November Updates

The Warsaw FFA Chapter website is FINALLY up and running! We are going to be using this as a resource to get information out to you guys. I know some of you spend a great amount of time on the internet so this should be a great way to keep you guys up to date on what's going on. Citrus Fruit Sales Remember: All Citrus fruit orders are due November 30th! This is the LAST day for orders to be turned in! Fruit will be delivered on December 7th during the school day. This means we are going to need members to stay after and help sort fruit. There has been a sign-up sheet in Mrs. Markley's room for the past month or so. If you have not signed up, please do! This will not be the only day we need members to stay after. We will also need you guys on the 8th to help as people come and pick up their fruit orders. We might also need you on the 9th depending on how the other two days. Area X Crops, Forestry, and Entomology Contest Congratulations to all of those that participated at contest on Tuesday, November 24th! It was an AWESOME night for Warsaw. Following are the results: Crop Teams Advancing to State - 1st place team: Carrie Hawley, Gianna Hartman, Bryce Sands, & Kyle Quick. - 2nd place team: Maryssa Hawley, Mary Bonheimer, Ashley Byrer, & Alyssa Gaerte Top Crops Individuals - 1st place: Gianna Hartman - 2nd place: Kyle Quick - 3rd place: Carrie Hawley - 4th place: Maryssa Hawley - 5th place: Mary Bonheimer Forestry Team Advancing to State - 4th place team: Taylor Hartman, Jesse O'Hara, & Melanie Wilson Top Forestry Individual - 5th place: Taylor Hartman Entomology Team Advancing to State - 1st place team: Alex Hodges, Ashley Morgan, & Brittney Kennedy Top Entomology Individuals - 3rd place: Ashley Morgan - 4th place: Brittney Kennedy - 5th place: Alex Hodges Other participating individuals include: Melissa Howard (Crops), Cecilia Burchett (Forestry), Maralee Frush (Forestry), Bridget Engle (Forestry), Alex Davis (Jr. Forestry), Kevin Hawley (Jr. Entomology). Teams advancing on to state contest will be competing on Saturday, December 12th at Purdue University. Adopt-A-Family The Warsaw FFA Chapter has adopted a family! This is going to serve as our winter community service project. Members of this committee have done an awesome job getting everything together for this! In Mrs. Markley's room, there is a bulletin board decorated with paper ornaments. Each ornament contains one item that a child from our adopted family asked for. If you are interested, please go to Mrs. Markley's room and take one of these ornaments. All items are due on December 15th. We are also having a canned food drive for the family. There are boxes set up in Mrs. Markley's room for you guys to put the canned food in. However, please note that we are not only taking canned food. We are also taking any non-perishable goods that are commonly used around the house (i.e. paper towels, laundry detergent, soap, etc.). If you guys have any questions, please see Cheyenne Blanchard. If you can't find her (she co-ops) you can come see me (Gianna Hartman). PALS The next PALS visit will be on Tuesday, December 1st. Cecilia Burchett is planning this visit. Our theme is going to be "Candy Canes". She's going to look into how candy canes are made and then share it with the 2nd graders. It's going to be a great time! Please sign up in Mrs. Jarrett's or Mrs. Markley's room if you are planning on attending. The other PALS visit in December will be on the 15th. Cheyenne Blanchard has been planning this one out for about a month now. At our last PALS visit, she took pictures of all the 2nd graders and is going to print them out and have them decorate a holiday-related magnet with their picture. It's going to be pretty cool. Come check it out! Sign-up sheets aren't up yet for this visit but they will be on December 1st. If you are interested in planning any PALS visits, please see Gianna Hartman or Jesse O'Hara. We love when members plan visits! Holiday Dinner/December FFA Meeting/White Elephant Gift Exchange You can say you heard it here first! Here are the first details of our December FFA Meeting. Please share with other FFA members as the officer team has not gotten any information out to you guys at all - and it's only 12 days away!! Holiday Dinner: This will be the first event of the evening. It will be starting at 5:45p.m. Now, this meal is unlike any of our other meals at FFA meetings. We like this meal to be a bit "fancier". The FFA will be providing the meat (which is typically a nice ham) as well as the drinks. We are relying on you, as FFA members, to help us with the rest of the meal! Think of what your favorite dish is to along with a nice Christmas ham (or regular ham...) and bring it in! There will be a sign-up sheet in Mrs. Jarrett's and Mrs. Markley's rooms by Tuesday. Please let us know what you are planning on bringing so we can have an idea as to what to expect. FFA Meeting: The FFA Meeting will be starting at 6:30p.m. We will be discussing Citrus Fruit Sales, the Community Appreciation Supper & Member Worker Auction, Dairy Foods CDE, PALS, Proficiencies, State Degrees, Adopt-A-Family, as well as many other topics. You will not want to miss this FFA meeting! Please be sure to attend! White Elephant Gift Exchange: This will take place immediately after the FFA meeting. For those of you who are uncertain of what this is, I'll explain it. FFA members wishing to participate will bring in a small gift that is already wrapped. When they come into the Ag. Department, we will put a number on their gift and also put that number in a basket. After the FFA meeting is adjourned, we will have participating members draw a number from the basket. The number they get is the gift they will receive. One by one, we will have each member open their present. It's always a fun time! If you are participating, we ask that you purchase a gift no more than $5 -$7.00. Some of the gifts in the past have been: plungers, duct tape, and a dollar bill. This is NOT mandatory for members - it's merely optional. If you any questions, please see me. This wraps up our first post on the new Warsaw FFA blog! Keep checking back as this will be continually updated with loads of information for you guys! Let me leave you with these wise words: "Take advantage of your opportunties, you never know when the next one will come knocking on your door." - Mrs. Markley - Gianna Hartman

Spring Banquet

On Friday April 24th the Warsaw FFA Chapter held their annual Spring Banquet at WCHS. It was a fun filled evening celebrating all the chapter’s achievements throughout the year. The night began with a carry-in dinner for sponsors of the Warsaw chapter and FFA members and their family members and guest. The evening then progressed to an awards and recognition ceremony in the WCHS Performing Arts Center. Members were recognized for all their Career Development Event success, academic achievements, and outstanding leadership. Prestigious awards were given out; among the top scholars were Brooke Kline, Lauryn Steffe, Jennifer See, and Brooklynne Slabaugh. Recognized for their outstanding leadership in the chapter were Gianna Hartman and Brooklynne Slabaugh. Receiving recognition as outstanding members were Rodney Espinoza, Gail Goon, Kaila Grimm, Taylor Hartman, Carrie Hawley, Maryssa Hawley, Amy Ksiezopolski, Jesse O’Hara, Devan Ostrom, Kyle Quick, and Alison Turley. Star awards were also announced Taylor Hartman was named Star Greenhand, Brooklynne Slabaugh was Star in Agriculture Placement, and Gabi Silor was Star Farmer. Supporters of the program were also recognized and thanked. Members also showed their gratitude for their advisors Mrs. Lynnette Markley and Mrs. Angela Jarrett by thanking them for all their hard work and dedication throughout the year. The night was concluded with the installation of the new 2009-2010 officer team consisting of President Kyle Quick, Vice President Gianna Hartman, Secretary Taylor Hartman, Treasurer Devan Ostrom, Reporters Lauryn Steffe and McKenzie Ziegler, Sentinel Jesse O’Hara, and Student Advisor Kaila Grimm. The new officer team is looking forward to another successful year.

DII Leadership Contest

The Warsaw FFA Chapter competed in the District II FFA Leadership Contest at Caston High School on the evening of Tuesday March 27th. Warsaw had 23 members participate in contest. The goal of the contest is to develop better leadership skills.. Warsaw members placing in leadership were as follows: Brooklynne Slabaugh 1st place prepared public speaking, essay, and job interview, 3rd place leadership ambassador; Devan Ostrom 1st place agribusiness and farm management demo, 2nd place star greenhand; Gianna Hartman 1st place extemporaneous public speaking, 3rd place food science demo, 3rd place talent; Kaila Grimm 3rd place food science demo; Alison Turley 3rd place natural resources demo; Kyle Quick and Jesse O'Hara participants ag mechanics demo; Gail Goon participant scrapbook; Alexis Ostrom 1st place discovery prepared public speaking; Lyndsay O’Hara 2nd place discovery food science demo; Keegan Brunner 1st place freshman ag sales demo; J.C. Agular 2nd place freshman prepared public speaking; Kesley Sponseller 3rd place plant and soil science demo; Taylor Hartman 3rd place creed speaking, 1st place freshman food science demo; Dylan Jones 1st place freshman food science demo; Carrie and Maryssa Hawley 3rd place horticulture demo; 1st place quiz bowl team consisting of Brooke Kilne, McKenzie Ziegler, Lauryn Steffe, and Taylor Hartman; 1st place proficiencies were Brooklynne Slabaugh, Gianna Hartman, Jesse O’Hara, Kaila Grimm, Kelsey Sponseller, Devan Ostrom, Doug Spangle, Gabi Silor, Jennifer See, and Kyle Quick.

National FFA Week Agenda (Click Here)

National FFA Week was a huge success this year. We had nearly 50 members and their family members attend family bowling on Sunday February 22nd. On Tuesday February 24th classes were able to hear from Northern Region Vice President Laura Stockwell, who was also the guest speaker at the Greenhand banquet later that evening. At the Greenhand Banquet 23 new members received their Greenhand Degree. Wednesday members took part in Tractor Drive- IN. On Thursday members began preping for the big Staff Appreciation Breakfast that took place on Friday morning. Members were up bright and early to serve over 120 WCHS staff members breakfast. On the menu was bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, muffins, orange juice, and milk, all of which were donations by members and local business. Throughout the week there were also small activities in the back of the ag room that were aimed to increase members FFA knowledge on a chapter and national level. All in all National FFA Week 2009 was a tremendous success. The Warsaw FFA Chapter achieved the three goals it set out for National FFA Week, build stronger relationships, serve the community, and celebrate the FFA Organization.

Dairy Foods Takes Home The Win

Congratulations Dairy Foods Judging Teams!

1st place team: Gianna Hartman, Brooklynne Slabaugh, Allison Turley, and Carrie Hawley 6th place team: Kyle Quick, Kelsey Sponseller, and Melissa Howard 1st place individual: Gianna Hartman 2nd place individual: Brooklynne Slabaugh 3rd place individual: Allison Turley 6th place individual: Kyle Quick 9th place individual: Maryssa Hawley 10th place individual: Kelsey Sponseller The first place team will be competing at national convention in october. Once again JOB WELL DONE dairy foods participants, you make our chapter proud! (Pictures are posted)