April is fast approaching...

Hello all,



Sorry I have not reported lately! We had a successful District Convention with 3 of our 4 contests advancing to State Convention!! Congratulations to Dakota Hovinga (Job Interview), Dillon Thiner (Public Speaking), and Amanda Aeilts (Creed Speaking) for all recieving golds and advancing!! I would like to say a special congratulations to Dakota for making it to State in a contest all four years of her high school career. It is the first time to be done in our chapter's history! Our Conduct of Meetings team (Quinn, Trent, Mitch, Callie, Hailley, Nikki, and Jake) did a very nice job of representing our chapter and finished with a strong silver rating! Kayla did a great job on her district officer candidate speech, but unfortunately our district is going to miss out on having this amazing young lady on the NW District officer team.



With April just around the corner the GT Ag Ed students are busy preparing for our numerous activities.

April 9th we have Farm Safety Day in Terril with the 5th and 6th graders. The Soils/Agronomy class has been working very hard to prepare for this day. We will have stations discussing Grain Bin Safety, Tractor/PTO Safety, ATV Safety, and an EMT will be coming to discuss what to do in an emergency on the farm. We have also designed and ordered shirts to give to every ag student, and 5th and 6th grade students. Thank you to all the businesses who donated to help sponsor our Farm Safety Day!!



April 14th-16th, 19 students, myself, and our bus driver Doug Girres will be going to DesMoines for the Iowa FFA State Convention. The three days will be jam packed full of fun educational opportunities for our students. On our way to DesMoines we will be stopping in Ames to have a tour of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University as well as eating at Hickory Park :) Dakota, Dillon, and Amanda will have their opportunity to show off their skills (in Job Interview, Pulblic Speaking, and Creed Speaking) on April 15th. Callie, Phil, Hailley, and Nikki have been working on our chapter display, which will showcase information about our annual blood drive. Our chapter will also be competing in the contest areas of Team Ag Sales (Kayla, Zach, Cody, and Nate) and Marketing Plan (Trent, Quinn, and Mitch), and Greenhand Quiz (Alyssa and Cassy). Four of our seniors, Dakota, Dillon, Phil, and Brandon (also in the FFA Band) will be finishing their high school FFA career strong by receiving their FFA State Degrees. Dakota, Brandon, and Dillon will also receive the Academic Acheivment Award during convention. While at Iowa FFA State Convention the members will also have the opportunity to go through the career show and talk to different businesses and colleges to help plan for their future, attend sessions and workshops, and listen to keynote speakers. I look forward to attending the 2010 Iowa FFA State Convention with such an amazing group of students!

April 20th - Blood Drive 2-7 in the high school cafeteria. If you are interested in donating please feel free to contact an FFA member or me at tjohnston@graettinger.k12.ia.us or (712) 859-3286 (school #).

April 22nd - Parent/Member Awards Banquet at 6:30 The banquet will be at the high school and start in the cafeteria for our meal catered by Sandans and move into the gym for our awards banquet.

April 30th - Elementary Farm Day The Animal Science class is currently planning the Elementary Farm Day for the K-4th graders of Graettinger and Terril. This is always a fun day for both the high school and elementary students. The students will get to learn about and interact with a variety of farm animals. We will also have activities for the students to participate in during the day!