Contest brings firsts for WH FFA parliamentary team
West Holmes FFA chapter members Shane Lorentz, left, Alexa Tate, Madison Ringwalt and Bree Pringle before the district job interview contest.
On Nov. 21, members of the West Holmes FFA chapter traveled to Shelby High School to compete in the district parliamentary procedure contest. The advanced team of president Jenna Sheldon, secretary Andi Schuch, members Garrett Fowler, Gabby Yates, Hanna Bruce and Madison Ringwalt and alternate Shane Lorentz placed first. The team will now compete at the state contest on Dec. 9.
On Nov. 14, members of the West Holmes FFA chapter traveled to Hillsdale High School to compete in the sub district parliamentary procedure. The advanced team of president Sheldon, secretary Schuch, members Fowler, Yates, Bruce and Ringwalt and alternate Lorentz placed first. The contest involved taking a test over parliamentary law, preparing a meeting in two minutes and conducting a 12-minute business meeting over assigned items of parliamentary law.
On Nov. 7, West Holmes participated in the district job interview contest at Lucas High School. In the senior division, Bree Pringle placed seventh. In the junior division, Alexa Tate was second. In the sophomore division, Ringwalt placed third. In the freshman division, Lorentz was eighth.
On Oct. 25, 11 West Holmes FFA members participated in the chapter job interview contest at West Holmes High School. Members went through an interview process, wrote a cover letter and resume and filled out an application. In the freshman division, Lorentz placed first and Easton Uhl second. In the sophomore division, Ringwalt placed first, Emma Eberhard second, Jenna Zimmerly third and Logan VanDalen fourth. In the junior division, Tate placed first, Ian Barr second and Madison Pearce-Laferty third. In the senior division, Pringle was first and Derek Miller second.
The winners of each division qualified to compete in the district contest on Nov. 7.
On Nov. 4, the American degree session was held at the National FFA Convention, where West Holmes FFA alumni Cora Crilow, Chloe Shumaker and Ethan Feikert were awarded their American degrees.
Members’ Supervised Agricultural Experiences were as follows: Crilow’s involved working at Ashland SWCD, Strouse show pigs and raising hogs, sheep, goats and chickens. Shumaker’s involved raising sheep, hogs and steers and working for Application Specialties. Feikert’s involved working at Feikert Club Pigs, Airport Ridge Shooting Clays and Harvest Ridge and raising market hogs.
The American degree is the most prestigious award given to anyone in FFA. It is a very challenging degree to achieve, but its rewards are worth it.
To get this degree, applicants must have obtained the Greenhand degree, chapter degree and state degree. They also must have been involved in FFA for at least three years, graduated at least one year before the national convention, invested a total of $7,500, have good leadership skills, been involved in 50 hours of community service activities and maintained a C or higher GPA in school. They represent less than 1% of the national FFA membership.