Summer proves busy for Garden Spot FFA

By -
The Garden Spot FFA kicked off the summer with a three day trip to Penn State for Pennsylvania FFA State Convention on June 13-15. Twenty-Seven members of our chapter attended the convention to not only learn more about FFA, but to also compete against other chapters in Career and Leadership Development Events, commonly known as CDEs.

The Meat Evaluation and Technology team placed 3rd, with Connor Ranck receiving a gold medal, Brandon Miller receiving silver, and Bryce Good receiving bronze. 

The Ag Technology and Mechanical Systems team placed 14th with Kyle Spotts, Jared Risser, Jordan Martin, and Steven Shepherd receiving bronze medals. 

The Ag Sales team placed 3rd with Leah Welk receiving silver and Jess Herr, Gracie Hess, and Danae Ranck receiving a bronze. 
The Milk Quality and Products team placed 6th with Bella Eckert and Hannah-Grace Baxter receiving silver and Logan Wright and Kat Friend received bronze. 

Tobias Leaman received a gold medal in the Poultry Evaluation CDE. 

Hadassah Hoover placed 10th and received a silver medal in Junior Prepared - Public Speaking. 

The Small Gas Engines team placed 9th with Shane Trout and Dominick Copeland both receiving a silver medal. 

The Veterinary Science team place 11th with Mikayla Miller receiving a gold medal and Megan Mellinger, Hannah Martz, and Grace Hess receiving a bronze medal. 

On the Environmental and Natural Resource team Cameron Webb, Tyler Stoltzfus, Luke Stauffer, and Dylan Lechner receiving a bronze medal. Our chapter scrapbook placed 8th. 

We are very proud of Tobias Leaman who placed 1st in Poultry Evaluation, Connor Ranck who placed 2nd in Meat Evaluation and Technology, and Mikayla Miller who placed 6th in Veterinary Science, individually. 

Throughout the summer, members have continued to work their Supervised Agricultural Experiences, as know as SAE’s. Each member showing livestock at the fair as their SAE, participated in 2 different SAE visits. At each visit we weighed animals, walked animals, and talked about what we can change to help our animals be the best they can possibly be. 

At the West Lampeter Fair we have 12 showing livestock this year. Leah Welk, Gracie Hess, Hadassah Hoover, Jordan Martin, and Jared Risser will be showing pigs. Bryce Good, Connor Ranck, and Danae Ranck will be showing dairy beef. Jess Herr, Leah Welk, Grace Hess, Luke Stauffer, and Kayla Stauffer will be showing lambs. Connor Ranck and Roddie Rice will be showing goats. Jordan Martin will be showing beef. Other members continued SAE project too. Tobias Leaman continued working with chickens and packing eggs through his on-farm employment at Lime Valley Mill Farm. Megan Mellinger also continued her SAE with packing eggs at Groff Valley Farm. Hadassah Hoover’s SAE continued as she worked with her swine nursery operation through on-farm employment. Mikayla Miller also continued her exploratory rabbit breeding SAE.

It was also announced this summer that five of Garden Spot FFA Alumni members will be receiving their American Degree at National Convention in October. 

The following graduates will receive their award in October: Matt Harnish, Becca Brian, Mark Mellinger, Ben Welk, and Donovan Weaver. The American Degree is the highest degree that an FFA member can receive and less than one percent of FFA members will receive this award in their FFA career.

Congratulations to everyone who received awards this summer! Come see us at the West Lampeter Fair on September 27-29!

--By Mikayla Miller and Danae Ranck, LS News reporter and Garden Spot FFA Reporter

Popular posts from this blog

Advice: How to get straight As

By -
Image
Achieving straight As, or an unweighted GPA of 4.0, is the goal of many high school students. Getting straight As involves a lot of hard work, but it isn't impossible. Here is how I believe you can get all As. Do your homework. The number of students who do not do their homework shocks me. But doing your homework has many benefits and will help keep your grades up. Those five points you receive for a homework check matter, and when you get a 0 out of 5, it matters even more. Doing your homework also helps you learn the information, raising your test and quiz grades as well. Don't procrastinate. Procrastination is the downfall of many high school students who are capable of good grades. When you receive an assignment, do it ASAP. And when you are given the date of a test, start studying immediately instead of waiting and then cramming the night before. When you do this, you are likely to be less stressed, which increases the quality of the work you do. Don't put
Read more

Book Review: Read the story of 14-year-old 'Tex' an aimless, trouble-prone youth

By -
Image
Book Review Before school started, I went to Barnes & Noble to get a few books from my favorite author, S.E. (Susan Eloise) Hinton, to read as the year started. I got That was Then This is Now , Rumble Fish , (a third copy of) The Outsiders , and Tex .  I had already read The Outsiders at least nine times, I had finished That was Then This is Now , and I had just finished Rumble Fish , so I decided to pick up Tex and start reading. The author of these books writes them in the only way I can ever read books. First person point of view with a relatable narrator.  This one was told by the point of view of Texas (Tex) McCormick, a fourteen year old boy who is living with his brother Mason because they’re mom died when Tex was little and their dad walked out on them a few months back.Texas (Left) and Mason (Right) McCormick Texas believes that Pop (their dad) will be back soon, but Mason knows otherwise…or at least he thinks he does. Tex has a few close friends and is r
Read more

A Harmonious Evening to Remember: The Lampeter-Strasburg District Chorus Concert

By -
Image
On March 14th, 2024, Lampeter-Strasburg High School hosted the District Chorus Concert. Students from 4th to 12th grade performed captivating songs, and the auditorium was packed full of friends and family members who came to watch the performance.  Preparation for the concert was a long process, but a much needed one. No one knew how to sing the songs in the beginning, but after several rehearsals and time to fix the small details, they got to the level they performed at on the 14th.  The evening started off with the youngest singers of the night: the 4th and 5th graders. Their performance was followed by the Martin Meylin Madrigal singers and chorus, followed by the High School Madrigals and chorus. To end the evening, all groups joined on stage to perform “Ad Astra” together, a beautiful piece consisting of Latin and English lyrics. The song received a standing ovation from many members of the audience.  “I think it was a beautiful event,” stated James Appelgrijn, a junior in the Hi
Read more