By: Carmen Lendt, FFA Reporter
Maddi Helget is in 11th grade and has been in FFA for five years. This year she is Secretary for the FFA Officer Team. She originally joined FFA to learn more about agriculture and farming, but now she is in it to engage with everyone and try to get more people to join as well as meeting new people and having cool experiences. She likes being Secretary because she can keep track of activities and meeting attendance. Maddi is on the Soils CDE Team and she likes learning about different textures and depths of the soil as well as different erosions. Her favorite part of FFA is going to State and National Conventions. She is most looking forward to learning more on the Soils CDE team and going to state. By being in an Ag class, Maddi has learned that FFA is not just farming, it’s about how farming affects our economy and where almost all of our food comes from and how much farming impacts us. She has won 1st at Regions for Poultry, 1st at the U of M Invitational for Poultry, 1st and 2nd place at State for Poultry, and 7th at Regions for Soils.
Nathan Rathman is in 9th grade and has been in FFA for three years. He joined FFA because he likes agriculture and wanted to try new things. He is on the Soils CDE team and he likes this team because they get to learn about different types of soil and learn how to judge them. For his SAE project, he works in his fields and around his farm including chopping stalks. His favorite FFA activity is the fun nights. Nathan is really looking forward to taking a welding class in the future. By being in FFA he has learned how to judge soils. Nathan is very proud of his awards for selling a lot of fruit.
Abby Ring is in 12th grade and has been in FFA for five years. She joined because she really wanted to learn more about FFA. Her favorite activity in FFA is the fruit sales and she really enjoys making crop samples for the Crop Show and fairs. Abby is really looking forward to a great year and meeting new people. Something she has learned by being in FFA is how to help others out. Abby’s biggest awards in FFA are earning 2nd place for selling so many boxes of fruit last year and 1st place this year.
Jade Sellner is in 10th grade and this is her fourth year in FFA. She joined FFA because agriculture has always been interesting to her and a big part of her life so she was glad to join. She likes being on the Ag. Sales CDE team because of the communication skills she gains and because it takes her out of her comfort zone. Her SAE this year was helping harvest and sell pumpkins from her family’s pumpkin patch. Her favorite FFA activities are the barn dance and lock in. Jade is really looking forward to trying different activities and the theme meetings. She has gained leadership skills, as well as things about agriculture that she didn’t know before. She appreciates the skills she has gained from her Agricultural classes that will use in jobs she may have in the future. Jade has won many Crop Show Ribbons and Awards, and has been a Top Seller in the FFA Fruit Sales Fundraiser.