Busy months

The Minot FFA sure had a busy past two months this February and March.

The week of Feb. 22-26 was National FFA Week. FFA Week is a nationwide event that FFA Chapters participate in to show who they are to their communities, show their appreciation to those who support them, and hopefully bring in new members. The Minot FFA participates in five different activities throughout the week: on Monday, members sold root beer floats at both schools and gave the proceeds to Alyssa Pratt, a local freshman who has leukemia; on Tuesday, they hosted a pie social for the teachers and members of the community; on Wednesday, the Minot FFA Alumni chapter came to the school grilled burgers and hot dogs for students at central campus; and on Thursday, the chapter had its monthly meeting and afterward went sledding at Bel Air elementary. FFA Week is a nationwide event and is very important to the mission of the FFA and getting new members involved.

They also competed at the Valley City Winter Show State Competition March 4-5. The Valley City Winter Show is the site of the Winter State Competition for the North Dakota FFA. Minot sent a full team to each of the three contests: Livestock Evalutation, Ag. Sales, and Crops Judging. Livestock Evaluation consists of judging sheep, pigs, and beef, two classes each, and give three sets of reasons on one class of each animal. Minot sent a four-person team of Jordan Kauffman, the chapter president, who earned a gold, Alicia Van Sweringen, who also got gold, Brooke Dahl, who received silver along with Shonda Gasmann. Overall the team earned fifth place with a gold.

In ag sales, contestants sell an agriculturally related product of their choosing to a customer and are scored by judges and take a 50-question test. The team taken to State consisted of Megan Haner, who placed fourth with a gold, Leah VanTilborg, who took fifth with a gold, Jordan Peterson and Maria Pitner both took home gold medals, and Tessa Cammel brought home a silver. Overall, the team took first place and will be advancing to National Convention later this year.

Crops judging is a contest that tests the knowledge of crops and weeds in North Dakota. Contestants must identify seeds and plants, judge pan classes and market factors of seeds. The Crops team from Minot was comprised of Joe Berg, gold, Jordan Zietz, gold, Ethan Hanson, silver, Hailey Zumbaum, silver, and Ashley Reedy, silver. The team brought home a gold placing. All teams who went to the Winter Show worked very hard and it paid off for them.

The Minot FFA Alumni will be hosting the annual Alumni Auction on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. in the FFA Hall at the North Dakota State Fair Center. Proceeds from this event go to the Alumni who give large amounts of financial support to the Minot FFA members and chapter as a whole. There is a large variety of items to be auctioned off for great deals from furniture to baked goods. I strongly recommend that anyone who can attend this event does as it will greatly help the Minot FFA Chapter with upcoming endeavors, such as State FFA Convention.