Josh Sellner (left) checks out the Horse Evaluation Career Development Booth operated by Adam Johnson (right), Chapter Treasurer at the Junior High FFA Discovery Camp.
Miah Brown (left), Chapter Officer at Large, talks to Antonio Ruiz (right) about the Vet Science CDE opportunity at the Group 2 Discovery Camp.
By: Katelyn Capacia, Chapter Reporter
On September 1st and 2nd, 17 Jr. High students participated in a FFA Discovery Camp. These students spent their afternoon learning about FFA and all of the opportunities it has to offer. The seventh and eighth graders were separated by either Group One or Group Two and the event was held outside.
The camp started with a fun game of bean bags. After bean bags, the students got to explore a variety of Career Development Events or CDE’s. During this activity, students could go to several tables where they would complete an activity while also learning more about that specific CDE team. Some CDE’s included: Ag Mechanics, Fish and Wildlife, Milk Quality, Floriculture, Vet Science, Trapshooting, Nursery Landscape, Poultry, and much more!
Following the CDE Fair, the group ate supper. After eating, the chapter officers introduced themselves and proceeded to tell the group what fun activities FFA has to offer, how many skills they can gain from being involved, and what they enjoy most about being a part of FFA.
After introductions, the students participated in a hula hoop contest to see who would come out on top. This event was very successful and encouraged many Jr. High students to be more involved in FFA because the experiences can be life-changing.
After the Jr. High event on Sept. 1st, the High School members were invited to a FFA Cookout. 25 members attended this event where there were bean bags and line dancing. Officers also introduced themselves at this event.
FFA is gearing up for online CDE contests, service projects, and other virtual and in person events. We are ready for fun, learning, and serving our community.
The FFA Summer All-Stars are Announced! These members participated in at least five summer FFA events in 2020. Top row, l to r – Antonio Ruiz, McKenna Dockter, Priscilla Martinez, Adam Johnson, Brennen Meyer, Nora Coulson, Leisha Martinez. Row 2 – Alexis Garza, Morgan Hoffmann, Jorden Niebuhr, Jake Price, Sophie Portner, Gracie Sellner, Miah Brown. Row 3 – Mateo Moreno, Alex Joramo. Row 4 – Nayzeth Luna, Carmen Lendt, Maddi Helget, Presley Bauer, Envy Morales, Katelyn Capacia, Gunny Coulson.
The Sleepy Eye FFA chapter would like to recognize a select group of distinguished members who donated much of their time to the Ag. Program and community throughout the summer. These 23 members were named the 2020 Sleepy Eye FFA Summer All-Stars.
In order for these students to become a summer all-star, each student had to attend or participate in at least five FFA events or activities over the summer months. The summer FFA/Ag. activities included: Summer Ag. Courses (Welding, Nail Art, Floriculture 101, Pruning 101, Cooking, Baking, Flying Drones, CO2 Cars, Building Bean Bag Boards, Fair Food, How to Make Cheese, Plant Basics, Wood Burning Signs, Pallet Shelf), Virtual Tour Day, United Way Backpack Project, Making cards for Nursing Home and Assisted Living Residents, Roadside Clean-up, Helping with the Brown County Food Redistribution Line, Attending Officer Workshop, Making Uplifting Posters for the FFA Sign, and Creating the Museum Display.
We truly appreciate all that our members were able to do this summer even with the pandemic! Members learned many new Ag. skills and were able to participate in many service events throughout the summer. We look forward to another great year for the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter.
This group of FFA members helped to inventory all of the school supplies for the United Way Backpack Project. Pictured l to r – Brennen Meyer, Leisha Martinez, Morgan Hoffmann, McKenna Dockter, Katelyn Capacia, James Mathiowetz (Summer Intern), Presley Bauer, Nayzeth Luna, Miah Brown.
This FFA crew packed the Covid kits, sorted all of the last school supply items, and packed 48 backpacks for the Sleepy Eye Public School students. Pictured l to r – Alex Joramo, Adam Johnson, Miah Brown, Presley Bauer, Morgan Hoffmann, Maddi Helget, Nayzeth Luna, Leisha Martinez, Katelyn Capacia, and McKenna Dockter.
Each year, approximately 400 backpacks are filled with grade and school district appropriate school supplies and given to qualifying children throughout Brown County through the United Way Backpack Project.
Children in grades K-8 in Brown County who qualify for the free lunch program can participate in this program. United Way has teamed up with local school districts, the Salvation Army, Optimist Club of New Ulm, The Caring Tree Program, Bank Midwest and many area businesses to make this opportunity available to families in the Brown County area.
Supplies that have been donated need to be sorted and inventoried to figure out which supplies still need to be purchased. The Sleepy Eye FFA had 8 volunteers come together to help sort the supplies at the New Ulm Event Center.
Then, the following week after all of the supplies had been gathered, 10 Sleepy Eye FFA volunteers helped to pack Covid kits and 48 backpacks as well as deliver them to the Sleepy Eye Public School. The Covid kits were new this year and included items such as hand sanitizer, reuseable water bottle, Clorox Wipes, masks, and more.
Thank you to the local businesses who helped collect donations in our communities this July for the project. Our FFA members are able to utilize United Way funds to help cover costs for FFA events throughout the year and we were happy to give back by helping out with this project!
Front row- left to right: Nayzeth Luna, Gracie Sellner, Carmen Lendt, Maddison Helget, Katelyn Capacia, Presley Bauer, and Miah Brown. Back Row- left to right: Morgan Hoffmann, Adam Johnson, Alex Joramo, Brennen Meyer, Leisha Martinez, and McKenna Dockter
By: Carmen Lendt, Chapter Reporter
On August 3rd, the Sleepy Eye FFA Officers held a socially distanced officer workshop to plan for the upcoming school year, and to get to know their fellow officers better. The team, with the help of advisors Mrs. Hoffmann, Mr. & Mrs. Manderfeld, and summer intern James Mathowietz, covered a lot of business such as officer duties, the chapters budget, and team goals.
The 2020-21 Sleepy Eye Officer Team: President- Morgan Hoffmann, 1st Vice President- McKenna Dockter, 2nd Vice President- Brennen Meyer, Secretary- Maddison Helget, Treasurer- Adam Johnson, Reporter- Katelyn Capacia, Reporter- Carmen Lendt, Student Advisor- Presley Bauer, Student Advisor- Gracie Sellner, Historian- Nayzeth Luna, Historian- Leisha Martinez, Sentinel- Alex Joramo, and Officer-at-Large- Miah Brown. At the workshop, each member chose different activities to help with and organize during the year.
The team chose their goals for the year based on the needs of the chapter. Some of the team goals include:
1- To complete 2000 service hours this year.
2- Have 100% membership by going to Chapter Affiliation.
3- To have 30 high school and 25 junior high members attend their respective chapter meetings.
4- To have 5 officer bonding events.
The team also chose a new theme and motto for the coming year. Theme: Sleepy Eye FFA is Home! Motto: Together our FFA Family makes a Difference.
The Officer team also reviewed their budget which reminded them of how important sponsors are to the chapters program. It is because of them that our chapter is able to operate and provide such amazing experiences for its members. The team was especially grateful for donations and sponsors this year because of the tough times everyone is going through now during Covid.
The officer team will continue to do community service this year, including cards for nursing home and assisted living residents, Wee deliver PALS with elementary, uplifting signs along the highway, roadside clean-up, helping with the Weekend Backpack Food Program, and other service events that arise.
Throughout the business filled meeting, the team did many socially distanced team building activities, and closed the day with a story that reminded them of the impact they as officers can have on other members. The officers are extremely excited about what’s in store for the upcoming year and are looking forward to growing as leaders, serving the community, and influencing other chapter members.
by Emily Reding, Migrant Education Program Coordinator
With the end of July came the end of our Summer School program. It was an interesting summer filled with firsts- first time providing health screenings for students and staff entering the building, first time wearing masks while working for students and staff, and first time working in person with students since March. So the question everyone wants answered…. HOW DID IT GO?
As the trail for how this fall will run, we can say, it went well- with room for growth! Yes, we had to call and verify with parents when young students answered yes to the screener question, “Do you have a new cough?”. Yes, we had to spend the first two days of school talking about new procedures and practiced proper hand-washing techniques. Yes, we sent students home when they had potential symptoms. Yes, it was a good trial run for in-person instruction this fall.
The students were quick to adapt to the new ‘normal’ and needed some reminders—but then again- even without all of this chaos, teachers and parents can agree- children always need reminders!
We could not have completed this feat without several people working together. Our dedicated custodial staff who went above and beyond with extra cleaning and rearranging to keep everyone safe. Our kitchen staff who quickly transformed how they prepared and served meals. Our business office who helped order and secure thermometers, gloves, and sanitizers. Our technology staff who adapted to students learning distantly and quickly got new log-in information for newly enrolled migrant students.
Our local bus company, Sleepy Eye Bus Service for transporting migrant students from Springfield, Clements, GFW, Windom, Mountain Lake, and St. James so they could learn in person. Our teachers and paraprofessionals who overcame a variety of challenges and found creative solutions to continue to educate our students. Our community members who donated cloth face masks for students to use during the day.
Our parents who pre-screened students and kept students home when they were sick and informed school staff of pre-existing conditions. Our students who came to school with an excitement to learn and a desire to face the new challenges with flexibility and determination.
Our community will continue to learn and problem solve as Covid-19 exposes new challenges, as we navigate the new school year.
Miah Brown and Katelyn Capacia, both Sleepy Eye FFA Officers, held up signs to direct people to the food redistribution line.
These volunteers and several others helped with the Food Redistribution held in Sleepy Eye on Tuesday, July 28.
By: Katelyn Capacia, Chapter Reporter
On Tuesday, July 28 from 2:00-5:00 pm, food was distributed to 1728 individuals in 590 households in Brown County. Each household got approximately 45 pounds of food.
The fresh food that was given out could include a meat box, dairy box, and a produce box. The items inside included: MEAT BOX- bacon, chicken patties, and chicken hot dogs. DAIRY BOX- milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, sour cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese, and/or dip. PRODUCE BOX- lettuce, apples, oranges, carrots, potatoes, and/or onions.
Volunteers for the event included: 10 Sleepy Eye FFA members, 3 FFA advisors, Sleepy Eye FFA Summer Intern, Trinity Lutheran members, Sleepy Eye Food Shelf board members, Mark Thomas Co employees, as well as several community members and the Sleepy Eye Police Department.
Advisor Mary Hoffmann states, “What a great way to give back to the community that has been so wonderful to FFA and our students. We love doing service projects such as this!”
Leisha Martinez, Sleepy Eye FFA Historian adds, “I really enjoyed volunteering for this event because I like spending time with my FFA family and I like to help others in need!”
The food that was given out was part of the 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 to get it into the hands of those who could use it!
Morgan Hoffmann and fellow officer Alex Joramo set up the new FFA display at the Sleepy Eye Depot Museum this summer.
By: Morgan Hoffmann, Chapter President
This summer, one of our FFA Officers, Alex Joramo, asked the officer team if there was an interest in having a FFA display at the Sleepy Eye Depot Museum as his mom worked there and was looking for a new display. It was a welcomed surprise!
Mrs. Hoffmann, one of the Sleepy Eye FFA Advisors, told the officers that there was a box of older pictures that could be used as a centerpiece to the display if they wanted to help put them together in a large frame.
Several officers were up for the task, including Morgan Hoffmann, Maddi Helget, and Nayzeth Luna as well as chapter member, Miah Brown. We actually made two frames of the photos, one of which is at the museum and the other is displayed in the Ag. room at Sleepy Eye Public.
The summer intern James Mathiowetz and Mrs. Hoffmann had found other items that would make for a nice display containing older FFA jackets, ribbons and photos dating back to the 1930’s, trophy, plaques, original FFA creed, and more.
Morgan Hoffmann and fellow officer Alex Joramo set up the display with the help of James and Mrs. Hoffmann. With the help of the public, we are trying to identify the people in the photos. Names such as Floyd Marti, Mr. Novotony (former Ag. teacher), Ray Christensen, Dean Guhlke, and Steve Meyer are a few that have been named.
Please stop by the museum to check out the display and help to identify more FFA members and supporters of the past!
The FFA Tour Day this year was held socially distant and virtually, but members were able to learn from nine different presenters in five different agriculture career pathways.
By: Carmen Lendt, Chapter Reporter
On July 7th, Sleepy Eye FFA hosted a social distanced “Virtual Ag Tour Day”. Thirteen members attended the tour day in the Ag. Rooms and learned about careers in five different Agriculture Pathways including: plant, animal, technology, education, and natural resources. Members who attended included: Presley Bauer, Miah Brown, Katelyn Capacia, Morgan Hoffmann, Alex Joramo, Adam Johnson, Carmen Lendt, Nayzeth Luna, Leisha Martinez, Priscilla Martinez, Envy Morales, Sophie Portner, and Antonio Ruiz. The day started off with a pancake breakfast at 8:30 a followed by seven tour stops.
The first presenter was Phil Schrock who was an urban forester and owned his company “Enchanted Forests”. He talked to members about being an entrepreneur and all about his business involving tree trimming, pruning, and removal. His favorite part about his job is getting to meet new people and being able to help them out with any tree situation.
The next presenters were Troy Stauffnecker, Carl Eittenburg, and Eleora DeMuth. They were from two companies that worked together in processing and marketing turkeys: Northern Pride and Protein Alliance. Northern Pride, Inc. is a grower owned turkey processing facility located in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. Northern Pride helps northern US turkey farmers take pride in their efforts. The agricultural cooperative processes some 20,000 turkeys a day. They work exclusively with Protein Alliance for the marketing of their whole turkey product. Protein Alliance is a fully integrated, global meat brokerage and trading company, providing a diverse product line of proteins from all of the major processes in the United States. Their services also include: turkey genetics, farm production, processing plant management, and domestic and international sales.
Then, we met up with Marie Carity, the Miami East High School Ag. Teacher from Ohio, while she was at the Junior National Hog Show in Iowa. She gave us a tour of the show in Des Moines, IA where her children were showing. They raise hogs on their farm and Marie also teaches agriculture and advises FFA. Her students have been in an Ag. Exchange program with Sleepy Eye for the past four years.
Next, we heard from Natasha Mortensen who works for Riverview Dairy LLP, here they specialize in raising beef, and dairy as well as crop production and construction. She started the presentation with the company’s mission statement, “Providing a culture of opportunity for passionate people and innovative ideas.” What began as a family-owned crop and beef farm in 1939 in Morris, Minnesota, has grown into a multi-faceted, ever-changing partnership that spans across the states of Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Arizona, and New Mexico. Mortensen also discussed the core values of the company including: Be Kind, Be Safe, Candor, Integrity, Keep it Simple, Spirit of Humility, and Strong Work Ethic.
Half way through the tour we were given a nacho lunch provided by the school. After that we met Ian Almquist who is a groundskeeper for the Minnesota Twins. He showed us all of the different types of equipment they use to prepare the field. Almquist also gave us a tour and discussed what a typical day is like for a groundskeeper and what he does to get the field ready for a game day as well as what is done on a daily basis at the Twins Stadium.
Next, we heard from Leo Dunleavy in Wisconsin who told us about his experience as a mechanical engineer. He expressed how being open to many career options has led to his different jobs throughout his life including his current position. Dunleavy talked about how having relationships and listening to customers is the greatest way to improve company products and productivity. Leo’s advice was the quote, “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
To end the day, we heard about Eric Hoffmann who teaches at the University of Montana Western and is the head instructor at La Cense Montana. He has taught the natural horsemanship classes at Montana Western since 2008. Hoffmann teaches students to learn the importance of getting their horses to work more willingly in order to accomplish a task or job. We also saw some videos and photos of Hoffmann working with beef cattle at the ranch. He was roping calves in order to vaccinate and tag them. Hoffmann shows that there are many avenues in life where you can use your passions to teach others.
All in all, everyone really enjoyed getting to know and learn about the wide variety of careers in agriculture through this virtual tour experience. Every presenter ended by giving the students a valuable piece of advice for their future, most of which involved finding your passion and then pursuing a career where you can use it.
The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire extends congratulations to the 3,100 students named to the spring 2020 Dean’s List. Their academic performance has been outstanding, and we recognize these students with pride.
The Dean’s list eligibility criteria can be found online at https://www.uwec.edu/news/
Students from this area who were named to the Dean’s List are:
Stephanus Badenhorst, Arts and Sciences
