The Mississinawa Valley FFA chapter attended Ohio’s State FFA Convention on May 2-3, 2013. The Convention was held at the Ohio State fairgrounds. Members that attended the Convention were: seniors Preston Deeter and Kelsi Amspaugh; juniors Chelsea Skidmore, Lindsey Hunt, Joe Schmitz, Jacob Breymier, Logan Nelson, Mason Roark, and Nicole Scholl; sophomores Heather Dirksen, MacKenzie Dirmeyer, Lane Manning, Kaelyn Marker, Hunter Coning, and Stephanie Scholl; Freshmen Levi Livingston, Chance Garber, Brad Slyder, Zach Dirmeyer, Leslie Dirksen, Kasey Hummel, and Megan Wilson.
On Thursday, May 3rd, the members arrived in Columbus. Most of the members enjoyed the career show, while others represented the chapter interviewing for the Chapter Development Model of Innovation and proficiency awards. That night all of the students and chaperones attended Skyzone which consist of many trampolines they could jump on; this was one of the highlights of the trip.
At the second convention session Thursday evening, Chelsea Skidmore received the second place proficiency award for Dairy Production Entrepreneurship. Skidmore’s SAE consisted of 26 dairy cows and heifers. Some achievements through her SAE included Junior Champion Brown Swiss heifer in both the Junior and Open shows at the Ohio State Fair and Junior Supreme Champion heifer at the Great Darke County Fair. Skidmore plans to further expand her SAE this year by breeding for high-type heifers and good milk production.
On Friday, the students attended the fourth session where officers who received gold ratings were announced. 2012-2013 officers Reporter Chelsea Skidmore and Treasurer Joe Schmitz all received gold ratings on their officer books. The chapter received Gold Metal ratings. The chapter was also recognized for donating to the two state FFA charities Children’s Hospital donating 2,000 dollars, and CROP/Church World Services donating 200 dollars.
That evening the students went to the final session of the convention. At this session, the state FFA degree recipients were announced. The FFA chapter had four recipients this year, Jacob Breymier, Kelsi Amspaugh, Chelsea Skidmore, and Joe Schmitz.
The students had a great time as always, and are looking forward to next year’s Ohio State FFA Convention. The Mississinawa Valley FFA is proud of all award winners and wishes them luck in the future. Mississinawa Valley FFA is a satellite program of Miami Valley Career Technology Center. FFA is a student organization that promotes premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education.