West Holmes FFA hands out awards in a virtual celebration

West Holmes FFA hands out awards in a virtual celebration
File

The West Holmes FFA put together another strong year despite the group missing the final three months of the year. Loads of activities showed the commitment, and many year-end awards were doled out to honor the group’s achievements.

                        

While the West Holmes FFA chapter missed out on attending the state convention and their annual banquet celebration in person this year due to the shortened school year, there was still plenty to celebrate.

A virtual celebration allowed the students to rejoice with one another in their many accomplishments.

“We missed our state convention one week and then our school banquet the following week,” said Jamie Chenevey, West Holmes FFA chapter advisor. “It’s important for us to recognize our members’ accomplishments and our local community members. We’ve done some great things in a short year. We had eight kids get their state degrees, two kids run for office at state and a lot of really nice accomplishments.”

Chenevey said normally, state winners would be recognized in front of 7,000 people at state, and even at the local level, their school banquet gives students a chance to enjoy the accolades from their peers.

“This virus and missing school took what is probably our busiest time of the year in FFA away from us,” Chenevey said. “I’ve never experienced anything like this in my 20 years of teaching. Every Saturday we would have had kids somewhere doing something FFA-related and preparing for state. You could tell that a good number of the kids were really bummed out that they didn’t get to experience all of this firsthand because it is a really big deal and they earned the right to be recognized.”

Doing both virtually was different, yet the program allowed chapter members to share their thoughts and words, and they were recognized in a beautiful way that was different from the norm.

“It wasn’t easy to figure out the proper way to honor these kids in a way deserving of their achievements,” Chenevey said.

During the virtual presentation, Cora Crilow had the honor of presenting the Distinguished Service Award to her father, Troy Crilow. She talked about his contribution to the FFA program.

“We are so thankful for all he has done to benefit our chapter,” Crilow said of her father. “Whether it is coming to meetings and serving as a chaperone or supporting our chapter through the annual fruit sale, he’s always there to lend a helping hand.”

Gold Chapter Officers Books honors were awarded to a trio of WHHS FFA members.

Chapter officers keep detailed records of the chapter’s activities throughout the year, the books being part of each member’s responsibility.

Books run from February of one year to January of the next year and are submitted and scored. All Gold-rated officers are recognized at the state convention each year.

The Gold Rated Officers Reporters Award went to Ally Ogi, the Gold Rated Officers Secretaries Award went to Kylie Ramirez and the Gold Rated Officers Treasurers Award went to Cora Crilow.

The Top 10 State CDE teams also were recognized at the banquet.

Brayden Shumaker and Addison Yates of the Ag Power Diagnostics Team were the biggest winners, collecting a first place at districts and a first place at team state.

The contest involved testing on general tractor knowledge, troubleshooting and tractors and was scored on safety, skill, accuracy and time in delivering proper trouble-shooting diagnostics. The team’s coaches were Chad Strouse, Lyle McCoy and Chris Sprang.

Coached by Jane Houin and Chenevey, among several teachers, member Jayme Pennell made a huge haul of awards in Extemporaneous Speaking including a third place overall at state, a first in state preliminaries and a first at districts. The contest focused on drawing an ag topic at random, writing a four- to six-minute speech in 30 minutes, and a time of Q-and-A with the panel at state and districts.

The WHHS FFA Ag Sales Team of Kylie Ramirez (10th overall), Phillip Lepley (19th), Garrett Houin (35th) and Cora Crilow (41st) with Pennell as an alternate placed second at districts and fourth overall at state.

Chenevey said the state accomplishment was a truly impressive achievement because the team didn’t even win their district.

“They got into state on a secondary score, but they got there and then they made the most of it by really stepping up, and they did great,” Chenevey said.

The Agricultural Communications Team of Rebecca Sprang (ninth overall), Ramirez (16th), Bree Houin (49th) and Alyssa Pringle (55th) with Garrett Houin as the alternate placed seventh at team state.

Their effort included testing on general knowledge, creating a proposal, and a team presentation on web design, article writing and radio broadcast. They were coached by Jane and Craig Houin.

Individually, Ramirez placed 10th in the Senior Division for Job Interview at state, winning her district competition.

That competition included creating a resume and cover letter, a mock interview, and writing thank you letters.

Chapter scholarships were presented at the local virtual banquet.

“These members of our chapter go above and beyond in being involved in events and keeping up on their course work,” Chenevey said.

The members earning chapter scholarships by grade and including their GPA were seniors, Kylie Ramirez, 3.616 GPA, and Lexi Ogi, 3.411; juniors, Natasha Averbukh, 3.942, and Taryn Grassbaugh, 3.856; sophomores, Ally Ogi, 4.0, and Ethan Feikert, 3.884; and freshmen, Maria Steiner, 4.0, and Sarah Irwin, 4.0.

State was scheduled to take place April 30 and May 1 while the local banquet was slated for May 9.

While the chapter members receive most of the accolades, Chenevey said they also take time to honor the many area businesses and individuals who helped throughout the year, and that too was lost.

“We recognize those community members who helped us do the little things,” Chenevey said. “We are sad we couldn’t make this presentation at the banquet, but we felt it is important to thank them. Many of these individuals helped with our second annual All In Week and event to improve the studies, morale and personal lives of West Holmes students. It would not have gone over as well as it did if it weren’t for the help of these great community members.”

A complete list of all of the recipients can be found on the West Holmes FFA Facebook page.


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