On September 28, Sierra FFA hosted the annual Discovery, Greenhand, and Chapter Degree Ceremonies in the Sierra High School Small Gym. The officers opened the meeting with a fun skit called “Dancing through the Decades,” where they choreographed short dance routines to songs from different decades. The chapter was able to reward 18 Discovery Degrees, 19 Greenhand Degrees, and 5 Chapter Degrees at the ceremony. The FFA Creed was presented during the ceremony by Nicholas Telles, Juniper Stewart, and Audrey Willis, Aiden Romero, and Peyton Hare. The Discovery Degree is the first degree a student can receive, beginning in 7th grade. This degree allows Junior High members to compete in contests and begin their FFA careers. The students who received the Discovery Degree were Wyatt Berna, Chantry Hammond, Peyton Hare, Logan Kings, Valerie Phillips, Aiden Romereo, Sariah Stephens, Juniper Stewart, Kaley Taber, Ray Taylor, Nicholas Telles, Daniel Vargas, Brileigh Vaughn, Madison Watson, Ariana West, Walter Williams, Audrey Willis, Sienna Williamson, and Mya Woodward. Congratulations for receiving the Discovery Degree! The Greenhand Degree is awarded beginning Freshman year and must be obtained to receive higher degrees in the FFA. These students have a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) in progress and are knowledgeable about the FFA Creed and Motto. The recipients of the Greenhand degree were Paige Beard, Mark Patton, Adieson Glass, Kennedy Turner, Edward Replogle, Natalie Aminoff, Abbigale Bays, Catriona Brown, Rowdy Rodriguez, Kaiden Landers, CJ Bender, Cash Day, Jacob Hall, Bailey McDaniel, Samantha Paloutzian, James McClaren, Mac McGrath, Ariana Rodriguez, and Hailey Witt. Congratulations for working hard to receive the Greenhand Degree! The Chapter Degree can be obtained Sophomore year with the possession of a Greenhand Degree, SAE, and other qualifications of service hours and work hours. Members who received the Chapter Degree were Lauryn Barr, Trinity Barr, Edgar Michel, Jackson Wheeler, and Zowey Witt. Congratulations on continuing your FFA career with the Chapter Degree! After the ceremony, the new Greenhands were led by members of the Chapter and taken on a trust exercise through the quad. The attendees enjoyed a barbeque potluck in the quad with members and family. Thank you to all who helped put the event on, and those who attended. Congratulations to all who have committed hard work to the Sierra FFA Chapter!
Submitted by Macy Lloyd, Sierra FFA Reporter
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In the midst of a tough year, Tollhouse-Sierra FFA has proven to be “Stationed by Success.” Our chapter motto was chosen carefully this year and our members have worked daily to embody those words. Our year started on Zoom and by October, our small school district was fortunate to be back on campus and in the classrooms. Before we could enjoy a little bit of normality though, our community was faced with the raging Creek Fire, leaving our students evacuated or without homes. In September, our chapter was able to participate in the FFA Creek Fire Service Project and collaborate with multiple chapters across the state of California to collect gift cards and money for local families impacted by the Creek Fire. In March, our chapter partnered with Southern California Edison to plant trees to help rehabilitate the Sierra National Forest and provide them to families rebuilding their homes. Our members were able to get hands-on experience in each step of the tree planting process. We took a short trip to the Edison nursery and were able to get fresh, fertilized soil into the special seed planting boxes. Then, we took the boxes to our school farm, where students from each class period came down to work together to get the seeds planted. We formed sort of an “assembly line,” with students using wooden tools to push down the dirt, place the seed in the compartment, add mulch, and then bring new boxes to start the process over again. It was a wonderful experience that we will get to continue to see grow, and eventually see in the forest which surrounds our community. A staple of the FFA Creed is to “exert an influence in [your] home, and community,” and our chapter was able to host our local preschool for farm tours. This provided an opportunity for agricultural literacy at a young age, and for our chapter members to share about the agricultural industry and learn how to educate others. Some of the presentation topics done by our members included beef, the dairy industry, California commodities, pigs, rabbits, and heavy equipment and machinery. The preschoolers made remarks regarding the fun they had, and this is a tradition that will hopefully continue in our chapter for years to come. In addition to the previous activities, FFA week was a clear highlight of the 2020-2021 school year. This was the best turnout our chapter had seen in a while, with large amounts of volunteers to participate in the unique activities and a crowd filling our high school quad. The notable events included a tricycle race, hay moving contest, the famous tractor pull, and roping contest. Prizes were handed out to the winners consisting of pizza, candy, and cash! The week was exciting for all students at our high school and concluded with a teacher appreciation luncheon, where we quizzed them on FFA knowledge and brought a complimentary coffee truck to show them just how thankful we are for them. These are just a few of the highlights of Tollhouse-Sierra FFA’s year, and in the coming months we look forward to developing new ideas and systems to continue improving our chapter, and educating others on the importance of agriculture in our world. As always, we will strive in “learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live, and living to serve!”
-Submitted by Macy Lloyd, Sierra FFA Chapter Reporter The 2021 Sierra FFA Annual Woodcut was quite the success! This was the largest woodcut in 7 years that the chapter has hosted. On August 28-29, the participants made the drive past Road 3 at Shaver Lake and cut 30 cords of wood. Many Sierra FFA members, Alumni, and parents came out to cut, stack, and deliver wood. Members had the opportunity to run chainsaws and operate a wood splitter while earning money toward their Supervised Agricultural Experience or FFA conventions. Our participants were able to camp out at Shaver Lake and sit around the campfire after a long day of work! A special thank you goes out to Mandy McGrath for feeding our hungry helpers every meal of the day, and to Southern California Edison for donating the wood! Sierra FFA is grateful for every person that came to work hard and help, and to everyone who purchased wood to support our program!
-Macy Lloyd, Sierra FFA Chapter Reporter |
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