Submitted by: Dawsyn McDonald
State Horse Judging and Vet Science Career Development Events
Vet science team
The Geneseo FFA started off the month of February strong with success in two Career Development Events at the State level. In the Horse Judging Career Development event, team members may compete in the Reasons or Non-Reasons area. In the Non-Reasons area, students judged four performance and four confirmation classes of horses and placed them according to the criteria for each class. The Geneseo FFA’s Non-Reason’s team placed third in the state, consisting of Dawsyn McDonald, Jacey Gehl, and Kali Herberg, who also placed within the top ten individually! In the Reasons division of the contest, team members had to judge all eight of the classes, and then also write, memorize, and present a set of reasons explaining how they placed the class to a judge for two of the classes. The Reasons team, which consisted of Ella Schaff, Maycie Sims, Hannah Wildemuth, and Ashlynn Chamberlain also saw success, coming in fifth in the state! On the same day, the Section winning Vet Science team also competed at the state level. In this contest, the competitors are required to ID a variety of animal breeds, equipment, and parasites, take a general knowledge and math test, and demonstrate several real-world practicums while explaining the reason for each step to a judge. The team, which came in second overall in the state, consisted of Annabelle Betcher, who placed second, Kolby Causemaker placing ninth, as well as Bee Scheider and Molly Wannemaker. Additionally, our alternate team also saw success in their division, with Emilie Decastecker taking first and Faith Kuster placing third!
Living to Serve Day
Geneseo FFA members came together with many other FFA members from Section 3, which includes numerous other chapters in the area, for the Section 3 Living to Serve Day on Valentine’s Day! These FFA members showed their love for their community this Valentine’s by participating in the "Valentines for a Cause” event, where they made over twenty tie blankets that were donated to local nursing homes.
Section 3 Proficiency Awards
Nine Geneseo FFA members interviewed in the Section 3 Proficiency Awards contest this month! At this event, members compete with their Supervised Agricultural Experience record books and partake in an interview based on that book. Students who won their area will be advancing to the District 1 contest on March 4!
Section 3 Competitors
Hannah Wildemuth: Equine Science Entrepreneurship
Emilie DeCastecker: Agriculture Education Placement
District 1 Contest Qualifiers
Faith Kuster: Veterinary Science Placement
Kolby Causemaker: Swine Production Entrepreneurship
Jackson Frank: Vegetable Production Placement
Jacey Gehl: Specialty Crop Production Placement
Peyton Kies: Beef Production Entrepreneurship
Maycie Sims: Specialty Animal Production Entrepreneurship
Dawsyn McDonald: Equine Science Placement
State degree recipients
State Degree Interviews
Two senior FFA members, Dawsyn McDonald and Peyton Kies, were recommended to receive their State Degrees after submitting their applications and completing an interview this month! This is a great accomplishment that these members have earned through a long list of requirements that they had to meet. They will receive their State Degrees at State Convention
National FFA Week Celebrations
The Geneseo FFA Chapter celebrated National FFA Week from Friday, February 20th to Saturday, February 28th with a vast variety of fun events and activities. They kicked off the week with Culver’s ice cream scoops for FFA members during their ag classes and Drive Your Truck or Tractor to School Day! On Tuesday, they started off the week with therapy dogs for the students at the high school. Throughout the week, students also had the opportunity to pay a dollar to wear a hat during the school day, and purchase tickets for a chance to pie a member of the Geneseo chapter officer team or a teacher, which took place during WIN on Wednesday. Wednesday evening included the Ag Olympics Chapter Meeting, where FFA members competed against each other in a hay bale toss, hot wing challenge, milk chug, cubby bunny challenge, hungry hungry hippo, and a three legged race! On Thursday morning, FFA members were up bright and early to make and deliver breakfast to the teachers and staff throughout the school, and Friday finished out with members Emilie DeCastacker, Dawsyn McDonald, Annabelle Betcher, and Jackson Frank attending the Cultivating Connections event. At this event, FFA chapters throughout the District had the opportunity to share their FFA experiences with school board members and administrators in order to help them gain a better understanding of what these FFA chapters are all about!
Trivia Night
February was closed out with the Geneseo FFA’s biggest fundraising event of the year, the annual Alumni Trivia Night! The evening consisted of eight rounds of trivia, with a variety of both live and silent auction items generously donated by the community. It was an excellent event, with approximately 300 supporters attending the event. Thank you to everyone who came out to support!
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