ffa

South Prairie FFA

February Newsletter 2023

Chapter Reporter, Gracie Rauschenberger

February FFA Meeting

            At the February meeting FFA members were joined by the local FFA Alumni and Supporters for soup and sandwiches. After sharing a meal, the alumni and the FFA members headed into separate meetings. In the South Prairie FFA meeting it was moved to have Homesteaders cater the banquet in April, we also passed a nomination for the Honorary Chapter Degree recipient, which will be announced at the banquet.

Little International Career Development Event (CDE)

The Little International contest was the first CDE event of the year! South Prairie brought its Ag Sales and its Agronomy team to compete. In the Ag Sales event, the team took first place! Individually, Gracie Rauschenberger took 4th place, Jacob Kramer took 6th, Joshua Lindbo placed 10th, and Brylee Beeter placed 17th. Taylor Weber and Logan Hanneman also participated. Annaliese Rauschenberger received 8th place, and Adam Newman took 36th in the agronomy contest. 

Kindred CDE

            At the Kindred CDE contest, the Ag Sales team brought home the second place plaque. Gracie Rauschenberger placed 4th, Jacob Kramer took 7th, Joshua Lindbo received 11th, and Brylee Beeter placed 28th. All four of them received gold. Taylor Weber and Logan Hanneman received Bronze.

            Annaliese Rauschenberger and Adam Newman both received Gold in the Agronomy competition.

            Great job to both of our teams! It was a very successful weekend of competing!

FFA Week

            National FFA Week takes place each year the third week of February. FFA Week is a great way to spread the great opportunities offered through FFA. South Prairie FFA does a number of activities to get the entire school involved in FFA Week. This year we held the Staff and Alumni Breakfast, a school-wide dress up week, a food drive, Ag Day, and an elementary coloring contest!        

Food Drive

Grades K-12 all participated in a week-long food drive! Classes competed against each other to bring in the most unperishable foods and toiletries. The winning classes were chosen based off of total weight. This year's elementary winner was the 5th grade class who brought in 150 pounds of donations! 3rd grade came in second with 44 pounds, and the third place winner was 1st grade who brought in 32 pounds. The high school winner was the junior class with 47.5 pounds. In second place 8th grade with 44.8 pounds. The third-place class was the seniors with 23 pounds! As a school, we brought in a total of 436 pounds! Thank you to everyone who donated! All the donated items will be given to the Max and Ryder food pantries.

Members Anna and Layne pose with some donated food items.

Staff and Alumni Appreciation Breakfast

One of our favorite things to do during FFA Week is serve the Staff and Alumni Appreciation Breakfast! It’s always a fun morning, and a great way for community members to get an inside look at the things South Prairie FFA is doing!

Along with breakfast, there is an “Are You Smarter than an FFA Member?” contest. Participants take a small test with questions similar to what is seen in an actual FFA competition. This year’s winners were Gabe and Karlee Rauschenberger, who took home two packages of pork sausage (made by FFA members) as their prize!

Ag Day

Ag Day is becoming a South Prairie FFA tradition! This year, we had local ag professionals run booths to teach fourth grade students about their specific areas of agriculture. Derek Sys brought a tractor to the school with him to teach students about agronomy! Daryl Lies taught about meat processing and gave students mini auctioneer lessons. Russell Behm ran a booth dedicated to vet science. He even let them try using an ultrasound machine! The fourth booth was run by Natalee Becker and Gracie Rauschenberger. They put students through mini FFA competitions and told them about all the different opportunities they have access to through FFA! 

Announcements:

·      March 4th- Turtle Lake CDE Contest

·      March 9th-FFA Meeting

·      March 10th- Proficiency Applications due

·      March 11th- Carrington CDE Contest

·      March 15th- Proficiency applications due

·      March 19th- Final Practice

·      March 20th- State Winter CDE Contest

·      March 22nd- Officer and Degree applications due

·      April 6th- FFA Meeting

·      April 14th- FFA Banquet