On April 19-21, 25 members of the Osceola Big Chief FFA chapter traveled to Ames and attended the 98th Annual FFA leadership conference at Hilton Coliseum. The chapter arrived in Ames on Sunday and was able to get a view of the city and the Iowa State University Campus.
Upon arrival, the chapter went out to eat at Hickory Park. Members were able to laugh, celebrate and connect with each other, thanks to our FFA alumni for a generous $15 donation per member. Later in the day, Macy Jacobson, Remi Binning and Taylor Kent set up the Osceola Big Chief chapter display in the Alumni building, where it later received a bronze rating. During that evening, members prepared for their contests and even had some downtime to swim, play games and socialize with each other.
On April 20, contests began at 9 a.m. The chapter had members compete in Conduct of Meetings, Star Over Iowa, Talent Competition and Chapter Display. Members were also able to watch contests, participate in workshops, attend an agricultural-based career fair and watch sessions.
During these sessions Klaire Blackford, Jovee Blakely, Kenley Chesnut, Maci Cruickshank, Vivian Hawxby, Hunter Lenoard and Kaleb Short were recognized on stage and received third in the state for Chapter of Meetings. Easton Brokaw competed in the talent contest singing and playing his guitar.
Congratulations to Ivan Grief for being one of four members selected as a finalist for the Star Over Iowa Award in the area of Agribusiness. This award is one of the highest honors for Iowa FFA members that recognizes excellence in ag entrepreneurship. It recognizes top Iowa FFA Degree recipients with outstanding SAEs, requiring superior proficiency in classroom, FFA and Supervised Agriculture Experience management.
Alexis McDole volunteered to build her leadership by participating in Courtesy Corp and Landon Fry and Hunter Leonard were our chapter voting delegates during the business session. Later that night, the chapter attended an FFA BBQ and the FFA Fun Night.
Tuesday, April 21, members had an early morning. Members competed in Poultry Judging, Greenhand Quiz, Chapter Quiz and Spanish Creed Speaking. Mallory Tidman represented our chapter as a selected member to participate in the State FFA band. Easton Brokaw, Casey Wade, Luke Wade,and Levi White all competed as a team in the Poultry Judging and placed 24 of 133 teams. Plus, Casey received an outstanding first place out of 475 contestants in one of the individual categories.
We had four members take quizzes: Jacob Williams placed 22 out of 280 participants and received a gold in his Greenhand quiz, while Wade Fisher received a silver in the Greenhand Quiz. Luke received 11th place out of 200 participants, while Masan Redman received a silver rating in the Chapter Quiz.
Later that afternoon, Camila Vasquez Gonzalez did a fantastic job competing in the Spanish Creed Speaking contest where she received a gold and will advance to nationals next fall.
Four students represented our community by receiving the highest degree the state of Iowa can bestow on a FFA member - the Iowa FFA Degree. Emilee Boyd, Ivan, Macy and Mallory all received this honor.
Congratulations to all members who worked hard this year to be recognized for their accomplishments!