson Crosstwo of its’ FFA members grove exhibited the Reserve placed in the top three in Champion Dairy Steer! The their division in the NationMillcreek-West Unity FFA al Agriscience Fair competimembers also volunteered tion and would be honored at the Williams County Beef on stage at the National stand throughout the day FFA Convention and Expo serving burgers and ribeyes at the end of the month. to fair-goers. In addition, Also, that evening chapter several of the Millcreekmembers participated in the West Unity FFA members Hilltop Homecoming Parade helped at the Barnyard and Ceremonies. Four FFA Friends Exhibit interactmembers marched in the ing with visitors and the Homecoming Parade and animals throughout the exrepresented the chapter in tended weekend. the festivities as the footTuesday, September ball team faced Edon. Also, 14th, was a "hoppin'in" day. chapter members were seFive Millcreek-West Unity lected to participate in the FFA members, Leanna BakHomecoming Ceremonies er, Libbie Baker, Conner as part of the HomecomSanders, Julia Schuurman, ing Court. Libbie Baker was and Lakota Siegel, exhibited selected as Freshman Attheir breeding and market tendant, Bryce Buehrer as rabbits. Libbie placed 2nd Senior Attendant, and Alex in Beginner Showmanship Horton as the 2021 Homeand Julia placed 2nd in Secoming Queen. nior Showmanship; Julia On October 7th, the Anialso exhibited Best of Breed mal and Plant and Advanced with her White New Zealand Animal Science classes, doe! along with the Biology class The Showman of Showtraveled to Wauseon and men Sweepstakes were held Pettisville for fieldtrips at on Wednesday evening, Rupp Seeds, Inc, and TurSeptember 15th, and Huntkeyfoot Creek Creamery. er Leupp was selected as the At Rupp Seeds, Inc., Sheri Beef Representative for the Fry and Bill Hollingsworth contest. Hunter competed shared with students the against seven other exhibiscience of plant genetics, tors showing off their showselection, and management. manship skills and knowlWhile visiting Turkeyfoot edge in beef cattle, dairy Creek Creamer, Dell Burkcattle, goats, horses, pigs, holder explained the science and management behind a goat dairy and cheese making. These two businesses did a wonderful job helping bring classroom studies to the real world!

Seven chapter members competed in the District One Dairy Evaluation Career Development Event on October 14th at Sunnyville Dairy in Deshler, OH. To their delight, the team of Lana Baker, Leanna Baker, Libbie Baker, Taryn Gillespie, Brian Guillen, Jordan Schaffner, and Alora Siegel placed 1st with Leanna placing 1st, Jordan 4th, Taryn 5th and Alora 6th individually!

November 20th, the Matt Siegel family harvested the Millcreek-West Unity FFA soybean crop, which was grown on land donated by Rimm Kleen Systems with soybeans donated by Kevin Miller, Rupp Seeds, Inc. SECOND IN DIVISION 5 … Ian Hoffman placed 2nd in dealer. The plot yielded Division 5 Social Systems at the National FFA Convention 88 bushels and was sold and Expo with his project on "Agriculturalists Perception at Gerald Grain Center in of Mental Health".

Archbold. The profits earned

HILLTOP FFA OFFICERS … 1st row: Alora Siegel, Joscelyn Layman, Ingrid Hoffman, Bryce Buehrer. 2nd row: Julia Schuurman, Jozlyn Jones, Ian Hoffman, Leanna Baker, Hunter Leupp

Proudly Supporting

from this go to support FFA members throughout the year as they travel to conferences and conventions.

Also, helping make the field productive this year was the Jonathon Wyse family who donated cover crop and planted the beans in the spring, and the Wilbur-Ellis company who donated their time spraying the field. The Millcreek-West Unity FFA Chapter would like to thank all of these individuals and companies for all of their support!

At the end of the month, six members attended the 2021 National FFA Convention and Expo in Indianapolis, IN. Starting on October 26th, members toured the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, attended the first general session hosted by National FFA President Doster Harper, and listened to speakers USDA Secretary, Tom Vilsack, and Keynote Speaker, Courtenay DeHoff.

They finished the night by solving an escape room game of Clue at Breakout Games of Indy.

The following day, October 27th, members started the day at Hunter's Honey Farm learning about bee keeping and honey harvesting. They then went to the 2nd General Session where Brooke Moreland found out her final placing of 3rd Overall in Divison 1 Environmental Systems National Agriscience Fair!

Her project was entitled “Phosphates and Nitrates in Harrison Lake and Mill Creek”. To end the evening, the members attended The Beef and Boards Production of "The Phantom of the Opera".

Friday October 29th, concluded the National FFA Convention and Expo for the Millcreek-West Unity FFA Chapter. That morning they took a guided tour of the newly restored CocaCola Bottling Company in the Bottleworks District.

They then attended the 6th General Session where Ian Hoffman received 2nd place in Division 5 Social Systems with his National Agriscience Fair Project “Agriculturalists Perceptions of Mental Health Resources”!

Millcreek-West Unity FFA chapter members came home from a successful National Convention week at the end of October and jumped right into Job Interview and Parliamentary Procedure Career Development Events along with volunteer opportunities.

At the beginning of the month, four members competed in the Sub-District Job Interview contest at Fairview on November 2nd.

These members were required to prepare a cover letter and resume prior to

the competition. Upon arrival, participants filled out a job application, interviewed for a job, then wrote a follow-up letter to the interviewer, simulating a real-life job interview situation. Lana Baker placed 3rd in the Senior Division, Ian Hoffman placed 1st in the Senior Division, Brooke Moreland placed 1st in the Freshman Division, and Alora Siegel placed 1st in the Sophomore Division. All 1st and 2nd place kids moved on to district completion on November 9th at Oak Harbor. Ian Hoffman placed 1st in the Senior Division, Brooke Moreland placed 4th in the Freshman 1, and Alora Siegel was 8th in the Sophomore Division. Winning the Senior Division at District competition advanced Ian Hoffman to the State Job Interview Career Development Event held at the Agriculture Engineering Building on the Ohio State Agriculture Campus on December 4th. Ian competed against the winning seniors from the other 9 districts in the state and placed 7th.

During the month of November, the Agribusiness class visited several different local businesses to learn more about the different types of management structures. On November 11th the class visited Dan Kramer at Edon Farmers Co-Op, and on November 19th, they spoke with Paul and Andrew Heisey and Myra St. John at Handyman Hardware.

November 13th, nine of our members and Miss Frey volunteered at the West Unity Lion's Club Feather Party Bingo. At the Feather Party Bingo, members helped the Lion’s Club members collect Bingo tickets and hand out prizes to participants. FFA members included: Abby Austin, Lana Baker, Bryce

Buehrer, Sam Cox, Carson Crossgrove, Aiden Funkhouser, Hunter Leupp, Alora Siegel, and Lakota Siegel.

The Parliamentary Procedure team of Bryce Buehrer, Ian Hoffman, Joscelyn Layman, Hunter Leupp, Julia Schuurman, and Alora Siegel competed in the County Parliamentary Procedure Career Development Event on November 18th and placed 1st in county competition. The Parliamentary Procedure event requires participants to complete a 25-question test on their knowledge of parliamentary procedure and then perform 12-minute or less mock meeting applying the rules of parliamentary law.

The last event of the year for the chapter was the Hilltop Canned Food Drive from December 8th through the 17th to re-stock our school food pantry and distribute items for the upcoming extended break. The FFA challenged the elementary classes to a Doughbox Donut Breakfast for the grade that brought in the most items, and the high school Academy classes to Cookies on Demand Cookies to whichever Academy brought in the most items. Items were collected by FFA members from each classroom on December 8th, 10th, 15th, and 17th, then sorted into their proper categories and stocked in the school’s food pantry or distributed to families. Overall, the school donated 4,530 items for families in the community!

Mrs. Dunson’s and Mrs. Elting’s 1st grade classes came in first for the elementary and Mrs. Smith’s Academy class came in 1st for the high school! The FFA was humbled to see the support for the community!

INFORMATION PROVIDED

AGRISCIENCE FAIR … Brooke Moreland placed 3rd in Division 1 Environmental Systems at the National FFA Convention and Expo with her project on "Phosphate and Nitrate Levels in Harrison Lake and Mill Creek".

STATE DEGREES … The Millcreek West Unity State Degree recipients for 2021 were Bryce Buehrer, Alex Horton, Joe Reamsnyder, Laurynn Wieland, Leanna Baker, Ian Hoffman, and Matthew Wyse.

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Wednesday, February 16th, 2022

"The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News) - C9

Four County Career Center FFA

FOUR COUNTY FFA CHAPTER… Shown displaying their FFA school spirit is the 135 student membership. They are listed here by what skill they are involved with, not in order of appearance. Ag/Diesel Mechanics – Instructor Jason Elston; Students: Caleb Badenhop, Michael Betz, William Brown, Carson Damman, Adam Degler, Hayden Dickman, Carson Dominique, Levi Ehrsam, David Ellis, Ramiro Garcia, Kristiana Hammye, Mathew Henderson, Mason Herman, Nathan Herman, Colin Kimpel, Larry Klingensmith, Jr., Ashton Kurtz, Camden Meienburg, Mason Meyer, Wyatt Moore, Wade Parrish, Jocelyn Ramos, Lane Reitzel, Corbin Renner, Brock Retcher, Alex Rohdy, Devin Schudel, Dakota Sherick, Troy Stockman, Kaden Sweet, Connor Towers, Michael Whitlock and Robert Wyss. Diesel Mechanics - Instructor Denton Blue; Students: Carter Bernal, Bransin Ebersole, Zachary Fackler, Austin Good, Kayden Hageman, Ryan Lammers, Donald Meyer, Grant Nelson, Adrian Oehler, Owen Philpot, Ashton Rose, Jesus Sanchez, Austin Santure, Drake Schorling, Payton Shepard, Masen Towns, Joshua Underwood, Samuel Vold, Nicholas Vollmar, Andrew Ward, Justin West and William Wittenmyer. Floral Design – Instructor Florence Luzny; Students: Kiara Baldridge, Madison Braun, America Chairez, Allyson DeWyse, Raina Garza, Lena Goble, Angilee Harrison, Destiny Kessinger, Jade McClish, Austyn Miklovic, Emma Oregon and Adelei Wachtman. Landscape & GreenhouseTechnologies – Instructor Eric Hite; Students: Pfienx Bear, Brandon English, Kolbi Horst, Hunter Howard, Henna Law, Dominic Marino, Ethan Power, Malik Qaimari, Robert Rodriguez, Xavier Rodriguez, Ahna Rowe and David Whitlock. Powersports – Instructor Larry Soles; Students: Rhees Andrews, Destin Armbruster, Gavin Bell, Daniel Boulton, Christopher Brickel, Riley Brown, Desirae Carroll, Jared Christenson, Shane Cowle, Jacob Croninger, Jason Gebers, William Jeffries, Leo Klingshirn, Cody Kruse, Trevor Luellen, Garrett Marr, Dylan Morris, Layne Neff, Aidan Olvera, Jordon Pelton, Brayden Price, Micah Spring, Kyle Wesley, Owen Waldfogel and Jaydon Williams. Veterinarian Assistant – Instructor Stephanie Pippin; Students: Alyssa Bender, Xander Braden, Delaney Burghardt, Jade Busch, Georgia Chupurdy, Addison Conners, Jasmine Corbitt, Kayden Cravens, Ashley Creps, Tinamarie Davis, Madeline Dennie, Elliot Fleischman, Elizabeth Frost, Brynn Harwell, Katelyn Hays, Abigail Johnson, McKayla Kern, Ashley Krill, Zayna Kuesel, Dyna Lands, Alona Mahnke, Megan Manis, Isabelle Martin, Evelyn Nardone, Kamron Raub, Sophia Raynor, Natalee Rose, Bailey Sabo, Rylee Wiemken, Haley Wolfrum and Paris Wright.

Four County Career Center FFA Chapter members include the 135 Agriculture/Diesel Mechanics, Diesel Mechanics, Floral Design, Landscape & Greenhouse Technologies, Powersports, and Veterinarian Assistant students. These students work on chapter projects, compete in district, state, and national FFA leadership and skill competitions, and sponsor student assemblies throughout the school year. Career Center Advisors include Jason Elston, Agriculture/ Diesel Mechanics; Florence Luzny, Floral Design; Eric Hite, Landscape & Greenhouse Technologies; Denton Blue, Diesel Mechanics; Larry Soles, Powersports; and Stephanie Pippin, Veterinarian Assistant.

Four County Career Center FFA Chapter members are celebrating National FFA Week and participating in activities throughout the week. The FFA members will hold contests between career and technical programs, officers will sponsor a Teacher Appreciation Day for all teachers at the Career Center, and members will compete in FFA District contests.

FOUR COUNTY FFA OFFICERS…Officers of the 20212022 Four County Career Center FFA Chapter include (FRONT - LEFT TO RIGHT) President - Mason Herman (Edgerton) Agriculture/Diesel Mechanics; Vice President - Colin Kimpel (Edgerton) Agriculture/Diesel Mechanics; Secretary - Natalee Rose (Archbold) Veterinarian Assistant; Treasurer - Abigail Johnson (Hicksville) Veterinarian Assistant; (BACK - LEFT TO RIGHT) Reporter - Elizabeth Frost (Hicksville) Veterinarian Assistant; Sentinel - Payton Shepard (Napoleon) Diesel Mechanics; and Student Advisor - Delaney Burghardt (Evergreen) Veterinarian Assistant.

Delta FFA Pike Delta York FFA Held Successful Year Of Activities By: Reporter Alana Hyatt

kids to play such as basketball, pumpkin decorating, cornhole, feed the pig, and then even driving around small 12v John Deere gators. A group of students participated in the Fulton County Trapshoot practices and then placed 2nd in the county team contest.

The Delta FFA Chapter was asked to practice in the first (hopefully annual) Delta PAC Family Day. The PAC is the Panther Athletic Club. FFA members hosted a petting zoo and had a kiddy tractor pull. They have been busy participating in Career Development Events (CDE) such as County, District, and State Soils, District Dairy Cattle, District Milk Quality Products, County and District Job Interview, and District Food Science and Technology.

Heading into the holiday season, members volunteered at ACE Hardware to collect donations and serve lunch to raise money and collect toys for the Fulton County Christmas Cheer Toy Drive. Had a float in the Delta Christmas Parade and completed a Letters to Santa Project at Delta Elementary where we collected student’s letters to Santa and made sure they got the right place and received a response from Santa and his Elves.

Overall, this year has been a great one for the Delta FFA Chapter. We are developing our premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through our programs and activities. We look forward to the coming month of CDE contests and learning opportunities.”

Last summer, the Pike-Delta-York FFA Officer team got a chance to break away and relax, while learning how to strengthen the chapter's bond and how to perform to the best of their abilities in their newly assigned officer positions. Starting last year, the Delta FFA had come up with an “Officer Retreat” to usually take place mid-summer. This year the Officer retreat was done at the Swanton Library. The Officer team sat around discussing how and what they can do to improve the chapter. Each officer helped one another by giving constructive criticism in a light manner.

A few chapter members also volunteered their time and animals to help the Delta Public Library wrap up their summer reading program “Tales to Tails” with a petting zoo for all the families that came to the park.

The Delta FFA Chapter then started a new event that they hope will become a tradition. “We held our first Pond Party where we welcomed incoming members into our chapter to help them feel that they’re in a safe and comfortable environment. Activities such as swimming and games were used as bonding exercises with one another. For our first year we are proud to say 19 members attended this event. Hopefully in the upcoming years this tradition will continue. We would like to say a big thank you to the Barnes family for showing such hospitality towards our chapter.

At the annual Fulton County Fair the Delta FFA had four members take a livestock project through the FFA and 17 members worked in the Pork Stand. One member, Kendra Ehrsam, a Sophomore, placed 3rd in showmanship and 3rd in weight for heifers. Another Sophomore, Sarah Richardson, participated in her first year with a pack goat in the dry yearling class.

Junior, Dylan Stricker, showed a breeding rabbit and a market rabbit. Senior, Ashley Creps, showed several goats including pack goats, pygmy goats, and milking goats. She did very well in all of her classes and went home with arm loads of ribbons. The Delta FFA also participated in the General Livestock Judging Contest, placing 3rd. The members of our Chapter are continuously growing individually and as a team together.

Once again, the Delta FFA Chapter voluntarily took action at the Fulton County Fair Pork Stand. Seventeen members of our chapter participated in this event. Some roles partaken in when working in the stand were: preparing the sandwiches, getting drinks, working the front cashing out customers and handing out their meals. This can help expand skills in different areas of fields of work, specifically, the customer service industry and food prep. A big thank you to all members who helped out. Thank you for another successful turnout.

This fall the chapter members volunteered to work at the annual KFG Kids Day of Play. This event is where FAIR TIME … Sarah Richardson with her goat at Fulmany different chapters come together with games for ton County Fair

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C10 - "The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News)

Wednesday, February 16th, 2022

Delta FFA (Continued)

DELTA LIBRARY DAY … Tales for Tails Petting Zoo - Brennan Bronson, AJ Pelton, Luke Snyder, Sarah Richardson, Cody Stricker.

DISTRICT 1 DAIRY CATTLE JUDGING … (front) Olivia Tipton, Lily Reynolds, LexiAnn Brown, Kendra Ehrsam, Sarah Richardson (back) Sam Pace, Rylan Andrews, Mace Reckner, AJ Pelton, Holden Barnes, Jeremiah Wolford.

OHIO FFA LEADERSHIP NIGHT … (front) Lily Reynolds, Olivia Tipton, Jersey Irelan, Brody Waugh (back) Hannah Barnes, Sarah Richardson, Kendra Ehrsam, LexiAnn Brown, Connor Sintobin, Rylan Andrews.

NATIONAL FFA CONVENTION … (front) Rylan Andrews, Ashley Creps, Jersey Irelan (middle) AJ Pelton, Mace Reckner, Kendra Ehrsam, Alana Hyott, Sarah Richardson (back) Brennan Bronson, Karsyn Gillen, Justice Reckner, LexiAnn Brown, Brody Waugh.

21-22 DELTA FFA OFFICERS … Sarah Richardson, Alana Hyott, Jersey Irelan, LexiAnn Brown, Kendra Ehrsam, Justice Reckner, Brennan Bronson, AJ Pelton.

FULTON COUNTY TRAPSHOOT TEAM … Logan Bontrager, Tucker Stricklin, Lily Reynolds, Rylan Andrews, Connor Sintobin, Brody Waugh, Coach Luke Young, COUNTY JOB INTERVIEW … Brody Waugh (Division 2), Lily Reynolds (D1), Jersey Hunter St. John, Luke Snyder, Ethin McKenzie, LexiAnn Brown.

Irelan (D4), Justice Reckner (D4), Walter Hallett IV (D1).

FAMILY FUN DAY … AJ Pelton and Brennan Bronson at the Delta PAC Family Fun Day where the FFA did a petting zoo and pedal tractor pull.

SOIL JUDGING … James Borck learning how to shoot slope for soil judging.

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Wednesday, February 16th, 2022

"The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News) - C11

Pettisville FFA

DISTRICT PARLIAMENTARY CONTEST … The Parliamentary team at District Contest, held at NSCC. Back row (L to R): Karsen Pursel, Carson Bennett and Nate Rupp.

Front Row (L to R): Leah Beck, Emma Salmi and Luke Van Den Berghe.

By: Emma Salmi Pettisville FFA Reporter December 2021 was another busy month for Pettisville FFA members. After placing 2nd in the Fulton County Parliamentary Procedure Event, the team went to the Ohio FFA District 1 contest. A 12-minute meeting is conducted and a test taken. While the team did not place in the top 4, team members said they still got better. Karsen Pursel served as chairman and Luke Van Den Berghe was the secretary.

Other members and alternates were Carson Bennett, Clara Damman, Leah Beck, Sam Haley, Emma Salmi and Nathan Rupp.

On December 6th, five Pettisville FFA members volunteered at the Fulton County Christmas Cheer event. These members helped set up shelves and stock the store and worked in the area that was being readied to serve others on the shopping days that followed. The members enjoyed this activity and are glad they volunteered.

Fall Fruit Sales came to an end in late November.

The items sold were delivered to the school December 8th, and members started delivering their sales. A quick sale challenge for the FFA this year was to sell a minimum amount of ten sales with the overall goal set to be $600/member. Students reaching the quick sale challenge received cookies and students hitting $600 will get a pizza party. The three top salesman this year were Karsen Pursel, Sophie Sterken and

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Sam Haley. The chapter overall grossed more money than the past two or three years. Congratulations to these members and their success this year!

December 13th was the monthly FFA meeting.

The activities for this meeting were tasting some Fall Fruit Sale items, having a White Elephant Gift Exchange, and having the opportunity to watch “Girl Named Tom” on “The Voice.” The members really

enjoyed all these activities and considered it a fun night.

Pettisville FFA members are pleased with how the year of events ended for the 2021 year, and look forward to what 2022 has to offer. At least seven members are working on completing advanced degrees or officer books. More to come on those results later in January and February.

CHRISTMAS CHEER … Savannah Smith works at the Fulton Christmas Cheer site organizing food products for putting in the shelves. All donations are counted and recorded before sent home with customers.

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FRUIT SALE DELIVERY … After the produce was de- FRUIT BASKETS … (L to R): Jonah Harmon, Caleb livered for Fall Sales, Harley Crossgrove, left, and Nate Priddy and Alec Rychener assembled Fruit Baskets, Rupp helped organize the items. an item sold during Fall Sales.

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C12 - "The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News)

Wednesday, February 16th, 2022

Stryker FFA Stryker FFA Expand Fruit Sale Into Expansive Career Project By: Natalie Bowers Stryker FFA Reporter Stryker FFA has had many new career learning opportunities in the 20212022 school year. Students have learned flexibility and are ahead of the normal schedule for the school year. Students are working on more than 20 service projects for local individuals, farmers, and business owners. Some highlights from this year included: submitting over 100 still projects at the Williams County Fair, raising chickens, rabbits, and more than 40 yellow perch, hosting various events at John Deere Kids Day of Play in Archbold, continuing to expand our extensive fall fundraiser into a career growth opportunity for students, and sending students to National FFA Convention in Indianapolis.

The flagship program for Stryker FFA is without question the fall fundraiser.

With origins as the FFA Fruit Sale, advisor Matt Arnos and the students have transformed it into an expansive career project. Annually, the students design, market, sell, create, fulfill, and deliver custom orders to their customers.

Some of these projects include powder coated custom monogram letters, steel Panther paw prints, Ohio State signs, Michigan signs, and wooden toys. The students were especially proud of the addition of the monogram letter signs because of the complexity of the custom orders and how well they turned out. The flyers created by students also included QR codes, so that customers can view videos of the students manufacturing the projects. Students chose the projects that require programming and operating equipment using a variety of materials including wood and metal. The students are learning how to be proficient with Mastercam, AutoCad, Solidworks, Aspire, Torchmate, and Cura softwares to operate this equipment.

Mr. Arnos has actively been in contact with industries in an effort to ensure the classroom experience provides value to the students. He works to find industries that are very willing to take an active role in providing this information and materials for the Career Tech Education programs being taught at Stryker Local School. Many companies

have also assisted in acquiring equipment for the school, and providing expertise with the setup and operation of the equipment. Stryker FFA is thankful to more than 80 businesses large and small who support the program with their generosity.

Several students are assisting with the school CNC shop scheduling process as project managers, and are gaining experiences that will help them in a manufacturing leadership role. Stryker’s FFA shop activities are unique and groundbreaking in providing students with real-world experiences about working environments. It is our hope to provide employers with proficient employees right out of high school.

Stryker Local School and Mr. Arnos are proud to be recognized this winter

by CNC Software Incorporated, makers of Mastercam software, in Tolland, CT. CNC Software will feature Stryker Local School in a number of upcoming industrial magazine articles as an incredibly rare school opportunity for students to learn machine programming. Stryker is exceptional in its adoption of Mastercam software for children as young

as elementary school, who are learning to program machines even at such a young age.

Stryker FFA plans to celebrate National FFA Week with a thank-a-farmer event, petting zoo, ag Olympics, strong man competition, pedal tractor pulls, and more.

Stryker Local School is also reaching its younger grades to better prepare them for career readiness. The Panther Ed Tech elementary program, which is in its third year at Stryker, provides project-based learning activities. This kindergarten through 6th grade program introduces students to 3D modeling, 2D design, graphic design, STEM, laser cutting, CNC wood routing, injection molding, drone flying, CNC HAAS mill machining, robotics, electrical circuits, 3D printing, vinyl cutting, basic hand tools, power tool identifications, green screen production of movies, and many more hands-on projects.

The computer software array includes Aspire, Mastercam, Cricut Design and Autocad. This helps students incorporate a great knowledge base to utilize the Engineering Design Process.

GO PANTHERS … Bailey Short displaying the student designed, cut, and powder coated Stryker Panther paw.

MONOGRAMMED LETTERS … Haylee Fulk holding a custom powder coated monogram letter for the annual FFA fruit sale.

ANTIQUE LOOK … Logan Stuckey with a finished community service project that was repaired and powder coated with an antique vein color.

CHRISTMAS FUN … The Stryker FFA members celebrated Christmas with a meal and secret Santa gift exchange.

FFA CONVENTION … Natalie Bowers and Sydney Fether at Lucas Oil Stadium for the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis.

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Wednesday, February 16th, 2022

"The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News) - C13

Wauseon FFA

Wauseon FFA Chapter … Officer Row: Aidan Pena (Sentinel), Daniel Hite (Student Advisor), Aliina Lange (Reporter), Amber Rufenacht (President), Braxton Goings (VicePresident), Aiden Goings (Treasurer) and Garrett Leininger (Secretary). First Row: Bryson Stump, Ben Ehrsam, Jayden Snyder, Kyle Shehorn, Jane Richer, Karlee Shehorn, Madison Strauss, Sofia Aleo, Erica Rabe, Jayli Vasquez, Alyssa Stricklen, Kaidian Saxton, JT Kutzli and Taylor Fulton. Second Row: (L-R): Bryse Neuenschwander, Will Sherman, Gabe Jimenez, JD Hogan, Shannon Jackson, Matthew Shaw, Dylon Pickett, Chase Santiago, Sebastian Schultz, Aaliyah Parra, Carter Nofziger and Josh Bostelman. Third Row: (L-R): Jackie Merritt, Emerson Brellahan, Michael Kretz, Lindsey Matthews, Zeph Siefker, Mitchell Neuenschwander, Dierks Netcher, Emah Starkweather, Alayna Spiess, Yesenia Casatillo, Maddie Rufenacht, Nayeli Santos-Soto and Kassidy Zientek. Fourth Row: (L-R); Jaythen Smitely, Zorah Siefker, Ali Moser, Kainoa Neifer, Logan Poorman, Bri Hays, Emme Henricks, Jesse Rittichier, Toby Croninger, Zach Puehler, Cooper Balser, Jared Lange, Mariana Rodriguez, Melissa Sanchez and Ashtyn Ledyard. Fifth Row: (L-R): Adison Reckner, Kaden Clymner, Ian Law, Levi Tester, Dane Leininger, Kameron Dietrich, Miguel Alvarez, Landen Thourot, Braxton Wittenmyer, Nicholas Cheezan, Jolie Barnes and Emma Stutesman. Sixth Row: (L-R): Logan Williams, Ian Westmeyer, Wyatt Smith, Kale Waxler, Clark Gleckler, Mackenzie Stasa, Brandon Coopshaw, Matthew Siler, Miles Kuntz, Jacob Aeschliman, Nicholas Stinner and Christopher Flores. Seventh Row: (L-R): Constance Long, Alexis Barnett, Emily Lee, Addie Tester, Savannah Davis, Claire Nisely, Lolly Santillanes, Alyssa DiSanti, Grady Starkweather, Bradic Windisch, Liam Wiseman, Nathaniel Stinner and Elijah Heller.

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The Wauseon FFA Chapter has had a very exciting contest year so far during the school year. Kicking off the competitions were the Urban and Rural Soils Contests. Both teams qualified for the state competition. Members of the Urban Team included: Lyssa Stricklen, Aiden Goings, Garrett Leininger and Logan Poorman and participating in the Rural Soils Team were: Amber Rufenacht, Braxton Goings, Zeph Siefker and Daniel Hite. From there, the Chapter sent representatives to compete in the Annual Fulton County Trap Shoot Contest. Members of that team included: Ian Law, Zach Puehler, Dierks Netcher and Kaidan Saxton. The job interview contest took place from late October through early December with senior Carter Nofziger, advancing from the county level up to the finals of the state competition. Carter placed 2nd in his room at the state contest held at The Ohio State University. The

Chapter looks forward to continuing preparing students for more contests throughout the rest of the winter and early spring!

With contests going back to being in-person, the Wauseon FFA is even busier than ever with participating in other in-person events such as: the annual Fruit Sale, FFA Fieldwork, Fulton County Fair, and various other community service projects along the way.

Wauseon FFA is very excited to have the opportunity to celebrate National FFA Week 2022. The chapter has a variety of activities planned to help celebrate the week. Events include: teacher and bus driver appreciation breakfast, member appreciation lunch, State FFA Officer Visit, election of the new Chapter FFA Officer team and a themed dress up day for each day of the week.

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C14 - "The Village Reporter” / Weekly Northwest Ohio (Williams & Fulton County News)

Wednesday, February 16th, 2022