Clintonville chapter recognizes students’ achievements
The 2014-15 FFA officers kicked off its annual awards banquet by recognizing middle school members with the Discovery Degree. These members learned about FFA and the many opportunities it has to offer. Cody Eggleston, Devyn Gee, Emma Heineman, Seth Keller, Sydney Sorenson, and Daniel Torrez all received Discovery Degrees.
Torrez received the Star Discovery Award, which is given to an outstanding seventh or eighth grade student who showed hard work and dedication to the FFA.
The Greenhand Degree was presented to high school students who learned what FFA is about, participated in FFA events, and planned or started an SAE. The Greenhand Degree was awarded to Jacob Barnik, Kaitlin Collins, Nick Daebler, Gabriel Hernandez, Kade Johnson, Chase Jung, Colton Kluth, Gabby Schilling, Anna schmude, Makya Schroeder, and Jacob Viergutz.
Schroeder received the Star Greenhand Award, which is awarded to a member in their first year in FFA at the high school level who exhibited hard work and dedication.
The highest degree that a chapter can bestow on its membership is the Chapter FFA Degree. It is given to members who earned $150 or completed at least 50 hours in their SAE, participated in three chapter activities and sold pizzas. The Chapter FFA Degree was awarded to Brandon Birling, Sarah Boyer, Cassie Holderman, James Palmer, Jessica Pensis, Jared Wait, Kimberly Wilber and Alec Wilken.
Outstanding senior members were awarded with star chapter awards. Jared Wait received the Star in Agriculture Placement. He works on a local dairy farm. Kristi Sawall received the Star Farmer with her rabbitry.
Four students in the chapter were recognized for their achievements above the chapter level. Chase Jung will be representing the state FFA choir at the State FFA Convention and Wisconsin State Fair this summer. Jared Wait received a silver for his Dairy Production Placement proficiency award. Noah Hartleben received a gold 13 for his Dairy Production Entrepreneurship proficiency award, and Kristi Sawall received a gold 3 for her Small Animal Care and Production Entrepreneurship proficiency award. Sawall and Hartleben will be recognized on stage at the State FFA Convention in June.
Members were also recognized for competing in the state FFA Career Development Events in Madison. Members were on teams of four and practiced to compete in different agriculture based careers. These teams participated in contests at the World Dairy Expo, UW-Platteville and Fox Valley Technical College to get to state.
The Ag Mechanics team consisted of Jacob Barnick, Nick Daebler, Kade Johnson, and James Palmer and received 16th at FVTC.
In Agronomy, Michael Klemp, Andrew Klemp, Jared Wait, and Jessica Pensis, received fifth at WDE, seventh at FVTC, and sixth at state and also Michael Klemp received fifth overall individual at state.
In Dairy Cattle, Taylor Lohff, Noah Hartleben, Jacob Viergutz, Chase Jung, and Brandon Birling received 19th at WDE.
In Dairy Products, Taylor Lohff, Valeria Montanez, and Jaculyn Frenche received 41st at WDE.
In Dairy Showmanship, Makya Schroeder received 10th at state.
In Horse Evaluation, Anna Schmude, Cora Mackowiak, Cassie Holderman, and Kaitlin Collins recieved 10th at FVTC and 28th at state and also Anna Schmude took fifth individually at FVTC.
In Meat Science, Sierra Reeck, Makya Schroeder, Kristi Sawall, Valeria Montanez, and Kade Johnson received ninth at UW-Platteville and 11th at state. Colton Kluth and Makya Schroeder were participants at FVTC.
The club’s big fundraiser was the biannual FFA Pizza Sale and this year the middle school and the high school sold over $8,000 worth of pizzas. The club thanks all who supported its membership this year, and hopes for continued support in the future. This year’s top sellers were Sierra Reeck in third place, Makya Schroeder in second place and Taylor Lohff in first place.
The Leadership and Scholarship Awards go to the students who have a grade point average of 3.0 or higher for the past year. Scholar Awards went to Sierra Reeck, Kristi Sawall, Mike Klemp, Taylor Lohff, Jared Wait, Jessica Pensis, Cassie Holderman, Valeria Montanez, Sarah Boyer, Noah Hartleben, Andrew Klemp, Chase Jung, Brandon Birling, Nick Daebler, and Jacob Viergutz.
The top scholars were recognized from each grade. They included: freshman – Nick Daebler, sophomore – Sarah Boyer, junior – Noah Hartleben, and senior – Sierra Reeck.
Leadership Awards are given to the members who showed the most leadership and the most potential from each grade level. Top leaders are: freshman – Jacob Barnick, sophomore – Sarah Boyer, junior – Andrew Klemp, and senior – Taylor Lohff.
Every year, the Clintonville FFA Chapter awards a member of the FFA Alumni with honorary FFA membership due to their outstanding service to the organization. This year’s Honorary FFA Member Award goes to an alumni member that made an impact on the chapter and put their time and effort into organizing a Trivia Contest, attending the State FFA Convention and judging speaking contests. Corey Fanslau received this award.
Installation of the 2015-16 FFA officers also took place. Five members were selected to represent the Clintonville chapter for the next year. Dan Torrez was selected as reporter; Chase Jung was selected as treasurer; Noah Harleben was selected as vice president; Makya Schroeder was selected as secretary; and Sarah Boyer was selected as president.