By: Carmen Lendt 

Officer of The Month 

Miah Brown is in 11th grade and has been in FFA for five years. This year she is Officer-at-Large for the FFA officer team. She joined FFA to experience new things and to meet new people. She likes being an officer because she gets to assist all officers in planning and conducting all chapter events, and welcome new people into FFA. Miah likes being on the Vet Science team because she likes that she gets to learn more about smaller animals and discover different breeds. Her favorite activity in FFA is Timberland Camp. Something Miah is looking forward to is what her officer team can do the rest of this year and bonding with them. By being in Ag classes and FFA, Miah has learned that working as a team is very important and that having strong leadership can take you far. Miah is most proud of her Officer of the Month Award as well as Crop Show Awards, Summer All-Star ,and Chapter Star Leader Awards.

Member of the month 

Wyatt Barnes is in 11th grade and has been in FFA for five years. He joined FFA because he likes agriculture and wanted to learn more about it. He is on the Fish & Wildlife CDE team and he likes this team because they get to learn about different types of wildlife- birds, mammals, and fish. For his SAE project he works at Sellner Dairy Farm for a Placement in Dairy Production SAE. His favorite FFA activity is the farm fest. Wyatt is really looking forward to working the safety booth at farm fest this summer. By being in Ag Class and FFA he has learned what kinds of animals are raised as well as out in the wild. Wyatt is very proud of this Member of the Month Award.

Member of the month 

Sophie Portner is in 12th grade and has been in FFA for four years. She joined to be apart of more agricultural opportunities and to develop more leadership and communication skills. Her CDE is Dairy Evaluation and she enjoys going to events to see different cows and using and developing her dairy judging skills. Sophie’s SAE is working at her family dairy farm milking cows, feeding calves, and other miscellaneous chores. She also owns 30 Brown Swiss cows. Her favorite activity in FFA is working at the Kiddy Barn at the County Fair and taking welding class last summer. Sophie is really looking forward to earning her State FFA Degree. Something she has learned by being in FFA is to step more out of her comfort zone and pursue things that interest her. The award that Sophie is most proud of is earning 4^th place at State for Dairy Evaluation.

Member of the month 

Abigail Hornsby is in 10th grade and this is her fourth year in FFA. She joined FFA because she loves agriculture and wanted to do more. Abi is a member of the Fish & Wildlife CDE Team. She likes being on this team because she likes to learn about all the different animals. Abi’s favorite FFA activity is the Crop Show. Abi is really looking forward to the State Fish & Wildlife Contest. She has learned a lot in Ag. Classes in FFA including more about animals, baking, and a lot of other stuff. Abi is most proud of her Soybean Champion Award from the 2020 Crop Show.

Sleepy Eye Schools named Caleb Oscarson (5th grader) as their January Patroller of the Month.

Sleepy Eye FFA Officers made plans for upcoming events at the Mid-winter Officer Workshop on January 23rd. Pictured left to right: front- Nayzeth Luna (Historian), Maddi Helget (Secretary), Gracie Sellner (Student Advisor), Presley Bauer (Student Advisor), Katelyn Capacia (Reporter), and Miah Brown (Officer at Large). Back- Carmen Lendt (Reporter), McKenna Dockter (1st Vice President), Adam Johnson (Treasurer), Alex Joramo (Sentinel), Leisha Martinez (Historian), and Morgan Hoffmann (President). Not pictured: Brennen Meyer (2nd Vice President).

By: Katelyn Capacia, Chapter Reporter

The Sleepy Eye FFA officers attended a Mid-Winter Workshop on January 23rd along with advisors Mary Hoffmann, Adam Manderfeld, and Hunter Manderfeld.

During the workshop, officers reflected on their year in office so far and the goals they had set over this past summer. The officer team then focused on what still needs to be accomplished this year and what each officer’s responsibilities were.

The team also planned FFA week, which is the busiest time of the year for FFA. This week is packed full of FFA activities such as dress-up days, emblem hunts, bowling trips, and coloring contests.

The FFA Officer Team also got to do some fun officer bonding activities such as making lunch together and other teamwork games.

Planning for the February FFA meetings took place at the retreat as well. The day finished off with the team looking at the National Chapter Award application, choosing events to fit the categories of Growing Leaders, Building Communities, and Strengthening Agriculture, and officers volunteering to help with the application.

The FFA Officer Team is definitely ready for the rest of their year of service to the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter providing fantastic activities for the 7-12th grade members as well as the community!

Sleepy Eye Ag. Teacher, Mary Hoffmann, recognized at the Minnesota Association of Agricultural Educators Ag. Technology Conference as the Region VI Outstanding Ag. Teacher.

Mary Hoffmann and Adam and Hunter Manderfeld, Sleepy Eye Public School Ag. Teachers, attended the Minnesota Association of Agricultural Educators (MAAE) Ag. Technology Conference Virtually Jan. 14-16, 2021.  This conference included attending professional development workshops, an exchange of ideas competition, award winner recognition, and updates from all major partners in Team Ag. Ed.

Hoffmann led two community building activities as part of her duties on the State Teach Ag Results Committee and presented to the FAST (Future Agriscience Teachers) Group as well as the TIP (Teacher Induction Program) group throughout the week.

Hoffmann was named the Region VI Outstanding Ag. Teacher and will be competing against the other region winners for the State Award this summer.

Mrs. Hoffmann and Mrs. Manderfeld both participated in the Exchange of Ideas Competition. Hoffmann earned 1^st place in the Ag. Production category with her Jr. High Crops Matching Activity and 2^nd place in the Natural Resources category with her Photosynthesis and Respiration Model Activity. Manderfeld earned 2^nd place in the Food Science category with her Intro. to Food Science Agriscience Notebooks Lessons.

All attended the conference to participate in the professional development workshops, learn from the stakeholders in Agricultural Education, network with over 190 Ag. teachers from around the state of Minnesota, and hear updates to stay informed on legislative efforts for agricultural education as well as programs from the Minnesota Department of Education.

Sleepy Eye High School has named twins Kadon and McKenna Strong as their 2020-2021 school-year Triple A Award Winners.

Triple A recognizes and honors high school seniors who have excelled in the classroom, on the athletic field, and in the fine arts.

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Sleepy Eye Fish and Wildlife Team Qualifies for State! Pictured l to r – Abigail Hornsby, Jake Price, Wyatt Barnes, and Jacob Schultz.

Sleepy Eye FFA chapter members competed in two Career Development Events (CDE’s) for the Region VI Virtual Contests on January 13 and 14, 2021.

The Fish & Wildlife competitors included: Abigail Hornsby, Jacob Schultz, Jake Price, and Wyatt Barnes. The Fish & Wildlife contest consists of three parts: identification (mammals, fish, birds, insects, reptiles/amphibians), a knowledge test, and a current events activity on species of special concern. Abi Hornsby was the top scorer on the team and was the 15^th place individual overall. The team placed 7^th and qualified for state.

For the Vet Science CDE, Miah Brown, Syarrah Timms, Macey Ludewig, and Sam Timms competed. The Vet Science team members were tested on their knowledge of common pets, pet health, vet science terms & skills, and animal anatomy. An identification of different species including: dogs, cats, birds, fish, rabbits, and other animals kept as pets is also a large part of the contest. Miah Brown was the top scorer on the team.

Sleepy Eye FFA is proud to have these students work hard and excel at contests in a virtual world. Congratulations to all of the team members!