Around the end of every October, Sierra FFA typically sends some of their esteemed members to attend the National FFA Convention and Expo. This year, the city of Indianapolis, Indiana hosted this momentous event. Fifteen members attended the convention this year, some to compete, one to get his American Degree, and some to experience this occasion. The fifteen included: Cody Heirendt, Kathleen Marsh, Kennedy Newton, Shane Wyman, Bowen Kehn, Macy Myers, Juliana Sullivan, Kelsey Mehling, Daygan Cross, Brian Austin, Justin Dement, Austin Dudley- Nelson, Seth Chrisman, Alissa Hastie, and Josh Markos.
Last school year, Sierra FFA had one team and one individual win their competition at the state level. This qualified them to be able to compete at the National level to represent California. Alissa Hastie won the Prepared Public Speaking state competition, so she took some time off of college to attend the National competition. This competition includes the competitor choosing one of many provided agricultural topics, writing an 8 to 10 minute speech on the topic, memorizing it, presenting it to a panel of judges, and answering 5 minutes of open questioning on it. She introduced to the judges an amazing speech on water conservation and the comparison of water usage in California to her new home, Illinois. She swept the competition in her first round, and she advanced on to the semi- finals. This was composed of the top 16 Prepared Public Speaking competitors in the nation. After being placed in a competitive room, Alissa was cut. She was very well prepared, and represented Sierra FFA well. They wish her luck in her future endeavors. Also, last year’s Natural Resources team won their state competition. This team was comprised of: Alissa Hastie, Carson LeBoeuf, Frankie Sanchez, and Shane Wyman. Alissa was unable to compete due to her other competition; and Frankie and Carson couldn't take the time off of college to attend. Due to this, three current FFA members took their place to compete. The new team was made up of: Kennedy Newton, Kathleen Marsh, Cody Heirendt, and Shane Wyman. This competition consisted of: an exam, an oral presentation on an agricultural issue, identification of native species, a written response to an agricultural issue, and the demonstration of various practicums. Individually, Kennedy Newton was ranked as a bronze individual, Kathleen Marsh was a silver individual, and Cody Heirendt and Shane were gold level individuals. In the team rankings, California made it into 12th place. The team demonstrated great teamwork, and amazing presentation abilities. The convention went great with only one minor hitch when the members got stuck in an elevator. Then the members visited cherished landmarks such as the Indy 500 race track and the Sailors and Soldiers monument in the middle of Indiana. The convention worked in conjunction with various businesses to give members other entertainment options. The events that were attended by Sierra FFA included: a Cole Swindell concert, Cinch’s World’s Toughest Rodeo, and a hypnotist show by the amazing Jim Wand. These turned out to be the highlight of the trip when two of the Natural Resources members volunteered to get hypnotised. The convention was ended with the American Degree Ceremony, the American Degree is the highest degree the FFA can bestow upon its members. Sierra FFA would like to congratulate Bowen Kehn for his exemplary work ethic in the acquiring of his American Degree. This convention wouldn’t have gone as well as it did without the efforts of family members, friends, local businesses, and supporters of the FFA. Thank you especially to Sierra Ag boosters, the Sierra Foundation, and the Sierra Unified School District.
0 Comments
Its that time of year again, during the first two weeks of October, Sierra FFA sends some of its greatest members to compete with their animals at the Big Fresno Fair. This year, the members had great success in both market classes and showmanship classes. Swine, beef, goats, sheep, and poultry were all brought to the fair this year with varying levels of success.
The first week of fair went to the goat team. This team was comprised of Taylor Collins, and Kennedy Newton. Taylor Collins received Supreme Champion Replacement Doe, Reserve Grand FFA Replacement Doe, Supreme Toggenburg and Reserve Lamancha, 3rd in both of her market classes, and 2nd in advanced showmanship. Kennedy Newton also excelled by receiving 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in her respective market classes; 3rd in her breeding class; Champion Commercial Doe; 1st in advanced showmanship; and an amazing 3rd in Round Robin. The second week of fair was for the beef, swine, sheep, and poultry teams. First off, the beef team was made up of: Keilani Mendenhall, Jayden Baker, James Lujano, Maddie Hill, Colby Perry, Jesse Tyler, Mason Tarr, Macy Myers, Cooper Ford, and Brian Austin. Keilani was awarded 2nd in her market class and 5th in intermediate showmanship, and 3rd in her feeder class; Jayden received 4th in his market class; James received 4th in his feeder class; Maddie was given 4th in her market class; Colby won Supreme Champion, intermediate showmanship, and Round Robin; Jesse got 1st in his market class, and 5th in advanced showmanship; Mason was awarded Champion Overall Heifer, Reserve feeder steer, Champion British market steer, 1st in advanced showmanship, 1st in Round Robin, and 1st Cow- Calf pair; Macy received 2nd in her feeder class, and 4th in advanced showmanship; Daygan got 4th in his market class, and Champion Bred by Exhibitor Heifer; Cooper received 6th in his market class; lastly, Brian got 5th in his market class, and 6th in intermediate showmanship. Next up is the swine team composed of: Liz Adams, Wilsena Ahboah, Jammie Baker, Jordan Coburn, Elyas Day, Emma Day, Justin Dement, Wyatt Dority, Austin Dudley- Nelson, Cody Hall, Cody Heirendt, Baylee James Mason Tarr, Derek Maxwell, Kelsey Mehling, Marissa Miller, John Price, Mikyala Riemath, Jocelyn Rodrigues, Juliana Sullivan, Hayden Tarr, and Logan Vandenack. Liz received 1st in her crossbred class; Wilsena got 4th in her class; Jammie got 2nd in her market class; Jordan received 3rd in his market class; Elyas received 1st in his feeder class; Emma got 5th in her market class; Justin got 1st Grand Champion AOB; Wyatt won Reserve Champion crossbred; Austin received 1st in his feeder class, 1st in his market Yorkshire class, and 7th in advanced showmanship; Cody Hall got 5th in his market class; Cody Heirendt got Reserve Champion Yorkshire, and 1st for both of her Yorkshires; Baylee got 2nd in her class; Mason won Champion Yorkshire, Reserve Champion FFA Hog, 4th place Breeding Gilt, 1st in advanced showmanship, Champion Bred by Exhibitor, and the Gragnani memorial Outstanding Livestock Exhibitor; Derek Maxwell got 6th in his market class; Kelsey got 3rd in her market class; Marissa received 1st in her market class; John received 3rd in his market class; Mikayla got 8th in her market class; Jocelyn won 1st in her market class; Juliana received 4th in her class; Hayden won Reserve Champion Hampshire, Rate of Gain Champion, and Champion Breeding Gilt; lastly Logan won first in his market class. Next is the sheep team containing: Seth Chrisman, Savannah Jenkins, Kelsey Mehling, Macy Myers, Lily Sellers, Carly Turner, Madeline Wait, and Shane Wyman. Seth received 6th in his market class; Savannah got 4th in her market class; Kelsey received 2nd in her market class; Macy got 6th in her market class, and made cut in showmanship; Lily received both 3rd and 6th in her market classes; Carly got 3rd in her market class; Madeline won 1st in her market class; and lastly Shane won Reserve Natural Champion, 1st and 2nd in his market classes, and 3rd in advanced showmanship. Lastly, Sierra FFA’s very own poultry advisor, Seth Chrisman, brought two of his very own chickens to the Big Fresno Fair. He is the first to bring poultry from Sierra in the past few years, and he did great with them. Many of these fine showmen and women look forward to again showing at Chowchilla Fair in the spring. All of Sierra FFA would like to thank friends, family, and supportive community members who helped out with making this fair such a success. -Kathleen Marsh Sierra FFA Reporter On October 12th, Sierra FFA sent six teams to compete in the annual Sectional Opening and Closing competition. The competition entails teams of six to memorize the proper procedure for opening and closing a business meeting in the FFA. There was one freshman team comprised of: Hayden Tarr, Colby Perry, Kiera Heberlein, Jocelynn Rodriguez, Sharon Winn, and Makenna Boul. The team was awarded first place, and Hayden Tarr earned top Vice President in their competing room. Sierra sent four teams that competed in the “open” division; the open division is for members that aren’t freshmen, or chapter officers, but still want to compete. The first team was made up of: Jesse Tyler, Lauren Gillihan, Julianna Sullivan, Austin Dudley- Nelson, Justin Dement, and Daygan Cross. They received first place with Austin, Lauren, and Jesse receiving high Treasurer, Sentinel, and Reporter. The next team was comprised of Seth Chrisman, Emma Actis, Taylor Collins, Kennedy Newton, Keilani Mendenhall, and Cody Heirendt. The team also won first place in their competing room with Cody and Taylor winning top Treasurer and Vice President. The other two competing teams were made up of Madeline Wait, Ian Hamilton, Shane Wyman, Hayley Piek, Mikyala Killian, Allison Hare, Wilsena Ahboah, Kelsey Mehing, Baylee James, Madison Hinson, Baylee Drew, and Jayden Baker. The teams both did amazing in their rooms, and Jayden received high Vice President. Lastly, the Sierra FFA chapter officer team was made up of Cody Hall, Kathleen Marsh , Derek Maxwell, Josh Markos, Macy Myers, and Mason Tarr. The team won first place out of all the other officer teams, and upheld the two-year streak. Josh and Mason won high President and Treasurer in their competing room. All six teams worked very hard and represented Sierra FFA very well.
|
Archives
December 2022
Archives
|