This year has been a very busy and successful one for the Scottsbluff FFA Chapter. 64 members make up the Chapter this year. The 2008-2009 Senior Officer team consists of Cody Pedulla-President, Shelby Winchell-Vice-President, 2nd Vice-President-Brittany DeCrocker, Secretary-Sara Aschenbrenner, Treasurer-Tiffany Jones, Reporter-Shelby Duncan, Sentinel-Jaimee Rogers, and Parliamentarian-Sarah Fulk.

Members of the chapter participated in over 15 contests, including those who have qualified for state this year. Twenty-six members have qualified for the state contest this year. The contests qualified consist of; Ag Demonstration, Job Interview, Junior Parliamentary Procedure, Floriculture, Welding, Ag Mechanics, Senior Livestock Judging, Meats Evaluation, along with two members participating in the state honor choir.

Along with participating in contests and chapter activities, members are also giving back to the community. Every year the chapter holds a can food drive at the annual Christmas party. This year the chapter collected 1,300 lbs. of canned food and donated it all to the Panhandle Community Services Food Bank. Among the community activities the chapter organized this year was the annual Test Your Well Water held at the KNEB Farm & Ranch Expo. Here, citizens bring in samples of their well water, it is tested to see if it is safe to drink and use and the results are given back to the owner. The Chapter tested over 50 samples this year. Along with test your well water, every year the chapter members assist with an event called Water Wonders. Here 5th graders from around the county attend the day long event which educates them on water safety and use and conservation of water.

Another activity that involves youth in the community is Kids Explore. Here our FFA chapter has a booth which provides a free petting zoo for the children. It’s a great way to get kids to interact with Agriculture and animals. National FFA Week brought many fun and involving activities for the chapter members this year. Each day of FFA week the members organized and completed the following events.

-Monday: The chapter performed a school campus clean-up
-Tuesday: The junior officers conducted the chapter meeting that was held for all members.
-Wednesday: Members wore the school colors red and black.
-Thursday: The Junior and Senior officer teams held a breakfast for school faculty members.
-Friday: Members wore their chapter FFA T-shirts

To help fund some of the activities we do as a chapter every year, members conduct inner-tube pickups and the labor auction every year. The labor Auction was open to any public buyers interested. Before the auction began, the free chili feed was provided for the 30-40 buyers, 63 members, and family present. For the inner-tube pickups, members that volunteer their free time go around town and collect inner-tubes from various locations.

Overall the Scottsbluff FFA Chapter has been proudly involved in community, chapter and student development activities. We have once again had a very busy yet successful year. The members of the chapter really are the community’s hard working leaders.