January and February!

Hello all!!

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

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!!!

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!

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.

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!

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!

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!

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!!