Twin Valley FFA Members Excel At Contests Members of the Twin Valley FFA recently competed <n south eastern Pennsylvania FFA con tests and came home as big winners. In the dairy foods contest, freshmen Brandt Barndt and Jamie Powell tied for first place with Julie Peterson placing sec ond, Angie Lynam third, and Katie Coffey fourth. The team finished in first place. Dairy foods contestants had to take written tests on milk produc tion and marketing, identify off flavors in milk, and give each sample a numerical score, identify problems with milker parts and give each set a numerical score, perform California Mastitis Tests and differentiate between real and artificial dairy products. In the agricultural sales contest, senior Amanda Test captured first place with Andy Teter second and Keely Demarco fourth. The team captured first place. Sales contes tants take a written test on sales information, give a sales presenta tion on a product of their choice, and perform a practicum skill. This year’s skill was to develop a newspaper advertisement for Pennsylvania agricultural pro ducts. Sales presentations include developing a product display, developing a written sales packet, and doing a sales presentation to a KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Members of the Grassland FFA Chapter attended the 68th National FFA Convention here recently where they received special recognition for their achievements in the National FFA Building Our American Communities (BOAC) Award Program. The chapter was one of 207 National BOAC Award win ners that received special recognition for their achieve ments in community development activities. Pictured Is chapter member Jon Beaver, left, and FFA adviser, Robert B. Lauffer. The award program Is sponsored by RJR Nabisco Foundation, Inc. of Washington, D.C. Is a special project of the National FFA Foundation. The BOAC award program recognizes FFA chapters on the local, state and national levels for a wide variety of community development activities including preserving community history, organizing local fanners markets, building feed testing facilities, and many other Improve ment projects. BOAC projects provide citizenship and leadership development opportunities to students by giv ing them i chance to work with community leaders and organizations. The BOAC program has been endorsed by the National Vocational Agriculture Teachers Association, the Fanners Home Administration, USDA, and the U.S. Department of Education. panel of judges. Wildlife competition also fea ture a first place Twin Valley team. Seniors Melissa Makris and Tara Plewa placed first and sec ond, and sophomore Josh Lawrey placing 9th. Wildlife contestants take a written test on knowledge of wildlife species, identify birds and mammals from mounts and furs, identify bird calls, identify wildlife foods and various wildlife signs, and identify tracks. Finally they identify wildlife that would be found on a given habitat and then tell what could be done to manage this habitat to improve it for specific wildlife. Other Twin Valley wildlife contestants were Aaron Teter, Matt Perini, Jessica Harwell, Scott . Ferrell, Rebecca Gardner, Aman da Amoros. Jill DeGazelle, Kristin Leisey, David Lutz, Megan Bina siewicz, Alyssa Taylor, Ryan Smathers, Christy Moyer, Irene Thomas and John Shaffer. In agricultural mechanics com petition, Don Wolf placed 6th, Todd Terry 9th, and Lee Millisock 10th. Mechanics contestants also started with a written test and then performed various mechanics skills, including wiring and weld ing skills. In pleasure horse judging, Lura Blosenski placed 3rd among Berks County contestants. Horse contestants identified items of tack, took a written test on know- ledge of horses and horse manage ment, and placed classes of horses. Other Twin Valley contes tants were Desiree Reesey, Erica Ullman, Chuck Beam, Melissa Miller, and Megan Charron. Finally students competed in dairy cattle judging. Contestants had to take a written test and place classes of cattle as well as classes of dairy pedigrees. Placing best among the Twin Valley contes tants was Kate Coliman. Other Twin Valley contestants were Kristy Baker, Tcran Moore, Rachael Powers, and Sandy Mast. Contests conducted by the FFA were to measure skills developed in agriculture classes as well as to enrich some areas of our curricu lum. All Twin Valley contestants are agriculture students of either Mr. Harold Dietrich or Ronald Frederick. Twin Valley FFA Receives National Awards The Twin Valley FFA was among 350 FFA chapters from across the United States which were honored by the national FFA at their annual convention in Kan sas City, Mo. - The Twin Valley chapter received a bronze award in nation al chapter ranking and a silver award in community service rec ognition. Each of the more than 8,000 FFA chapters across the United States is eligible for recog nition in these award areas. National chapter awards are based upon the overall activities conducted by the chapter as well as the involvement of chapter members in these activities. Com munity service awards ate based on the chapter’s invplvement in community service activities. Twin Valley has been a leader in presenting educational prog rams to 3rd grade students in each of the district’s elementary schools. At the end of the school year, all 3rd grade students are brought to the high school for a tour of the agriculture facilities and lessons at eight different teaching stations. Members also are very active in a pet therapy program with the Tel-Hai Retirement community. Working with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, chapter mem bers cut mote than two acres of brush for habitat improvement and planted tree seedlings on several thousand feet of streambank to prevent erosion. Members also collect Christ mas trees for recycling after the holidays. These trees were used for brush piles for wildlife habitat and to prevent erosion in a gully. To encourage more member participation, upperclassmen con ducted an “adopt a freshman” pro ject last fall. Members partici pated in stale FFA activities such as the Made for Excellence Con ference and the State Legislative Leadership Conference. Mem bers also attended the county FFA Leadership Conference and the Penn State Collegiate FFA Lead ership Conference. They con ducted a wildlifp and plant survey with the Browning Ferris Cones toga Landfill. Numerous FFA members parti cipated in county and southeastern Pennsylvania FFA contests and activities. Members showed their expertise in such diverse areas as record keeping, interview skills, forestry, wildlife, pleasure horse judging, and nursery landscape. Overall, 95 percent of the in school students in agriculture clas ses became involved in FFA activ ities. FFA activities are used to supplement classroom instruction as well as to enrich the curriculum at Twin Valley. Members enjoy career development activities as well as those; which enrich their personal lives. Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 9,1995-819 KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Members of the Pennsylvania state FFA agricultural mechanics was one of 43 teams partici pating In the National FFA Agricultural Mechanics Career Development Event at the 68th National FFA Convention In Kansas City. Members of the team, from left, are John Berry, Matt Commero, and Shawn Breneman. The team was accom panied by their adviser/coach, Stephen Smith of Lampeter, Pa. The National FFA Agricultural Mechanics Career Deve lopment Event is sponsored by Firestone Agricultural Tire Division In conjunction with the Brldgestone/Flrestone Trust Fund, a charitable trust established by Bridgestone/ Firestone Incorporated of Nashville, Tenn., as a special project of the National FFA Foundation. The event Is held at Ford Osage Vocational-Technical School, Independence, Mo. Maryland FFA Land Judging Contest The Linganore FFA Chapter won the first place banner in the land judging contest held recently in Frederick County, Maryland. The contest is sponsored by the Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts as a special project of the Maryland FFA Foundation, Inc. The high scoring individual for the land judging contest was David O’Hara, member of the Linganore FFA. The Walkersville High School FFA Chapter took the second place banner in the contest. According to Contest Superin tendent, Carl E. Robinette, soil scientist with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Service, 10 teams were registered with 44 members participating. Luzerne County Awards 1995 . Outstanding 4-H’ers Melissa Tomascik and Jill Har rison recently received the Luzerne County Outstanding 4-H’er of the Year Award given by Penn State Cooperative Exten sion of Luzerne County at the Annual 4-H Achievement Presen tation held at the Courthouse Rotunda. These outstanding 4-H’ers were recognized for their leadership ability; involvement in county, regional and state 4-H activities; and overall development accom plishments. The outstanding 4-H’er is the highest county 4-H awafd. Penn State Cooperative Exten sion of Luzerne County also hon ored several other 4-H’ers and volunteers for their achievements and commitment to the 4-H program. Contestants were asked to eva luate soils at three sites fen: the capability and their limiting fac tors. The members were then to recommend the best management practices for agricultural and nonagricultural land uses at each site. Jim Brewer and Phil King of the Natural Resource Conservation Service supervised the contest The winning teams in the land judging contest from first through third were Linganore High School, Walkersville High School, and Frederick High School. The top scoring individuals receiving gold medals were: 1. David O’Hara, Linganore FFA; 2. Kevin Saylor, Walkersville FFA. Receiving a silver medal was: 3. William Higgins, Linganore FFA. For information, contact Ike Williams, State FFA executive secretary, (410) 767-0189. •I Dare You Award: Shannon Cooney and Amber Frace. •WDLS Public Relation Award: Ist place—White Haven River Rats; 2nd place—Hobbic Community 4-H; and 3rd place— Tall in the Saddle. • Secretary Book Award: senior—Kelly Jesse, junior— Amber Frace. •Club Achievement Awards; Small Club—lst—Tall in the Saddle; 2nd—Winning Colors; and 3rd—The Winner's Circle. Medium Club—lst—The Hum mingbirds; and Large Club— -Ist—Hobbie Community 4-H; and 2nd—White Haven River Rats. •Teen Leader Award: Maurice Christine, Christina Demellier, Sara Donovan, Amy Fairchild, Melinda Frace, Jill Harrison, Jac queline Heller) Heather Hoffman, Loni Hunts, Matt Sechevich. and Heather Wildrick,
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