ANNA — The Anna FFA Chapter made a trip to Columbus for the annual State FFA Convention on May 5 and 6. The two day event was extremely busy for the students and advisors of the Anna FFA Chapter with various presentations, interviews and award ceremonies to be attended.
Four members of the Anna FFA Chapter were named finalists in their proficiency areas. The proficiency awards are based on the students’ SAEs. Shaun Wenrick was first in Landscape Management in the state. Kristin Grimes placed fourth in Small Animal Production. Mary Buehler placed third in Vegetable Production. Casey Guisinger placed third in Diversified Horticulture. The Anna FFA was proud to see its members receive recognition for their SAEs at state convention this year.
Wenrick was also named as one of two state finalist for the State Star in Agribusiness award. This is an award recognizing only the elite FFA members of Ohio. He went through an interviewing process and won the Star State award.
Several sophomore members participated in the Agriscience Fair this year at convention. The Agriscience Fair displays research conducted by FFA members throughout the school year. Nicholas Nowlin and Andrew Balling made a display on chicken feed trials that their animal science class performed. They both received a bronze rating.
The Ag Issues teams competed on Thursday of State Convention. Anna had two teams each receiving banners for placing fourth and fifth at the state contest. The first team consisted of Elizabeth Landis, Mackenzie Wells, Ashely Dentinger, and Kristin Grimes. Team two consisted of Ashley Landis, Courtney Hollenbacher, Allison McCummons, Olivia Maurer, and Taylor Schmidt.
The Anna FFA Chapter submitted the National Chapter application highlighting nine of their strongest activities in the three divisions of student, chapter, and community development. The Anna FFA Chapter as a whole was named a Gold Medal Chapter.
Briana Fanaff received a Gold Rating for the Secretary’s Book. Kristin Grimes and Olivia Maurer also received a Gold Rating on their Treasurer’s Book. And to complete the clean sweep Elizabeth Landis and Taylor Schmidt earned a Gold Rating on the Reporter’s Book.
Several students were awarded their State Degrees. The recipients were: Owen Michael, Audrey Barhorst, Jordan Wells, Steven Wells, Taylor Schmidt, Briana Fanaff, Allison McCumons, Sam Watercutter, Sarah Foltz, Zach Heitkamp and Casey Guisinger.
One of Anna’s members, Mary Buehler, applied for a state officer position. Mary Buehler was Anna’s 2014-15 chapter president and wanted to share her leadership skills at a higher level. She has done outstanding work for her chapter this past year. Buehler was ecstatic when she was announced as the 2016-17 state president at convention on May 6. Her chapter was proud to see her represent the Anna community at the state level.
The National FFA Organization consists of 610,240 FFA members and 7,665 chapters across the United States and is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.
