The 2008-2009 school year will shortly be coming to an end, and the new school year will be upon us.  Members have taken part in several different activities since the last Farm and Ranch - Heartland Express article, which featured the chapters of District 4. 

   One of the Crofton Chapter members received an exceptional gift, through some hard work.  Kayla Boelter was selected to receive a free FFA jacket and scarf, which were given to her as part of the “Nebraska FFA Jacket Fund.”  All new members were eligible to enter, and approximately 40 members from

across the state were selected for this honor.  Congratulations Kayla!!

   Two of our chapter members, Lindsey Kuehler and Joslyn Foxhoven, received news that they had been selected for the Nebraska State FFA Honor Choir.  They, and 95 other chosen members from across the state, performed at the State FFA Convention.  Congratulations Lindsey and Joslyn!!

   The District FFA Leadership Skills Events (LSE) were held at Creighton High School on December 10, 2008.  There were over ten schools competing and Crofton had several teams or individuals who competed in the different events.  The results of this competition were as follows:  The Sr. Parliamentary Procedure team of Mollie Wilken, Amy Krepel, Dacey Braunsroth, Austin Mann, Shelby Arens, A.J. Petersen, and Bryce Zavadil were crowned District Champions!!  The team of Emma Tramp, Alyssa Pavlik, Deryk Wortmann, Cassie Tramp, Preston Mueller, Travis Poppe, Raychel Schurman, and Kelsea Siebrandt earned Reserve Champion honors in the Jr. Parliamentary Procedure competition.  Both teams went on to represent the District IV at the State Competition, held April 1-4. 

   Also at the District LSE’s several members received gold, blue, or red ribbons in these speaking events: Discovery Speaking, Sr. Public Speaking, Creed Speaking, Natural Resources speaking, Cooperative Speaking, Extemporaneous Speaking, Job Interview, and Jr. High quiz bowl.

   December is also our big fruit delivery month and it was as big as ever!  We are very fortunate to be living in such a giving community.  Everyone is always so generous when supporting the chapter by buying fruit, meat, cheese, bird houses and popcorn.  After the majority of the fruit has been delivered, members of the chapter got together to assemble and deliver fruit plates to the residents of Cottonwood Villa.  It is a very enjoyable outing. 

   January brought about the District Livestock Judging contest in Norfolk at the Northeast Community College Agriculture Complex.  Both the senior and junior livestock judging teams competed well. 

 

   The senior team of Joslyn Foxhoven, Nate Merchen, Mollie Wilken and Dacey Braunsroth earned first place out of 24 teams, and the senior 2 team received 7th place.  The junior team of Dominic Miller, Kelsea Siebrandt, Jordan Braunsroth, and Elizabeth Kube earned 2nd out of 22 teams and the junior 2 team received 5th place.

   The Crofton FFA Chapter, like many others around the nation, celebrated National FFA Week the week of February 23rd through the 27th.  There were many fun activities the students could participate in.  There was a homeroom challenge, lockers were decorated with posters, a teacher appreciation breakfast, drive your tractor to school day, official dress, and FFA t-shirt days.  Members also took a short trip to both of the elementary schools to promote FFA to the younger children.  Ten members braved the blizzard-like weather to attend the Made for Excellence/ Advanced Leadership Development Conference in Kearney, on Friday and Saturday of FFA week. 

   Members also participated in the District Career Development Events, held March 2nd in Norfolk at Northeast Community College.  The CDE’s are different competitions such as floriculture, welding, farm management, and food science.  This competition was a great success with many members qualifying for the state competition.  The teams that qualified for the state competition were Agriscience, Agronomy, Envirothon, Livestock Management, and Floriculture.  The Agriscience team of Katie Mueller, Elizabeth Kube, Austin Jones, and Jordan Braunsroth earned first place.  Individually, Katie earned 1st and Nathan Hoffman from team 2 earned second.  The Agronomy team consisted of Jesse Augustin and Randy Ausdemore, who tied for first place individually, and Trevor Arens and Dominic Pedersen who earned second and third, respectively.  Charlie Sukup earned first place individually on the Floriculture team, leading her team to a third place finish. 

 

   The Envirothon team consisted of Sara Kohles, A.J. Petersen, Courtney Foxhoven and Charlie Sukup.  By earning 2nd in the entire region, the team earned a spot at the State Envirothon Competition, which will be held on May 2nd at Ponca State Park. 

   At the 81st Nebraska State FFA Convention, which was held April 1-3 in Lincoln, Crofton members earned many prestigious awards! 

 

   Joslyn Foxhoven was awarded the State FFA Degree, which is the highest degree which can be bestowed on an FFA member at the state level.  Austin Mann who was previously selected as a state finalist for his beef production-placement proficiency was interviewed and selected as the state champion!  He will go on to represent Nebraska in the National competition. The Senior Parliamentary Procedure team, which won districts in December made it to finals and earned 4th place gold.  The Junior Parli Pro team earned a bronze rating. 

 

   Other highlights for placings included a purple in poultry and dairy for the Livestock Management team of Nicole Allvin, Jason Loecker, Taylor Kube, Nate Merchen and Tyler Steffen.  The Natural Resources team earned a purple and Sara and A.J. earned individual purple ribbons.  The Junior High Quiz Bowl team of Abby Braun, Riley Haberman, Taylor Tammen and Wesdon Wortmann were also very thrilled to earn trophies for third place on Friday during convention!  

   The Crofton FFA chapter will be ending the 2008-2009 school year with interviews of the 2009-2010 officers, which will be held April 16th and will be conducted by the senior officers, Joslyn Foxhoven, Jesse Augustin, Patty Zuhlke, and Mrs. Mann.  The new officers will be announced at the chapter banquet, which will be held April 27th at 6:30 p.m.  The 2009-2010 officers will be kicking off the new school year by attending the Chapter Officer Leadership Training Conference on May 18-20 in Aurora, Nebraska. 

   As you can imagine, the thousands of FFA members who are involved in the 134 chapters across the state of Nebraska gain countless skills through activities such as those mentioned earlier.  As we look forward to the new school year, we must also voice some concern.  There is a real chance that funding for the Nebraska FFA Association as well as the other student career organizations in the state such as FCCLA, SkillsUSA, DECA, FBLA and HOSA may be coming to an end very soon. 

 

   Without funding, these organizations will cease to exist.  Legislative Bill 476, which was introduced by Senator Stuthman, would give these state associations much needed funding.  If you would like more information about this bill, you can visit www.supportstudentleaders.com to see what you can do to help keep such organizations in our schools systems in Nebraska. 

   Although we are facing many upcoming challenges, we continue to look forward to them as well as the many wonderful leadership opportunities which await us during the next school year.  Thank you, and have a wonderful summer!

 

Patricia Zuhlke, 2008-2009 Crofton FFA Chapter Reporter
and Stephanie Mann, Crofton FFA Advisor