Sleepy Eye FFA Awards Program – Celebrating a Successful Year

The Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter held the Awards Program on Sunday, May 2^nd, 2021. It was a great opportunity to honor the members and chapter leaders as well as the major supporters for the chapter throughout the year.

 Successes this year for the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter include: 45 Discovery Degrees (7^th & 8^th graders), 60 Greenhand Degrees, 16 Chapter Degrees and 4 State Degrees. Many awards were presented to the active members and leaders of the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter.

This year our FFA Chapter has continued with our Service Theme and conducted several different programs and activities. They include the following: Adopt-a-Senior Program – members participated in making cards for 128 Nursing Home and Countryside Living Residents each month. Wee Deliver Program –members participated in writing letters to 65 third grade students (Pen Pals) each month. Service –members helped with the Backpack Supplies project with United Way, making uplifting quote signs, the Backpack Food Project with Trinity, food redistribution lines, making extra-large Valentines and Spring cards for residents, putting up lights at the park, painting pumpkins and windows, tying blankets, and the people parade at the nursing home.

The Sleepy Eye FFA members who participated in at least three of these programs were named 3- 5 Star Members. If members participated in at least 6 of the programs they were named a Star Leader. 10 FFA members were presented with certificates for being a 3-5 Star Member and 16 members were presented with trophies for being a 6-12 Star Leader.

The Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter presented three Diamond Awards to supporters of the Chapter and its members. The Diamond Award went to Central Region Cooperative, Miller Sellner Implement, and Schwartz Farms.

This year there were three Platinum, TOP LEVEL Sponsors – Edward Jones, Cunningham Seed Farms, and Mary Ann Christensen.

These businesses and individuals supported FFA members by providing new FFA Jackets, sponsored Chapter and Crop Show Awards, Service Projects, and much more.

Each year, top scholar awards are presented to one active FFA member in each grade who has the highest GPA in their respective class. These members received a plaque and a scholarship pin: Lydia Huiras (freshmen), Brooke Arneson (sophomore), Mason Sellner (junior), Sophie Portner (senior).

The Honorary Chapter Degree award is presented to an individual who support the Sleepy Eye FFA in exceptional ways throughout the year. This year’s Honorary Chapter Degree was presented to an individual who is a huge supporter and promoter of our chapter – Jim Bartels of KNUJ Radio. We truly appreciate his support toward the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter. It has been a pleasure working with him over the years with the radio ads and interviews in Sleepy Eye and at National FFA Convention!

There were two community members who were presented with an Appreciation Award for 2021. The first recipient of the FFA Appreciation Award was Sandy Beito. We truly appreciate being able to partner with her on the Backpack Food Program and all of the extensions we have been able to add over the past few years. What Sandy does for our community members in need is inspiring!

The 2^nd recipient of the FFA Appreciation Award was for another great supporter of our chapter. We awarded this award to Beverly Bartz. She has been a supporter for many years donating to our program as well as promoting FFA and what we are doing in the community. We truly appreciate supporters like Beverly!

The fruit sale was a successful fundraiser for our FFA Chapter this year.  A great deal of thanks goes to our 2 top sellers who sold nearly $4000 of products for the fruit sales. The Top Junior High Fruit Seller was Nora Coulson. The 2^nd Place Junior High Top Seller was Caleb Suess. Our Top High School Fruit Seller was Abby Ring with over $2700 of products sold. The 2^nd Place High School Top Seller was Jade Sellner with over $1100 in Sales.

The leadership awards are presented to FFA members from each class who displayed tremendous amounts of leadership skills throughout the year and who participated in numerous FFA events. The freshman winners were Marcus Martinez and Kyle Capacia.  Sophomore recipients included: Alex Joramo and Gracie Sellner.  Junior winners were Maddi Helget and Katelyn Capacia.

The Phoenix Awards are presented each year for Students who are upcoming leaders. These 4 individuals got involved, got others involved, and showed true enthusiasm for the FFA. This year’s Phoenix Award Winners were Leisha Martinez, Winsten Nienhaus, Sophie Kyllonen, and Brooke Arneson.

The Star Greenhand Award goes to the most outstanding Freshmen Greenhand degree participant for the year. This award is presented to a first year member who is active in the chapter, who has demonstrated leadership, and has a strong Supervised Agricultural Experience or SAE program in place. This year’s Star Greenhand was Isaac Lendt.

The Sophomore Achievement Award states, “Overall Success is Achieved through Hard Work and Dedication.” The Sophomore Achievement Award Winner for 2021 was Adam Johnson.

Morgan Hoffmann received the Outstanding Junior Award, called the Blue and Gold Award. This award acknowledges someone for overall achievement in the FFA.

The Star in Ag. Placement Award is presented to a member who has an outstanding production placement SAE program and who is involved in all areas of the chapter’s activities.  A placement SAE program means that you have a project where you work for someone in agriculture. This year’s winner of Chapter Star in Ag. Placement was Kadon Strong.

The Star Farmer Award is presented to a member who has an outstanding production SAE program and who is involved in all areas of the chapter’s activities. This year’s winner of Chapter Star Farmer was Sophie Portner.

This year’s recipient of the Dekalb Agricultural Accomplishment Award was McKenna Strong. This award is presented to the most outstanding senior in the areas of scholarship, leadership, and supervised agricultural experience.

The 2020-21 Retiring FFA Officer Team was recognized for their exceptional efforts in leading the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter for the year. The night ended with the installation with the 2021-22 FFA Officer Team.

Mrs. Hoffmann commented on the year, “I am so proud of all of the hard work and dedication the members show on a daily basis – through their efforts with CDE’s, their SAE’s, Ag. Classes, and Community Services projects. What a great year this has been and now, to bring everything to a close with a great State FFA Convention, having 45 different individuals qualify for state with having all virtual contests during a pandemic is amazing.”

Hoffmann added, “Having Jake Price be a State Proficiency Winner, being a National Chapter Model of Innovation Finalist in 2 out of 3 categories, being the first place chapter in the state for the Ag. Literacy Challenge and 2^nd in the state for the Land of Service Award, and last but not least earning fourth place gold in the state for the National Chapter Award are all fantastic accomplishments this year! The Sleepy Eye FFA is about students developing leadership skills, experiencing personal growth, and serving the Sleepy Eye Community.”