Sydney Windschitl, daugher to Barb and Jason Windschitl and Jacob Lux, son of Matt and the late Maria Lux were crowned 2020 St. Mary’s High School Homecoming royalty at a coronation held Sunday 10/18. The rest of the court included (from left): Caleb Schumacher, Emma Currens, Brad Balko, Sophia Portner, Jay Schultz, Berkley Brandl, Emily Weiss, Megan Ahlness, Anthony Helget and Spencer Hoffman.

FFA officers, including Carmen Lendt, helped to pack the food bags for the Trinity Weekend Backpack Food Program for families in need at Mark Thomas Company. It is an amazing experience to do something for others.

This fall, the Trinity Weekend Backpack Food Program is underway. The FFA members are swinging into action to help out again this year. The Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter applied for a National FFA Yearlong Living to Serve Grant for $3000 in order to help with the Trinity Backpack program which includes food bags each week and Holiday Gift Boxes. With the generosity of the National FFA, CoBank, Tractor Supply Company, CSX, Chevrolet, and Cargill, the Living to Serve Grant became a reality for the Sleepy Eye FFA.

The Backpack program is where students at risk for hunger receive bags of food for the weekend with two family meals – main dishes, fruit, vegetables, and a snack. The FFA grant money is being used to help with several extensions of the Backpack Food Program: Birthday boxes for each elementary participant, fruit and snacks in each food bag, pantry for middle school students which includes: food, snacks, personal care items as well as personal care items for the Holiday Boxes.

At the end of September, eight of our officers and all of the FFA advisors and student teacher were able to pack four weeks worth of meals that will go to the 48 children’s families in need. Families self-select for these meals as all families in the district receive a letter telling them about the program at the beginning of the school year.

The FFA is thrilled to be a part of this amazing project that the Trinity church conducts in cooperation with Sleepy Eye Public Schools, along with numerous community partners, providing food to students all school year long. Some of the partners include: Central Region Cooperative, Schwartz Farms, Land O Lakes, Sleepy Eye FFA and other community members.

Receiving this $3000 grant and helping with this project was a great way for Sleepy Eye FFA members to contribute to the community and build relationships while doing so.

 The Sleepy Eye FFA Trap Shoot Team Members on Sleepy Eye Team Two included: from l to r – Nathan Rathman, Winsten Nienhaus, McKenna Strong, Jade Sellner, and Emma Fischer.  

The Sleepy Eye FFA Trap Shoot Team Members on Sleepy Eye Team One who shot for the State Trapshooting Event sponsored by Marshall FFA included: from l to r –  Caleb Seuss, Carter Swenstad, Jake Price, Josh Sellner, and Jack Windschitl. 

By: Katelyn Capacia, FFA Reporter

The Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter has completed its trap shooting season for 2020.  There were three shoots for the season: Springfield, Mt. Lake, and then the State Shoot hosted by Marshall.
Trap shooting is one of the three major forms of competitive clay pigeon shooting. The objective of the trap shooting team is to involve students in the highest standards of safety, sportsmanship, ethical behavior, along with safe and responsible use of firearms. The program also helps members develop self-confidence, personal discipline, sportsmanship and teamwork.

The 2020 Sleepy Eye FFA Trap Shoot Team Members who participated in the shoots this year included: Emma Fischer, Winsten Nienhaus, Jake Price, Nathan Rathman, Jacob Schultz, Jade Sellner, Josh Sellner, Caleb Seuss, McKenna Strong, Carter Swenstad, Emma Weilage, and Jack Windschitl.

The first Trap Shoot event was sponsored by Springfield on September 12 and was a virtual shoot, meaning the team shot at the Sleepy Eye Sportsman’s Club and submitted the scores to Springfield FFA. The Sleepy Eye Shooters for this event included: Caleb Suess, Carter Swenstad, Emma Fischer, Jake Price, Jacob Schultz, Jade Sellner, McKenna Strong, Jack Windschitl, Emma Weilage, and Jost Sellner. Top placing members on each team were Jake Price, Josh Sellner, and Caleb Seuss (20^th place individual). There were 125 shooters and 29 teams total at this event.

The team then traveled to Mountain Lake on Saturday, September 19^th. The members who participated in the shoot at Mt. Lake included: Team 1 – 8th place Team Jake Price, Caleb Suess, Jacob Schultz, Josh Sellner. Sleepy Eye Team 2 – 9th place Team Jade Sellner, McKenna Strong, Carter Swenstad, Nathan Rathman. Sleepy Eye Team 3 Emma Weilage and Jack Windschitl. For this shoot, the top placing members included: Jake Price (12^th place individual) and Carter Swenstad (15^th place individual). There were 116 shooters and 28 teams total at the Mountain Lake event.

On Saturday, Sept. 26, the members shot at the Sleepy Eye Sportsman’s Club and sent the scores to Marshall to compete in the State Trap Shoot Event. Sleepy Eye Team 1 included: Jake Price, Caleb Suess , Carter Swenstad , Josh Sellner, and Jack Windschitl. Sleepy Eye Team 2 included: Jade Sellner, McKenna Strong, Nathan Rathman, Emma Fischer, and Winsten Nienhaus.Top Trap Shooting members for the State Shoot included: Jake Price and Jade Sellner. At this shoot, there were 238 shooters and 58 teams total.

The trapshooting team is sponsored by the Sleepy Eye Sportsman’s Club and the members are super grateful for the opportunity and sponsorship! Thank you for a great season!

By: Carmen Lendt, FFA Reporter

Antonio Ruiz is an 8th grader at Sleepy Eye Public Schools. It is his second year on FFA, and he wanted to be in FFA because it sounded cool and he wanted to learn more about what FFA has to offer. Antonio is interested in trying Dairy Evaluation for a Career Development Event (CDE). His favorite FFA activity is games at the FFA Fun Nights! He is looking forward to meeting all the FFA members in the region. One thing he has learned is that agriculture is a very important part of the economy in Minnesota. He is most proud of his Discovery Degree that he earned through FFA.

Samantha Ulrich is a 7th grader at Sleepy Eye Public, and it is her first year in FFA. She decided to join because she thought it would be fun and she loves getting out and doing things! She would like to try the Poultry Evaluation Team for a CDE. This year she is looking forward to getting to do projects, going on trips, and getting to know new people. Through FFA she has learned about different animals, plants, and the importance of agriculture to Minnesota.

Jorden Niebuhr is an 11th grader at Sleepy Eye Public Schools. It is her 4th year in FFA, she joined because she wanted the experience of meeting new people. She likes being on the Milk Quality CDE team because the people make it fun. For her SAE project, she works at a nursing home in Sleepy Eye and prepares food. Her favorite FFA activity is the FFA Lock-in! This year Jorden is looking forward to all of the activities including service projects. By being an Ag. class and FFA, she has learned about how to work together. She is most proud of being Member of the Month!

Officer of the Month

Leisha Martinez is a 10th grader at Sleepy Eye Public. It is her 4th year in FFA, she joined to help out in school and it also sounded really fun. She is the Historian on the officer team, she likes being the historian because she likes making posters full of pictures for the Ag room displays. Leisha is on the Nursery and Landscape CDE Team, she likes this team because her and her brother are both on it and she likes learning about different kinds of flowers and trees. For her SAE project, she does Community Development where she participates in many service projects. She especially liked doing the Food Redistribution Lines where she puts food in people’s cars as they drive through the line. Her favorite FFA activity is the Lock-In! This year she is looking forward to FFA Week and all the dress up days. Leisha has learned that your taste buds regenerate in 1-2 weeks in Foods class. She is most proud to know that her actions are helpful to others!

Hailey Meinert, Sleepy Eye FFA member and Leisha Martinez, Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter Historian, are ready to load boxes into cars for the Brown County Food Redistribution Line.

Maddi Helget and Nayzeth Luna, both Sleepy Eye FFA officers, hold up signs to direct people to the food redistribution line. 

By: Katelyn Capacia, FFA Reporter

On Tuesday, September 22nd from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, we handed out 29,500 pounds of food to 499 families, which included 1310 people.

The food was given out each as a meat box, a dairy box, and a produce box. The items inside included, but was not limited to: MEAT BOX- chicken patties, chicken hotdogs. DAIRY BOX- milk, cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese, yogurt, French onion dip. PRODUCE BOX – squash, cucumbers, apples, carrots.

Volunteers for the event included: 16 FFA members – Isaac Lendt, Marcus Martinez, Leisha Martinez, McKenna Dockter, Katelyn Capacia, Kyle Capacia, Maddi Helget, Morgan Hoffmann, Adam Johnson, Nayzeth Luna, Miah Brown, Presley Bauer, Gracie Sellner, Wyatt Barnes, Victoria Poplow, and Hailey Meinert. FFA Advisors – Mary Hoffmann, Hunter Manderfeld, and Adam Manderfeld as well as student teacher – Amy French. Other volunteers included: Trinity Lutheran members, Sleepy Eye Food Shelf board members, Mark Thomas Co employees, and several community members and the Sleepy Eye Police Department.

Advisor Mary Hoffmann states, “It’s hard to believe that we have helped with 3 food lines this summer and fall. We helped redistribute over 90,000 pounds of food! I am so proud of all of the officers and members who have helped with this service project. They are the muscles behind this operation, but also the heart!”

Kyle Capacia, member of Sleepy Eye FFA, adds, “For my first time volunteering for this event, I really enjoyed taking part in the food line and helping out community members. If we were able to have another one, I would definitely do this again!”

The food that was given out was part of a $3 billion USDA Food Box program. The USDA bought it from regional and local distributors who bought it from farmers and didn’t have any place to distribute it because of closings of restaurants due to COVID-19.  They partnered with Second Harvest Heartland to get it into the hands of those who could use it!

The Sleepy Eye Ag Department celebrated National Teach Ag Day on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 17 & 18. Pictured l to r – top row: Jake Price, Mason Sellner, Kegan Heiderscheidt, McKenna Strong, Jacob Ulrich. Row 2: Envy Morales, Isaac Lendt. Row 3: Sophie Kyllonen, Nora Coulson, Katelyn Capacia, Taylor Lambrecht, Leisha Martinez. Bottom row: Brandon Flores, McKenna Dockter, Winsten Nienhaus, Presley Bauer.

By Carmen Lendt, FFA Reporter

     Thursday, September 17, was National Teach Ag Day, which is celebrated across the nation to recognize the agricultural education profession. Mrs. Hoffmann, and Mr. and Mrs. Manderfeld are always encouraging their students to explore careers in agriculture, one of those being an Ag. Teacher! They “tagged” 16 individuals in grades 8 -12. Those students were given a Tagged to Teach Ag. T-shirt that Mrs. Hoffmann designed. Students that have been previously tagged were entered into a drawing to receive either a t-shirt, water bottle, sunglasses, or Hootie owl!

     Congratulations to these students for being Tagged to Teach Ag!

-8th: Nora Coulson, Brandon Flores, Jacob Ulrich

-9th: Isaac Lendt, Envy Morales, Evan Thompson

-10th: Emma Braulick, Leisha Martinez, Jake Price

-11th: Katelyn Capacia, Sophie Kyllonen, Taylor Lambrecht, Mason Sellner

12th: Kegan Heiderscheidt, Jack Nelson, McKenna Strong

     Some Agricultural Education statistics from our region of the United States include:

• 106 of last year’s 139 agricultural education graduates in Region 3 are currently employed as agriculture teachers!
• There are 41 new agricultural education positions.
• The average base starting salary for this job is $43,048.
• There are currently 24 new agricultural education programs and 119 positions to fill.
• Agricultural education programs are offered in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

   Right now there is a big need for more students who are interested in and passionate about agriculture to pursue a career as an agricultural educator! National Teach Ag Day draws more attention to the shortage of teachers and hopefully inspires students all over the country to become Ag. Teachers!

“LOVE WHAT YOU DO, DO WHAT YOU LOVE— TEACH AG!” Mrs. Hoffmann, Mr. & Mrs. Manderfeld