Twenty-six Blanchester FFA members attended the State FFA Convention in Columbus May 4-6, with several Blanchester FFA members receiving Gold Rating officer books, Proficiency Awards and State Degrees. The Blanchester FFA was also Rated a Gold Rated Chapter.
The trip began with a tour of Sugar Creek Packing Company in Washington Court House. Sugar Creek makes and packages pork bacon, turkey bacon and bacon bits for many labeling companies.
Next was a tour of Select Sires in Plain City. Select Sires is a world leader in dairy and beef cattle genetics. Select Sires uses rigorous data to house only the best bulls, collect their semen, process it and ship it throughout the world. FFA members learned about cutting edge technology in the industry as well as career opportunities.
The members who did an outstanding job with some of their SAE’s applied for Proficiency awards. Rachael Doyle, who applied for the Agriculture Mechanics Repair and Maintenance Entrepreneurship, earned third place in the state. Jasmine Maloney, who applied for Veterinary Science, won first place in the state. Lindsay Shell, who applied for the Sheep Production Proficiency, was first place in the whole state. Each one of these girls did a fantastic job.
Getting a Gold Rated officer book takes a lot of time and hard work. Our past Treasurer, Jakob Hockett, got a Gold Rating on his 2015-2016 Treasurer’s Book. Also, our past Secretary, Jasmine Maloney, got a Gold Rating on her 2015-2016 Secretary’s book. Both of them got to walk across stage and represent Blanchester and themselves for their great achievements.
The highest degree the Ohio FFA Association can bestow to a member is the State FFA Degree. To get the State Degree, each member who applied must reach certain requirements in order to be accepted to get it. Four Blanchester FFA members got this degree at State Convention — Lindsay Shell, Cameron West, Cheyenne Rhodes and Kaitlyn Smithson. Each got the honor of walking across the State Convention stage and get their degree along with a gold chain. Congratulations to these Blanchester FFA members for their hard work and dedication.
The Blanchester FFA chapter was announced a Gold Rated Chapter at State Convention. Our past President, Kaitlyn Smithson, and our current President, Lindsay Shell, had the honor to walk across the stage and collect the plaque for the Blanchester FFA chapter. Each member worked very hard to help the Blanchester FFA get this honor and we hope to see it happen again in the future.
Senior Terra Ficke once again competed in the Ohio FFA talent show. This time singing Sara Evans’ “Born to Fly”. Her efforts resulted in a first place finish. Senior Cheyenne Rhodes also competed in the state Agriscience fair with her project on antibacterial outerwear for farmers.
