Fifth-graders paint picture of farm life in FFA contest
West Holmes winners of the Tom Graham 5th Grade Farm Tour poster contest sponsored by the West Holmes FFA included overall winner Sophie Robb, center, second-place Paxton Baker, left, and third-place Jakob Dreher. They are joined by West Holmes FFA President Cora Crilow, left, Millersburg teacher Hannah Barnes, Killbuck teacher Charlotte Baird and FFA Vice President Ally Ogi.
While some students excelled at writing essays for the annual Holmes County Soil & Water Conservation District Tom Graham 5th Grade Farm Tour, others opted to invest their talents in painting a picture of what they experienced through the poster contest, sponsored by the East Holmes and West Holmes high school FFA chapters.
Designed to give students an alternative to the essay contest, the fifth-grade students on both sides of the county created educational posters that proved they gleaned knowledge from the tours that took place with East Holmes Schools visiting Ayrdell Farm near Trail while West Holmes students gathered at Velvet View Farm near Nashville.
The West and East Holmes FFA chapters are a driving force at the Tom Graham 5th Grade Farm Tour, serving as presenters, guides and clean-up crews at each annual event. Their enthusiasm rubs off on the fifth-grade students and makes the event even more enjoyable.
The award winners were honored at the annual SWCD award banquet that took place Nov. 16 at Carlisle Inn at Walnut Creek.
Gus Johnson, Hiland FFA president, and Vice President Garrett Troyer were honored to name this year’s East Holmes fifth-grade recipients.
Before doing so, Johnson thanked Firman and Fannie Wengerd, owners of Ayrdell Farm, for hosting the tour event.
During this event, fifth- and sixth-graders throughout East Holmes learned about conservation, wildlife, farming practices, forestry and water quality.
Johnson said, “The task was then presented to students to create a poster about what they learned, and the Hiland FFA members voted on their designs.”
He said the members considered the quality, creativity, originality and information presented in each poster.
“There were an amazing number of creative and colorful posters on display this year,” Johnson said.
Winners of the Hiland FFA poster contest from first to third were Jacob Yoder, Wise, student of Jeanne Leach; Mindi Miller, Chestnut Ridge, student of Jennifer Mengel; and (tie for third) Rachel Yoder, Wise, and Kaylene Yoder, Wise, both students of Megan Amos.
For the West Holmes contest, Cora Crilow, FFA chapter president, was joined by Vice President Ally Ogi in presenting the awards to the West Holmes fifth-graders.
Ogi said they received 38 posters and thanked Aaron and Brandi Schlauch, owners of Velvet View Farm, for hosting this year’s farm tour, their first time hosting. She said the tour included forestry, soil, an ATV safety stop hosted by the FFA, and the farming and dairy industry.
“The kids did a great job with their creativity, and our winning entry from Sophie showed some extreme artistic ability and creativity,” Crilow said of the overall West Holmes winner.
Winners of the West Holmes poster contest from first to third included Sophie Robb, Millersburg, student of Hannah Barnes; Paxton Baker, Millersburg, student of Hannah Barnes; and Jakob Dreher, Killbuck, student of Charlotte Baird.
“We thank all of those who participated in the poster contest,” Crilow said. “It was a very difficult decision to pick only three winners.”
Considering the depth of topics and creativity, the poster contest continues to gain ground in becoming a staple for the students to showcase their abilities and knowledge gained from the farm tour.