West Central FFA members recently represented the chapter and District VII at the State FFA Leadership CDE’s in Pierre.  Members earned a berth in the state events by qualifying in the District CDE’s held in November at West Central.  Nine area schools comprise District VII.

Members toured the capitol while in Pierre.  Pictured from left to right are – front row –Riley Olson, Joe Schartz, Shannon Miller, Melinda Knuth, Breanna Gray and Anthony Even.  Back row – Maty Skinner, Mrs. Petersen, Liz Renner, Dean Knuth, Rachel Schartz, Sara Waldner and Jorry Lammers.

Congratulations to the following FFA members who competed in the State Leadership CDE’s in Pierre on Sunday and Monday.  Placings are as follows:

In prepared public speaking – Jorry Lammers  - 5th

Market Plan team of Melinda Knuth, Rachel Schartz and Dean Knuth – 3rd

Job Interview – Melinda Knuth – 7th

Ag Issues team of Maty Skinner, Liz Renner, Breanna Gray, Dan Kapperman, Anthony Even, Joe Schartz and Shannon Miller – 3rd.

Ag Broadcasting Journalism – Liz Renner – 1st

First place teams and individuals advance to national competition next October during the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis.

On November 15, 2011, FFA members from nine area schools competed in the District VII Leadership CDE’s (Career Development Events).  At stake, a trip to the State Leadership CDE’s in Pierre in December.  The top three individuals and the top two teams in each CDE qualify for the state competition.  Members competing from West Central included:

Extemp Speaking – Rachel Schartz -1st, Adrew Kapperman- alternate.

Prepared Public Speaking – Melinda Knuth- 2nd, Jorry Lammers – 3rd

Job Interview – Melinda Knuth – 1st, Maty Skinner – 2nd

Creed Speaking – Sara Waldner – 3rd, Dean Knuth – 4th

Ag Sales – Jorry Lammers – 5th, Gerrit Pearson – 7th

Ag Broadcasting – Liz Renner – 1st, Riley Olson – 2nd

Market Plan team of Melinda Knuth, Dean Knuth, Rachel Schartz – 2nd

Ag Issues team of Breanna Gray, Anthony Even, Dan Kapperman, Shannon Miller, Liz Renner, Joe Schartz and Maty Skinner -1st.

First place individuals and teams at the State Leadership CDE’s will advance to represent South Dakota in October in Indianapolis in the National CDE’s.

District Officers were elected based upon an interview process.  Serving for the 2011-12 year from West Central are Student Advisor – Justin Boll, Reporter – Maty Skinner; West Central, Vice President – Ellie Peterson and President – Liz Renner.

The West Central FFA Alumni, South Dakota FFA Foundation and the West Central FFA Chapter recently awarded several members with an FFA Jacket of their own.

Our theme for the year is “What it means to wear blue is up to you”  In keeping with this theme we wanted to help other members to understand all the cool places your FFA jacket can take you.  The officer team developed a application for interested students to complete.  Once completed the students names were removed and the applications were sent to all WCFFA Alumni Members and the WCFFA Officer team for scoring.  Each application was given a score between 1 and 10.  Only those applications earning an average score of 6 or higher were awarded a jacket on October 27 at our FFA and FFA Alumni Picnic.

Jackets sponsored by the SD FFA Foundation were awarded to Dan Kapperman and Cole Becker.

The WCFFA Alumni presented 2 jackets to Darren Kueter and Dean Knuth

Archie, Lisa and Austin Wolfe sponsored jackets for two individuals. Receiving a jacket from the Wolfe’s are Rachel Schartz and Justin Boll.

The remainder of the jackets we awarded were sponsored by the FFA Chapter through a grant from the Ford Motor Company.  Those receiving jackets from the chapter were Connor Miles, Ashlynn Henning, Bailey Huls, Amber Weber, Ellie Peterson and Andrew Kapperman.

We’d like to congratulate all our Jacket Recipients and thank our sponsors!  If you are interested in sponsoring a jacket, the cost is $55.00, you can make a donation through the donate button on the right sidebar of this site.  We wish we had been able to provide jackets for all of the 25 members who applied.

In case you have not heard, we have three videos in the top 10 for the South Dakota Soybean Contest.  We have between now and November 18th at 4:00 p.m. to gather as many views as possible.  The top video earns $1000 for the creators and $1000 for the chapter.  Subsequent places also earn cash prizes.  To view all the top 10 videos follow this link.

Here are our top three videos:

Raised This Way from sdsoybean on Vimeo.

Touchdown for Milk! from sdsoybean on Vimeo.

Proper Care & Shelter of Livestock from sdsoybean on Vimeo.

Thanks for viewing all of our videos!

Twenty five members of the West Central FFA Chapter recently competed in Career Development Events (CDE) in Brookings at the Jackrabbit Invitational sponsored by the SDSU Collegiate FFA Organization. Thirty schools were represented in the competition which tested members abilities in 10 different Leadership CDE’s including individual events as well as team events.

West Central FFA members placed as follows:

Prepared Public Speaking
Melinda Knuth – 1st                                                                                                                 Jorry Lammers – 4th                                                                                                           Andrew Kapperman – 11th

Job Interview
Melinda Knuth– 2nd
Maty Skinner – 4th

Ag Sales                                                                                                                                     Jorry Lammers – 3rd
Zach Zeig – 15th                                                                                                                      Layne Krier – 16th

Creed Speaking
Dean Knuth -17th                                                                                                                         Sara Waldner – 22nd
Amber Weber 23rd

Ag Broadcasting                                                                                                                       Riley Olson – 5th                                                                                                                        Evan Thyberg – 13th

Ag Issues
Team of Joe Schartz, Shannon Miller, Anthony Even, Dan Kapperman, Maty Skinner, Liz Renner and Breanna Gray – placed 1st

Market Plan
Team of Melinda Knuth, Rachel Schartz and Dean Knuth placed 1st

Members earned points for each placing.  Total points earned by each chapter are added to determine which chapter won the sweepstakes award for the event.  West Central FFA  came in second in the sweepstakes competition!

The top two individuals in events and one team per school will compete in the District Leadership CDE’s on November 15th for a chance to advance to state competition in Pierre in early December.

Indianapolis, IN was home to the 84th National FFA Convention October 19-23, 2011.  West Central FFA members were well represented during the week!  We are especially proud of our Central Region Vice President Wyatt Dejong!  We are honored to call him one of our own!

Liz Renner earned a bronze medal in the National Extemporaneous Speaking CDE.

Shannon Miller earned a bronze medal in the National Job Interview CDE!

While at convention we heard inspiring speakers, toured the nation’s largest career show, attended leadership workshops and watched our fellow members compete in numerous CDEs.   To view video coverage of just a portion of the convention, follow this link.

Liz Renner will compete in the National FFA Extemporaneous Speaking CDE. Event participants are given 30 minutes to prepare a speech on a general agricultural topic.  The speech must be four to six minutes in length.  At the conclusion of the speech, the judges may question the speaker for five minutes.  Finalists are selected based on speech delivery, content and responses to the questions.  national contestants will advance through preliminary and semifinal rounds with the top four speakers competing in the final national even.  FFA members competing in the Extemporaneous Speaking CDE are exceptional at organizing their thoughts into a comprehensive and logical presentation, additionally building their confidence, poise and presentation skills.  The Extemporaneous Speaking CDE is sponsored by the American Farm Bureau Federation.  Renner will compete for $4000 in scholarship money during the event.  Renner advanced to the national competition by winning a berth in the State Extemporaneous Speaking CDE last December in Pierre.

Renner will compete during the 84th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN October 18 – 23, 2011.  She is a member of the West Central FFA Chapter and is advised and coached by Linda Petersen

Introducing the 2011-12 West Central FFA Chapter Officer Team!  Officers were elected through an interview process during the spring of 2011 and officers were installed at the Annual FFA Parent Member Banquet in May

Front Row: Liz Renner, Melinda Knuth and Shannon Miller

Back Row: Maty Skinner, Anthony Even, Joe Schartz and Jorry Lammers

Over the summer the officers participated in a leadership retreat to build their skills and plan events and set goals for the coming year.

The Chapter Officers work hard to promote the FFA and the industry of Agriculture throughout our community and country.  They also find time to have fun and build friendships with their teammates.

West Central FFA members recently helped run the FFA Animal Nursery during the South Dakota State Fair.  Members clean pens, feed and water the animals, keep the animal nursery clean and discuss South Dakota and American agriculture with guests at the fair.  This years exhibit included puppies, rabbits, calves, horses, a donkey, Button Quail, Pheasants, chicks, feeder pigs, Cosmo the Camel and 2 Belgian Draft horse foals among many other animals.

Rachel Schartz helps a youngster to pet a young rabbit.

Joe Schartz and Anthony Even add clean bedding to animal pens during the State Fair.

Layne Krier makes sure that all the pens are clean.

Melinda Knuth and Dan Kapperman take a break near one of the informational exhibits.  The Animal Nursery was a busy place during the 2011 State Fair!  South Dakota FFA members helped to make the Animal Nursery fun and educational for families visiting the fair.

Ashley Fritz, Stephanie Howey and Melissa VanDerWerff, members of the West Central FFA Chapter will be awarded the American FFA Degree during the 84th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana in October. Earning the degree means they are among a select group of individuals to be recognized for years of academic and professional excellence.

The American FFA Degree is the highest award that can be bestowed upon an FFA member.  Roughly 3500 members will be awarded the degree during the National FFA Convention.  This represents one half of one percent of all members.  The American FFA recognizes demonstrated leadership ability and outstanding achievements in agricultural business, production, processing or service programs.  To be eligible, members must have earned and productively invested $7,500 through a supervised agricultural experience (SAE) program in which they start, own, or hold a professional position in an existing agriculture enterprise.  Recipients must also make it their mission to demonstrate outstanding leadership abilities and community involvement.  

Fritz, Howey and VanDerWerff are three of approximately 3500 members out of more than  523,309 FFA members to earn the degree.  The American FFA Degree recognition program is sponsored by Case IH, DTN, Farm Credit, Pioneer Hi-Bred and Syngenta.  Their FFA Advisor is Linda Petersen.