VERSAILLES, Ohio — To kick off the month of October the Fort Loramie FFA chapter sent nine first-year FFA members to the 2011 State Greenhand Conference hosted by the Versailles FFA Chapter. These members included Hailey Wray, Amanda Seger, Sara Maurer, Ashley Pleiman, Lindsey Pleiman, Janell Hoying, Bailey Koverman, Elizabeth Kunkler and Sara Bornhorst. The theme for this year’s conference was “First Down and Life to Go.”

First-year Greenhand member Janell Hoying said, “attending the Greenhand Conference made me aware of all the different opportunities throughout the FFA. It was also a lot of fun and a good way to meet other FFA members in the area.”

Members attended several workshops to learn about opportunities in the FFA, setting goals, working together as teams and proper communication skills. They also had the opportunity to gain experience with a variety of Career Development Events.

Additionally, eight Fort Loramie agricultural education students recently attended the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind. These members included Katelyn Seger, Taylor Broerman, Brandon Barlage, Sara Meyer, Doug Seger, Amy Holthaus Laura Poeppelman and Lindsey Pleiman.

FFA members first started of their trip by getting involved with Community Service at Agape Food Pantry in Sidney where they helped to package and label items. During their trip they also went on a variety of different tours to experience all types of agriculture careers. These tours included trips to a Chevy truck manufacturing plant, Beck’s Hybrid seeds, Tyson Meat processing plant and Fair Oaks Dairy.

First-year member Lindsey Pleiman said, “Visiting Beck’s Hybrid was an awesome way to experience another side of agriculture outside of our community.”

Members also attended several sessions of the National FFA Convention led by the National FFA officers. 

Six former Fort Loramie FFA members received their American FFA Degrees.  These members included Tyler Magoto, Guy Meinerding, Beth Poeppelman, Nathan Holthaus, Kyle Poeppelman and Jacob Meyer. Another past FFA member, Stacie Seger, competed at the National level in the public speaking CDE after placing first at the state level. Stacie competed with 42 other members, and placed in the top 16.

The Fort Loramie FFA is a satellite program of the Upper Valley Career Center. 

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — On Oct. 19-22, the Amanda-Clearcreek FFA chapter had the opportunity to send members to attend the 86th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind. There were 29 members, one chaperone and the two advisors, Mr. Tilley and Mr. Sharp, who attended the trip. 

The group stayed at the Ruth Lily Outdoor Center, which is part of the Flat Rock YMCA. The chapter attended many sessions, met other FFA members from across the nation, went on various educational tours, and even attended the Buckeye Bash, a large dance for Ohio FFA members where students had the opportunity to meet other Ohio FFA members attending the convention.

The members toured at the Cincinnati Zoo’s endangered species research center, and Homestead Primitives where members learned about value-added agriculture. They also toured the Ozark Fisheries Indiana Hatchery, learning about the raising of various aquacultural species, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and Track, and finally toured the Indiana State Museum, which was featuring a special exhibit about corn. 

The members also were able to see two graduate members receive their American FFA Degrees. The chapter had three recipients earn the degree; they were Brittany Stevens, David Sams and Tyler Van Horn. The American FFA Degree is the highest degree a member can achieve within the FFA. Members must be graduated from high school, have earned their State FFA Degree and must continue their Supervised Agricultural Experience program. It is a great accomplishment for these members as they are all now in college but have managed to find the time to complete their FFA experiences.

Also, the Amanda-Clearcreek FFA had a team participate in a contest at the national level for the fifth straight year. The National Ag Issues Forum CDE team represented Ohio as they were the state winning team from the previous school year. The members participating were: Hannah Chenetski, Caitlin Robinson, Kelsie Sharp and Sierra Jepsen. This is the first year that Ohio has competed in this national contest, so it was a learning experience for all. The team received a bronze rating and learned much about how the contest is run at the national level, bringing that knowledge back to the state so that next year’s Ohio team can better represent the Buckeye state. 

The chapter also had two members, Aaron Miller and Sierra Jepsen, who attended the convention serving as official delegates for Ohio due to their status as State FFA Officers. Aaron is currently serving as State FFA Treasurer and Sierra is serving as District 7 President. 

Overall, the members who attended had many opportunities to learn much about the FFA, about agriculture and the world around them.