Well, here it is already!! The last day of Convention...
Today was another bright and early day. The American Degree session started at 7:45am, so we had to be up, packed, and out to the bus by 7:15am.
At the American Degree session we got to see Mindy Furrer and Jesse Scheiler walk across stage to receive their American FFA Degrees. This is the highest degree an FFA member can receive in the organization. Linzy Lemming and Jessica Wenrick also received their degrees, but were unable to be at convention this year.
After the session, we headed to Webber Grill to celebrate with Mindy and Jesse and their parents who also made it down for the special occasion. The food at Webber Grill was great and getting to visit with Mindy and Jesse and their parents was also great!
After lunch, the group headed to the final session. At the session, we were inspired by the National FFA President's retiring address, helped congratulate and pay tribute to Dr. Larry Case's 27 years of service as National FFA CEO and Advisor, and saw the excitement of the election of the new National FFA Officers. We were cheering on Indiana's own Laura Donaldson, South Newton FFA member, for a National Office, but she was not chosen. We are all still proud of her for her hard work and dedication to the FFA.
After the final session, we headed back home to rest and recover from another exciting National FFA Convention!! Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more Tri-County FFA news!!!
Monday, October 25, 2010
2010 National FFA Convention - Friday
Today started out early for those not in CDE's! They were to report to Victory Field at 7:15am for Habitat for Humanity. Naysa, Haley, Shelby, Caleb, Zed, Robin, and Sarah Bruce all got the opportunity to help build one of the H4H homes that the National FFA builds during National FFA Convention. They got the chance to meet the families that would be living in the home and some even learned how to properly nail in siding (sort of)!
Mr. Scherer, Mr. Martin and the CDE participants all headed into National Convention a little later. The marketing plan team sat in on the finals for their contest and the advisors and the Agriscience fair participants headed to the Agriscience Fair Awards brunch to see how they did. While neither teams placed in the top 3, both did very well. Heather and Cassie received a silver rating on their project and Dakota and Alexis received a gold rating on theirs. Everyone was excited that they did so well!!
Once the brunch was over, we headed to Lucas Oil Stadium to tear down the displays and then we picked up the Habitat participants and headed to the hotel for some MUCH NEEDED rest time.
Then we all met back at the bus in the afternoon to head back to downtown for the Marketing Plan awards dinner and the Leadership dinner.
After those dinners were over, the entire group headed to the Milano Inn to take part in the Mystery Cafe production of Cat on a Hot Tin Street Car!! It was a unique experience as there were only 2 actors playing multiple parts and the audience also participated through out the play as well. If you would like to see the website for the Mystery Cafe click the following link - http://www.themysterycafeindy.com/contents.html. It was a fun evening with good food and good entertainment. Mr. Martin also got an honorable mention for the "Biggest Ham" award given out to the audience participants!
Check back tomorrow for our final day at the 83rd National FFA Convention!!
Mr. Scherer, Mr. Martin and the CDE participants all headed into National Convention a little later. The marketing plan team sat in on the finals for their contest and the advisors and the Agriscience fair participants headed to the Agriscience Fair Awards brunch to see how they did. While neither teams placed in the top 3, both did very well. Heather and Cassie received a silver rating on their project and Dakota and Alexis received a gold rating on theirs. Everyone was excited that they did so well!!
Once the brunch was over, we headed to Lucas Oil Stadium to tear down the displays and then we picked up the Habitat participants and headed to the hotel for some MUCH NEEDED rest time.
Then we all met back at the bus in the afternoon to head back to downtown for the Marketing Plan awards dinner and the Leadership dinner.
After those dinners were over, the entire group headed to the Milano Inn to take part in the Mystery Cafe production of Cat on a Hot Tin Street Car!! It was a unique experience as there were only 2 actors playing multiple parts and the audience also participated through out the play as well. If you would like to see the website for the Mystery Cafe click the following link - http://www.themysterycafeindy.com/contents.html. It was a fun evening with good food and good entertainment. Mr. Martin also got an honorable mention for the "Biggest Ham" award given out to the audience participants!
Check back tomorrow for our final day at the 83rd National FFA Convention!!
Friday, October 22, 2010
2010 Natioanl FFA Convention - Thursday
Well today was a busy day to say the least!! it started out bright and early as all of the Career Development Event competitors headed to their event rooms to give it their bests! Dakota and Alexis were the first to present at about 9:30am. Sarah Dobson, Jenny Alter, and Erin Klaus competed in the Marketing Plan CDE with their marketing plan for the Remington IGA Meat Counter. It included the following commercial in the plan.
Lastly, a little after lunch, Cassie Klaus and Heather Lehe presented their agriscience fair project. The Marketing Plan team recieved a brinse rating for their presentation and the agriscience fair competitors will find out tomorrow how they did.
Today was also the day that the "day trippers" made their way down to the convention. There were 28 FFA members who came down for the day to visit the career show. adding them to the "week trip" numbers, Tri-County FFA has 44 FFA members attending convention this year!!! In our rough estimates, over 90% of our entire FFA chapter was at convention today!!! From freshman to seniors, all of them had a good time visiting the vendors and exhibitors at the career show.
After the "day trip" members left to head back to Tri-County, all of the "week trip" members headed to the National Chapter Award Session to see Zed Bickett and Caleb Furrer walk across stage to recieve the FFA Chapter's National Chapter Award.
After the session, everyone headed back to the hotel to change before we headed up to Carmel to Laser Flash to play some laser tag with our friends in the Columbus FFA Chapter. We played 2 separate games of laser tag and played all of the fun arcades in the lobby. Oh, by the way, COMPLETE DOMINATION BY THE RED TEAM!!! But everyone had a lot of fun relaxing and getting to know our Southern Indiana Friends! Then we headed back to the hotel for some well deserved and needed sleep!!
Stay tuned, because there are A LOT more fun and exciting things happening this year at the 83rd National FFA COnvention!!!
Lastly, a little after lunch, Cassie Klaus and Heather Lehe presented their agriscience fair project. The Marketing Plan team recieved a brinse rating for their presentation and the agriscience fair competitors will find out tomorrow how they did.
Today was also the day that the "day trippers" made their way down to the convention. There were 28 FFA members who came down for the day to visit the career show. adding them to the "week trip" numbers, Tri-County FFA has 44 FFA members attending convention this year!!! In our rough estimates, over 90% of our entire FFA chapter was at convention today!!! From freshman to seniors, all of them had a good time visiting the vendors and exhibitors at the career show.
After the "day trip" members left to head back to Tri-County, all of the "week trip" members headed to the National Chapter Award Session to see Zed Bickett and Caleb Furrer walk across stage to recieve the FFA Chapter's National Chapter Award.
After the session, everyone headed back to the hotel to change before we headed up to Carmel to Laser Flash to play some laser tag with our friends in the Columbus FFA Chapter. We played 2 separate games of laser tag and played all of the fun arcades in the lobby. Oh, by the way, COMPLETE DOMINATION BY THE RED TEAM!!! But everyone had a lot of fun relaxing and getting to know our Southern Indiana Friends! Then we headed back to the hotel for some well deserved and needed sleep!!
Stay tuned, because there are A LOT more fun and exciting things happening this year at the 83rd National FFA COnvention!!!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
2010 National Convention - Wednesday
Today we were bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning as we began the day!! We headed into downtown Indy to set up the Agriscience Fair displays at Lucas Oil Stadium. Heather Lehe and Cassie Klaus are competing in the engineering division and Dakota Westphal and Alexis Pearson are competing in the environmental science division. After they got checked in and set up, they were scoping out the competition to see what their projects were. Everyone else also got a chance to walk through the Agriscience Fair projects to gain ideas for research for next year.
After setting up the Agriscience Fair projects in Lucas Oil, we all headed to Buca Di Beppo's to eat a delicious Italian lunch. It was quite and experience!! We ate in the famous Pope room where a bust of Pope Benedict the sixteenth was sitting in the middle of a lazy susan on the large round table. as the food was placed on the lazy susan and turned, the Pope would turn to watch everyone eat. The food was delicious and no ice cream cones were harmed during our entire stay (Robin)!
After Buca's, everyone headed to the career show to see all of the cool things it had to offer. Highlights this year included the cool cars and trucks in the Ford and Dodge stations, the cool games and fun activities in the Showmaster feeds booth, and even Roy Rodger's Trigger (stuffed of course)!! There were also many different colleges and university booths, potential employers, and we can't forget all of the FREE STUFF!!!
After the career show most of the group caught a quick bite to eat in the Circle Center food court before heading to Conseco Field House for the Opening session. In the session, we got to hear the inspiring reflections by the National Officers, the new Convention theme song and music video, (click here to see the video) and the annual Grand Entry of the National FFA Band and Chorus. It was also a sad moment to hear Dr. Larry Case, National FFA Advisor, give his last Member challenge before his retirement at the end of the year. Finally, we heard from a GREAT keynote speaker, Josh Shipp. His "non-motivational" motivational speak taught us to be positive and persevere despite our shortcomings and circumstances. If you would like to learn more about Josh Shipp, visit his website at http://www.andagoat.com/.
After the session, we practically ran back to Lucas Oil to rock out at the Easton Corbin and Lady Antebellum concert. It was a BLAST!! After the concert, we headed back to the hotel for the CDE competitors to get a quick rehearsal in before bed.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog and more of our exciting week at National FFA Convention in Indianapolis!!
After setting up the Agriscience Fair projects in Lucas Oil, we all headed to Buca Di Beppo's to eat a delicious Italian lunch. It was quite and experience!! We ate in the famous Pope room where a bust of Pope Benedict the sixteenth was sitting in the middle of a lazy susan on the large round table. as the food was placed on the lazy susan and turned, the Pope would turn to watch everyone eat. The food was delicious and no ice cream cones were harmed during our entire stay (Robin)!
After Buca's, everyone headed to the career show to see all of the cool things it had to offer. Highlights this year included the cool cars and trucks in the Ford and Dodge stations, the cool games and fun activities in the Showmaster feeds booth, and even Roy Rodger's Trigger (stuffed of course)!! There were also many different colleges and university booths, potential employers, and we can't forget all of the FREE STUFF!!!
After the career show most of the group caught a quick bite to eat in the Circle Center food court before heading to Conseco Field House for the Opening session. In the session, we got to hear the inspiring reflections by the National Officers, the new Convention theme song and music video, (click here to see the video) and the annual Grand Entry of the National FFA Band and Chorus. It was also a sad moment to hear Dr. Larry Case, National FFA Advisor, give his last Member challenge before his retirement at the end of the year. Finally, we heard from a GREAT keynote speaker, Josh Shipp. His "non-motivational" motivational speak taught us to be positive and persevere despite our shortcomings and circumstances. If you would like to learn more about Josh Shipp, visit his website at http://www.andagoat.com/.
After the session, we practically ran back to Lucas Oil to rock out at the Easton Corbin and Lady Antebellum concert. It was a BLAST!! After the concert, we headed back to the hotel for the CDE competitors to get a quick rehearsal in before bed.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog and more of our exciting week at National FFA Convention in Indianapolis!!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
2010 National FFA Convention - Infinite Potential
Wow!! It has been forever since the last blog, but we're back just in time for this year's National FFA Convention!
Today all of the "week trippers" couldn't wait until the end of school so we could load the bus and head down to Indianapolis for another fun and exciting National FFA Convention! Mr. Martin's jeep was loaded down with all of our luggage and we all piled into the bus and headed off down I-65! When we got to Indy, we checked into the hotel and then went to eat in downtown Indy at P.F. Chang's. For those who don't know, P.F. Chang's is a Chinese bistro. The food was delicious and the conversation was good too! Everyone was excited to be in Indy for the week! Once dinner was over, we headed back to the bus to go back to the hotel. We have to park our bus in the Victory Field parking lot, so we had fun walking the 5 or 6 blocks through downtown Indy experiencing "big city" life!! Some of us were amazed that we saw horse drawn carriages walking through the busy city streets.
Once we got back to the hotel, we had a short info meeting in the boys' room and then the Marketing team and the Agriscience Fair teams went to work practicing in the lobby while the other members experienced the pool.
Tomorrow we will get to sleep in a little before heading back to downtown to set up the Agriscience Fair exhibits at 10am. Then we are eating in the famous Pope room at Buca Di Beppo's for lunch and experiencing the career show for the first day. Tomorrow evening we will be inspired by the National Officers at the Opening Session in Conseco before heading to the Lady Antebellum Concert!!
Stay tuned throughout the week for more blog posts and also some student perspectives of our exciting week at National FFA Convention!!
Today all of the "week trippers" couldn't wait until the end of school so we could load the bus and head down to Indianapolis for another fun and exciting National FFA Convention! Mr. Martin's jeep was loaded down with all of our luggage and we all piled into the bus and headed off down I-65! When we got to Indy, we checked into the hotel and then went to eat in downtown Indy at P.F. Chang's. For those who don't know, P.F. Chang's is a Chinese bistro. The food was delicious and the conversation was good too! Everyone was excited to be in Indy for the week! Once dinner was over, we headed back to the bus to go back to the hotel. We have to park our bus in the Victory Field parking lot, so we had fun walking the 5 or 6 blocks through downtown Indy experiencing "big city" life!! Some of us were amazed that we saw horse drawn carriages walking through the busy city streets.
Once we got back to the hotel, we had a short info meeting in the boys' room and then the Marketing team and the Agriscience Fair teams went to work practicing in the lobby while the other members experienced the pool.
Tomorrow we will get to sleep in a little before heading back to downtown to set up the Agriscience Fair exhibits at 10am. Then we are eating in the famous Pope room at Buca Di Beppo's for lunch and experiencing the career show for the first day. Tomorrow evening we will be inspired by the National Officers at the Opening Session in Conseco before heading to the Lady Antebellum Concert!!
Stay tuned throughout the week for more blog posts and also some student perspectives of our exciting week at National FFA Convention!!
Student Perspective - Dakota Westphal & Alexis Pearson
It's Tuesday night and we are at our first National FFA Convention!!!! Today we went to P.F.Changs (Chinese) and the food was pretty good. It was surprising that they had actual desserts!!! Yay! Now we are at the hotel getting done with practice.
We are so excited for our contest, which is Agriscience Fair in Environmental Science division three. We are doing our project on water holding capacity of different soils. Tonight we practiced with Mr. Martin and he asked us questions after we presented to prepare us for the contest. We present to the judges on Thursday.
We are also excited about the concert that is tomorrow night. It is Lady Antebellum and they are amazing! Their songs are amazing too! We also get to eat at Buca de Beppo's in the pope room!
It has been a lot of fun so far and we can't wait for the rest of the week!
Your FFA buddies,
Dakota and Alexis :)
We are so excited for our contest, which is Agriscience Fair in Environmental Science division three. We are doing our project on water holding capacity of different soils. Tonight we practiced with Mr. Martin and he asked us questions after we presented to prepare us for the contest. We present to the judges on Thursday.
We are also excited about the concert that is tomorrow night. It is Lady Antebellum and they are amazing! Their songs are amazing too! We also get to eat at Buca de Beppo's in the pope room!
It has been a lot of fun so far and we can't wait for the rest of the week!
Your FFA buddies,
Dakota and Alexis :)
Thursday, June 10, 2010
State Convention Prep
Wow!! This spring has flown by!! We are now already working on preparing for state convention!
We have quite a few FFA members preparing for State FFA Convention this year. Here is the list of students who will be competing next week.
Career Development Events
Agricultural Issues Forum - Sarah Bruce, Robin Foutch, Heather Lehe, and Hayden Wilder
Agricultural Marketing - Naysa Westphal, Sarah Bruce, and Hayden Wilder AND Sarah Dobson, Erin Klaus, and Jenny Alter
Job Interview - Katie Demerly
Multimedia Scrapbook - Naysa Westphal
Plant and Soil Demonstration - Sarah Dobson and Erin Klaus
Public Speaking - Naysa Westphal
Proficiency Final Four Interviews
Fiber and Oil Crop Production - Rick Douglas
Grain Production Placement - Rick Douglas
Equine Science Placement - Naysa Westphal
Ag Mechanics Repair and Maintainance - Pat Klaus
Outdoor Recreation - Naysa Westphal
We all wish them the best of luck as they prepare!! I'll be sure to let you all know how they did!!
We have quite a few FFA members preparing for State FFA Convention this year. Here is the list of students who will be competing next week.
Career Development Events
Agricultural Issues Forum - Sarah Bruce, Robin Foutch, Heather Lehe, and Hayden Wilder
Agricultural Marketing - Naysa Westphal, Sarah Bruce, and Hayden Wilder AND Sarah Dobson, Erin Klaus, and Jenny Alter
Agriscience Fair -
Sarah Dobson and Erin Klaus
Heather Lehe and Cassie Klaus
Clayton Lear
Dakota Westphal and Alexis Pearson
Discovery Degree Agricultural Issues Forum- Dakota Westphal, Alexis Pearson, and Caitlin Waibel
Discovery Degree Demonstration - Dakota Westphal and Josie Douglas
Exhibit
Farm Business Management - Clayton Lear, Katie Demerly, Micheal Hammer, and Caleb Furrer
Farm Business Management Demonstration - Clayton Lear and Michael Hammer
Freshman Extemporaneous Public Speaking - Robin Foutch
Freshman Public Speaking - Sarah Bruce
Job Interview - Katie Demerly
Multimedia Scrapbook - Naysa Westphal
Plant and Soil Demonstration - Sarah Dobson and Erin Klaus
Public Speaking - Naysa Westphal
Proficiency Final Four Interviews
Fiber and Oil Crop Production - Rick Douglas
Grain Production Placement - Rick Douglas
Equine Science Placement - Naysa Westphal
Ag Mechanics Repair and Maintainance - Pat Klaus
Outdoor Recreation - Naysa Westphal
We all wish them the best of luck as they prepare!! I'll be sure to let you all know how they did!!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
January and February!
Hello all!!
The Chapter also had fun going to North Newton at the end of January to have some fun with the fellow FFA members of the District 1 FFA at the District Rec night!! The FFA members got to relax and have a good time playing games like euchre, Jinga, and even some volleyball and basketball!
School has flown by since it started back up in January! Especially since we've had so many snow days the last couple of weeks! But, we've also been busy with all of the activities of the FFA chapter too!
January saw the introduction of another new Career Development Event for the Tri-County FFA! Katie Demerly, Clayton Lear, Michael Hammer and Jamie Woodcock competed in the Ag. Sales CDE. The purpose of the Agriculture Sales Career Development Event is to provide an individual with the basic skills to take advantage of the career opportunities offered in the agricultural sales field. The team had a great first year, placing 5th in the state and learned a lot about the CDE. Congratulations team!!
Also, in January, Erin Klaus and Sarah Dobson had the chance to go to Leadership Development Workshop (LDW) and learn about what it means to be a leader that delivers the goods!! It was the first time either had been to the FFA Center and both had a great time meeting new people and participating in the fun activites like the Ultimate Challenge!! Erin especially had fun smearing peanut butter all over Sarah's face during the messy relay competition!
The Chapter also had fun going to North Newton at the end of January to have some fun with the fellow FFA members of the District 1 FFA at the District Rec night!! The FFA members got to relax and have a good time playing games like euchre, Jinga, and even some volleyball and basketball!
Even though February is the smallest month in the year, it is packed full of activities for the FFA!! Early in the month the FFA Officers went out into the community for our annual FFA Fund Drive! Thanks to the generous support of the Tri-County Community, the FFA Chapter was able to raise over $6,000 to be used to help FFA members pay for FFA camps and conferences, Career Development Events and all of the leadership activities that help the members learn. Thank you to all who gave for giving the future of our community and the agricultural community an opportunity to grow and develop in leadership!
February also saw more opportunities for success with more Career Development Events and also Proficiency Applications! Tri-County had a good showing at the District Chapter Meeting, Ag Issues, and Ag Communications CDE evening, bringing home a 1st place finish in Ag Communications, Chapter Ag Issues, and Discovery Degree Ag Issues, as well as 2nd in the Chapter Meeting CDE. The Ag Communications team consisted of Katie Demerly, Jenny Alter, Justin Hall, and Naysa Westphal . The Discover Ag Issues team included Dakota Westphal, Alexis Pearson, and Kaitlin Waibel. The Chapter Ag Issues team was Sarah Bruce, Hayden Wilder, Robin Foutch, and Heather Lehe. And the Chapter Meeting Team comprised of Katie Demerly, Pat Klaus, Erin Klaus, Rick Douglas, Naysa Westphal, Justin Hall, Michelle Furrer, and Heather Lehe. The evening, of course, would not have been complete without a trip to Monical's Pizza in Kentland!!
Until we meet again!!
Tri-County FFA
Monday, December 14, 2009
A Busy November and December
Wow!! It has been a while since I last posted! So much has happened since National FFA Convention.
About a week after, we held the blood drive here at the high school. Thank you to all you gave blood to help others in need. We hope you feel just as good about giving as we do about planning and host the drive. Hopefully, we can get even more people to give in the spring!
The next weekend a short bus load of FFA members got a chance to grow as leaders at the F.I.R.E. Conference in Trafalgar, IN, at the Indiana FFA Leadership Center. The state FFA Officers put on fun and engaging conference for the members in the "Jungles" of Trafalgar!! Reike and Geraldine, our foreign exchange students from Germany and Belgium, got to attend and really enjoyed their time at the Leadership Center.
Then, the day before Thanksgiving Break, a full bus load of students went to Purdue to compete in the C.H.E.F. (Crops, Horticulture, Entomology, and Forestry) CDE's. We were pleased to announce many in the top of the rankings were from Tri-County. The top two teams and three out of the top four individuals in the junior Horticulture CDE were Tri-County FFA members. Also, the Tri-County took home top honors in the Entomology CDE and the Crops team placed fifth which awarded both teams a trip to the state competition.
The first weekend in December brought the Remington Christmas parade in which the Tri-County FFA had a float. A number of FFA members braved the cold temperatures and high winds to ride the float again this year. Thanks to all who attended and a special thanks to Sarah Dobson and Erin Klaus for designing the float this year!!
That Tuesday, the FFA chapter also had its annual Christmas party at Katie Demerly's house! Everyone had a lot of fun and a lot of us got some "interesting" presents in the gift exchange!!
Saturday the 12th brought the State Crops and Entomology CDE's. We are happy to announce that both teams finished 5th in state competition!! Way to go teams!! We also had a first for Tri-County FFA. Alisha Bahler, Sarah Bruce, Robin Foutch, and Heather Lehe represented Tri-County for the first time in the State Food Science CDE. They had a lot of fun trying out this new competition and are excited to go at it again next year, now that they are familiar with the format of the CDE.
Well, fruit will be in tomorrow and we will have a lot to do to get it all delivered, so until I write again, Stay safe and warm this holiday season!!!
About a week after, we held the blood drive here at the high school. Thank you to all you gave blood to help others in need. We hope you feel just as good about giving as we do about planning and host the drive. Hopefully, we can get even more people to give in the spring!
The next weekend a short bus load of FFA members got a chance to grow as leaders at the F.I.R.E. Conference in Trafalgar, IN, at the Indiana FFA Leadership Center. The state FFA Officers put on fun and engaging conference for the members in the "Jungles" of Trafalgar!! Reike and Geraldine, our foreign exchange students from Germany and Belgium, got to attend and really enjoyed their time at the Leadership Center.
Then, the day before Thanksgiving Break, a full bus load of students went to Purdue to compete in the C.H.E.F. (Crops, Horticulture, Entomology, and Forestry) CDE's. We were pleased to announce many in the top of the rankings were from Tri-County. The top two teams and three out of the top four individuals in the junior Horticulture CDE were Tri-County FFA members. Also, the Tri-County took home top honors in the Entomology CDE and the Crops team placed fifth which awarded both teams a trip to the state competition.
The first weekend in December brought the Remington Christmas parade in which the Tri-County FFA had a float. A number of FFA members braved the cold temperatures and high winds to ride the float again this year. Thanks to all who attended and a special thanks to Sarah Dobson and Erin Klaus for designing the float this year!!
That Tuesday, the FFA chapter also had its annual Christmas party at Katie Demerly's house! Everyone had a lot of fun and a lot of us got some "interesting" presents in the gift exchange!!
Saturday the 12th brought the State Crops and Entomology CDE's. We are happy to announce that both teams finished 5th in state competition!! Way to go teams!! We also had a first for Tri-County FFA. Alisha Bahler, Sarah Bruce, Robin Foutch, and Heather Lehe represented Tri-County for the first time in the State Food Science CDE. They had a lot of fun trying out this new competition and are excited to go at it again next year, now that they are familiar with the format of the CDE.
Well, fruit will be in tomorrow and we will have a lot to do to get it all delivered, so until I write again, Stay safe and warm this holiday season!!!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
82nd National FFA Convention - Saturday
Unlike Friday where we got to sleep in, Saturday we were up bright and early to get to the start of the American Degree Session at Lucas Oil Stadium by 7:30am. We got to see Drake Babcock, Shane Bahler, Josh Bruce, Leslie Byers, Kelly Clark, Jim Bob Miller, and Marcus Schwab walk across stage to recieve their American Degrees. Brandon Kurtz also recieved his American Degree, but was unable to make it because of his service in the Navy. The American Degree is the highest degree a FFA member can recieve from the organization. We were very proud of each of them as they went across stage.
After the session and taking a bunch of pictures, we all headed to Weber Grill to celebrate with the American Degree recipients and their parents and family. The food was delicious and the company was even better!
After lunch, most of us headed to the last session. We got to see Andrew McCrea give his keynote speech and Paul Moya, National FFA President, give his retiring address. Then we saw the election of the new officers. To top it off we got to see Naysa perform for the last time at this Convention with the National FFA Band. It was a great end to a great Convention!
We hope that you have enjoyed reading about the adventures of the Tri-County FFA Chapter at the 82nd National FFA Convention and make sure you check back frequently to see what's going on in the chapter!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Student Perspective - Sarah Bruce
Coming to National Convention has been a new experience for me, and a fun one too!
We arrived in Indianapolis on Wednesday to nice weather. That day was a busy one and the first session was held. It was amazing! Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs spoke one of the most inspirational speeches I have heard. It truly was awe-inspiring. Then to top it all off we got great seats at the Toby Keith concert! It was a great day overall to kick off convention. :)
Thursday we had another session that was also inspirational. In the evening we went to Beef and Boards with dinner and a show. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was the show, and it was great.
Today I got to lend a helping hand with Habitat for Humanity, which was a first time experience. It feels so good to help others. Putting up siding, painting, and just helping out with even the smallest of things can impact a person's life.
I suggest coming to convention next year. There are so many things to do and learn here. FFA is a great organization! I've had a blast! I'm sure tomorrow will be great too.
We arrived in Indianapolis on Wednesday to nice weather. That day was a busy one and the first session was held. It was amazing! Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs spoke one of the most inspirational speeches I have heard. It truly was awe-inspiring. Then to top it all off we got great seats at the Toby Keith concert! It was a great day overall to kick off convention. :)
Thursday we had another session that was also inspirational. In the evening we went to Beef and Boards with dinner and a show. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was the show, and it was great.
Today I got to lend a helping hand with Habitat for Humanity, which was a first time experience. It feels so good to help others. Putting up siding, painting, and just helping out with even the smallest of things can impact a person's life.
I suggest coming to convention next year. There are so many things to do and learn here. FFA is a great organization! I've had a blast! I'm sure tomorrow will be great too.
82nd National FFA Convention - Friday
Today we got to sleep in a little bit before many of us went to the National FFA Days of Service. Eight of us went to help build three Habitat for Humanity houses for needy families in the Indianapolis area. We got to put up siding on the house and also paint the houses. It was really fun to get to do some work and also help others in need at the same time. But, because of the rain, we got a little muddy too!!
While those guys were off building houses, Rick, Pat, Robin, and Heather went with Mr. Scherer and Mr. Martin to the Agriscience Fair Awards Luncheon. We are proud to say that both teams finished with a silver rating in National Competition. They did a great job and a Robin and Heather are already making plans for next year's Agriscience Fair!
After the Day of Service participants returned to Victory Field, we all headed back to the hotel and changed so that we can go to Laser Flash in Carmel to eat pizza and play laser tag!! The Columbus FFA Chapter played with us, making the number of laser taggers 29! That made for much more fun!! Tonight was a first for many of the members and everybody had a blast!! Colby, Kyle and Sarah Bruce especially liked to hunt down Mr. Martin and Mr. Scherer once they got the hang of it for their first time! We also learned a new fun game from the Columbus FFA members called Ninja Tag!! We'll have to bring it back to the chapter so everyone can play! Thanks to the Columbus FFA chapter for making it a really fun evening!!!!
Tomorrow we will congratulate the American Degree recipients, eat at Weber Grill, and attend the closing session before heading back up North to Remington and Wolcott. Convention was so great, it's hard to believe it's almost over!! Stay tuned for the last day of the Tri-County FFA National FFA Convention Adventure!
While those guys were off building houses, Rick, Pat, Robin, and Heather went with Mr. Scherer and Mr. Martin to the Agriscience Fair Awards Luncheon. We are proud to say that both teams finished with a silver rating in National Competition. They did a great job and a Robin and Heather are already making plans for next year's Agriscience Fair!
We also got our last chance to go to the Career Show today before it closed. Mr. Martin and Mr. Scherer have stocked up on a lot of cool door prizes (free stuff) for the monthly FFA meetings!!
After the Day of Service participants returned to Victory Field, we all headed back to the hotel and changed so that we can go to Laser Flash in Carmel to eat pizza and play laser tag!! The Columbus FFA Chapter played with us, making the number of laser taggers 29! That made for much more fun!! Tonight was a first for many of the members and everybody had a blast!! Colby, Kyle and Sarah Bruce especially liked to hunt down Mr. Martin and Mr. Scherer once they got the hang of it for their first time! We also learned a new fun game from the Columbus FFA members called Ninja Tag!! We'll have to bring it back to the chapter so everyone can play! Thanks to the Columbus FFA chapter for making it a really fun evening!!!!
Tomorrow we will congratulate the American Degree recipients, eat at Weber Grill, and attend the closing session before heading back up North to Remington and Wolcott. Convention was so great, it's hard to believe it's almost over!! Stay tuned for the last day of the Tri-County FFA National FFA Convention Adventure!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Student Perspective - Heather Lehe
So far National Convention has been a blast! As this is my first year to go to Nationals and it has opened my eye to a lot of new places and opportunities. We've gone to the Career Show both days and with a room bigger than any at our school full with free "stuff" advertising for agricultural related subjects. Our shoes are getting shorter each day, wearing off as we walk between our activities! The escalators have been a big help (and entertainment) for all of us. Robin and I were judged this morning at 10 and my nerves didn't hit until Mr. Martin told me that we would probably be the next called. We finally got to laugh and we were ready! It's nerve-racking to wait for a day to find out how we did! Our evening fun has been so much fun. Toby last night was a once in a life-time opportunity here at Nationals, and tonight at Beef and Boards the musical was also a once in a life-time opportunity. A good play with good actors, and with Robin next to me, a very fun time. I can't wait to complete this week and hopefully continue to come back for years to come!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
82nd National FFA Convention - Thursday
Today We got up bright and early, had breakfast at the hotel and left for downtown by 8:30! Most of us went to the career show to get more FREE STUFF! Woo! Rick and Patrick and Robin and Heather headed to Lucas Oil Stadium to present their Agriscience Fair Projects to the judges. Both teams thought the did a pretty good job. We will find out tomorrow how they did at the luncheon. The boys also got a chance to show off their press conference skills in the lobby like the Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy! (Well, almost!)
Also today, 15 other Tri-County FFA members came down and got the chance to go through the Career Show. The week trippers met up with them at noon and we had lunch and got a picture before they headed home. We were excited to have almost 30 Tri-County FFA members experience convention!
The rest of us then headed to Conseco to watch Todd and Jenny walk across stage for recieve our award for being named a 3-star National FFA chapter!! We also got to hear Nessie Early give her retiring address and watched Clinton Central win the Chapter division of the Models of Innovation! Way to go Clinton Central!!
After the session we headed back to the hotel and changed to go to Beef n' Boards to see "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." It was AWESOME!!! Robin especially enjoyed the show and Rick even said that is was 'interesting!' (In a good way, I think!!) We gave it two thumbs up!! You should all go see it!!
We are pumped to head to the Habitat for Humanity house tomorrow for our 'Day of Service' experience! Check back tomorrow for more National FFA Convention adventures with the Tri-County FFA Chapter!!
82nd National FFA Convention - Wednesday
Well we arrived at the school bright and early to head down to Indianapolis to start this year's National FFA Convention experience. There are 16 of us including Mr. Scherer and Mr. Martin and we were all excited to be able to see all of the blue and gold jackets in downtown Indy. Mr. Scherer had an interesting experience with Pat and Rick on the way down in his truck to deliver the luggage to the hotel! They had fun sitting on the interstate for an hour! Rick made sure there was never a dull moment!!
Mr. Martin drove the shortbus with the rest of us and we headed first to Lucas Oil Stadium to help get the Agriscience Fair participants get their displays set up. Afterwords we all met up and got to see Naysa perform with the National FFA Band before the opening of the Career Show! They sound great!
Then we headed to Buca de Beppo's for a new experience for some of us. It was the first time a few of the kids had ever been to an Italian resturant! It was a fun experience seeing all of the interesting pictures on the wall and eating some great food. We all got to test our dining etiquette too! I think the boys started to think the girls were heading to the restroom more than usual because they had to stand up an awful lot when they left and returned to the table.
After Buca's, we all got to go to the career show! We got A LOT of cool free stuff and saw some pretty interesting things! I can't wait for tomorrow when we get to head back! After the career show we headed to Conseco Field house for the Opening Session of Convention. The lazer light show was pretty awesome and the keynote speaker was really cool too! The speaker was Mike Rowe, host of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel. He did a great job and really related to the FFA members in the audience!
After dinner and a quick trip to the hotel to change, we finished up the night at Lucas Oil Stadium at the Toby Keith concert! It was awesome because not only did he sing, but there were also a lot of fireworks and pyrotechnics!! We were in the 8th row too!! Some of us got up so close we could almost touch him. It was really fun dancing and singing along to all of our favorite Toby Keith songs!
Tomorrow the Agriscience fair participants will be presenting to the judges early in the morning and Todd and Jenny will walk across stage to recieve our 3 star chapter rating. We will also get to see the other FFA members from Tri-County who are coming down for the day to see the Career Show! We will also be going to Beef and Boards tomorrow evening.
Stay tuned for more updates of convention!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
September Fun!!
September has been filled with many exciting things for the Tri-County FFA. To start the month off, the Middle School FFA helped clean up a part of U.S. 24 with the Adopt-A-Highway project. Over 15 members participated and enjoyed a delicious pizza party afterwards!
Then, our very own Katie Demerly participated in PLT (Premier Leadership Training) as a member of the District 1 FFA Officer team. Then she, along with her fellow district officers, hosted the District 1 Kick-off at Twin Lakes high school. The Tri-County FFA had 17 members attend and we all had a lot of fun learning about leadership skills and many of the opportunities in the FFA from the State Officers!!
Then, our very own Katie Demerly participated in PLT (Premier Leadership Training) as a member of the District 1 FFA Officer team. Then she, along with her fellow district officers, hosted the District 1 Kick-off at Twin Lakes high school. The Tri-County FFA had 17 members attend and we all had a lot of fun learning about leadership skills and many of the opportunities in the FFA from the State Officers!!
The Tri-County FFA also sold Truck Stampede tickets at the home football games. We will be selling them again this Friday night at Senior night. If you haven't gotten your ticket yet, make sure you come to the game and get one and support the Tri-County and Indiana FFA! You could win a brand new 2009 Chevy Silverado 4x4 pick-up truck!!! For just a $5 donation to the FFA, you could be entered in to win! all of the proceeds go to support the FFA activities at the local and state levels.
In October, the FFA has many things planned including attending SOAR (Seeking Opportunities and Achieving Results), Hosting all of our parents and recognizing our degree recipients at the Degree Banquet, Attending National FFA Convention, attending the Area and hopefully State Soils Evaluation CDE, Attending Middle School FFA Day at the FFA Leadership Center in Trafalgar, hosting an agriculture department bonfire at Mr. Martin's house, and getting out and selling some fruit. Stay tuned as we continue to update the blog with all of the activities of the Tri-County FFA!!!
If you would like to buy fruit to support the Tri-County FFA, you can email Mr. Martin at martinj@trico.k12.in.us, and he can get you more information about ordering.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Tri-County FFA in the ciber-age!!
The Tri-County FFA has hit the big time with a cool new blog that will hopefully help you learn about all of the exciting things happening in the chapter!
We hope you to check back frequently to see new posts!
We hope you to check back frequently to see new posts!
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