HHS students put their ag skills to work
This summer our new officer team attended COLT Camp in Glenwood Springs to plan our year's activities.
This year's team consists of president Nolan Tracy; vice presidents Lindsey Todd and Ben Smith; secretary Jessi Mautz; treasurer Kasey Miles; reporter Bree Vernon; sentinel Kyle Tallent.
During the month of July the members helped Hellman Motor Company with their car show and they washed BMW bikes during the bike rally in Paonia. Nolan Tracy and Scott Henrie attended the Washington Leadership Conference, a national level leadership conference offered to FFA members. The conference is held in Washington, D.C., and is designed to help participants gain skills in personal development, motivation, leadership, teamwork, citizenship and goal setting. The delegates also had the opportunity to see many of the sights in Washington. Much of what they learned at the conference was brought back to the chapter and used.
In September, the first year members attended the BIG Conference in Montrose. They learned about FFA and making good choices as well as planning for the future. This program was presented by the state FFA officers.
Then in October the Hotchkiss FFA Chapter traveled to Plateau Valley High School for District Leadership Conference. Workshops were presented by the district and state officers. The Hotchkiss district officers are vice president Lindsey Todd and executive committee member Ben Smith.
The third week of October, Miss Hudson, Tory Welt, Richard Kendall, Cullen Miller and Tyler Simpson traveled to Indianapolis, Ind., for the National FFA Convention. They toured the St. Louis Arch, Churchill Downs, the Louisville Slugger Museum, a tobacco farm, a saddle-bred horse farm, Buffalo Trace Distillery, a bourbon chocolate factory and Daniel Boone's gravesite. They also traveled to Fort Knox and saw the depository where all the gold is and toured the Patton Museum.They also had the chance to go to Waverly Hills, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indian Veneer Factory. They attended workshops and sessions. They also spent many hours in the huge FFA Career Show. One of the highlights of the trip was when we ran into the cast from "American Pickers" filming in St. Louis. They tried to buy Cullen's belt buckle but he respectfully declined. They did a little filming with the students, and the chapter members along with some of the Delta FFA members are part of one of the American Pickers commercials on the History Channel.
On Halloween, the chapter hosted the annual Halloween party for the children in the North Fork area. There were over 300 people in attendance with 125 children taking part in the games and activities. This activity would not have been possible without the support of the community.
The chapter has also been very busy this year getting ready for and competing in CDEs. Everything from parli-pro and quiz bowl to horse judging and meat judging have kept the students very busy.
During the parliamentary procedure CDE, teams conduct a mock chapter meeting to demonstrate their knowledge of basic parliamentary law and the correct use parliamentary procedures. There are six participants per team and the team is scored as a group. This year's team, which consisted of Jessi Mautz, Tiffany Clock, Lindsey Todd, Ben Smith, Kasey Miles, Nolan Tracey and alternate Kyle Tallent, placed second at the district contest. This earned them the right to participate in the state contest which will be held in conjunction with the State FFA Convention in June in Pueblo. This is the first time that a team from the Hotchkiss FFA Chapter has made it to state in parli-pro.
The creed speaking CDE is for freshmen FFA members. They must present the FFA creed from memory and answer questions about its meaning and purpose. The event boosts self-confidence and develops their ability to communicate in a powerful, professional manner. This year all 21 of our freshmen memorized and presented the creed with great confidence. We had a classroom competition which determined the seven who would compete at the chapter contest. Those seven included Tiffany Clock, Becca Pachl, Tristen Todd, Moriah Rodstrom, Kaleb Bayles, Kaden Milstein and Kayli Tallent. At the end of the chapter contest Tiffany Clock was awarded chapter winner and received her FFA jacket paid for by the Hotchkiss FFA Alumni. Becca Pachl was awarded runnerup. Both of these individuals then earned the right to compete in the district contest. At the district contest, these girls swept the competition with Becca placing first and Tiffany placing second. Both of these girls will represent the chapter and the district at the state contest in June.
Participants in the agricultural issues forum CDE research the pros and cons of an agricultural issue, and present their findings and theories to a panel of judges. The event helps students develop critical thinking, problem solving and formal communication skills. This year's ag issues team consists of Kayli Tallent, Becca Pachl, Carlynn Toothaker, Kaden Milstein and Kaleb Bayles. They have been researching the issues of the possible creation of the Oak Mesa Mine. They will be competing in multiple contests throughout the spring as well as putting on many public forums to community groups. They will then compete at the state contest in May with hopes of earning their way to the national contest in Indianapolis this next fall.
The chapter will also have various other teams competing in the near future in the areas of meat judging, job interview, horse judging, livestock judging and quiz bowl. We look forward to all of these teams being very successful in their respective CDEs.
Things are not slowing down in the spring as we have many events that we are currently in the process of preparing for. Workday auction, banquet, FFA Week, barnyards and jackpot are just a few of the activities we are getting geared up for in the upcoming months. We look forward to the continued success of the members of the Hotchkiss FFA Chapter.
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