Nov & Dec Newsletter

November/December 2015

Volume 4, Issue 5

West Jackson Middle FFA

Newsletter

West Jackson Middle FFA Named Outstanding Middle School at the 88th National FFA Convention & Expo LOUISVILLE (Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015/National FFA Organization) – The West Jackson Middle FFA Chapter in Georgia has been named the 2015 National Outstanding Middle School Chapter Award winner at the 88th National FFA Convention & Expo in Louisville, Kentucky.

tertaining and inspiring at the same time!” She went on to share, “I got to go on stage for the Outstanding Middle School division, and we won! Peyton Puckett and I were very prepared, and I'm so happy that we won. If you are ever offered a chance to go to National Convention, take it: you won't regret it.”

The nation’s top five three-star chapters in the division competed for the award on Wednesday, October 28th.

Each of the top five middle school chapters chose two members to give a 10 minute presentation. This presentation highlighted the nine activities that were featured on the chapter’s National Chapter Award.

After the presentation, the judges were given 10 more minutes to ask the students questions about the activities, their presentation, and the application. West Jackson Middle FFA received a plaque in an onstage ceremony during the convention and expo’s second general session on Thursday, October 29th.

One of the presenters for West Jackson Middle FFA was current President, Savannah Van Buren. Savannah had this to say about going to the National FFA Convention, “The National FFA Convention was a magical experience for me. The sessions were en-

Jackson County Comprehensive High freshman and former West Jackson Middle FFA President, Peyton Puckett, was the other presenter of WJMS FFA. This was the second straight year that West Jackson Middle FFA has been recognized by the National FFA Organization as one of the top Continued on page 2

Inside this issue: OMS Continued

2

Officer Message

3

Peach State Judging Contest

3

National Convention

4-5

Floriculture

6

SLG Program

7

Painting Party

7-8

Livestock Judging

8

Discovery Conference

9

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West Jackson Middle FFA Newsletter

Outstanding Middle School continued five middle school chapters, and Puckett was a presenter for WJMS FFA last year as well. Peyton shared, “Winning outstanding middle school was one of the best feelings in the world. The nomination its self was great but winning was outstanding! After preparing for months to promote our last year’s activities, the win was wonderful!” She went on to say, “I am so proud of our middle school and what we have achieved in the past few years and winning this really signifies just how much we have accomplished.”

West Jackson Middle FFA sells custom wreaths as a fundraiser, so hosting a wreath-making class seemed like a natural fit for their Program of Activities. FFA members not only learned how to make wreaths but also learned how to critique work and give constructive criticism. They also teach community members how to make the wreaths.

The Outstanding Middle School award, along with all National Chapter awards, is sponsored

by John Deere as a special project of the National FFA Foundation. It is one of the many ways FFA members accomplish the FFA mission and succeed in making a difference in their communities and the lives of others.

The National FFA Organization provides leadership, personal growth and career success training through agricultural education to 629,367 student members who belong to one of 7,757 local FFA chapters throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

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West Jackson Middle FFA Newsletter

Volume 4, Issue 5

East and West Jackson FFA Chapters Place in Judging Contest Livestock Judging team members from both East Jackson FFA and West Jackson Middle FFA competed at the Peach State Livestock Judging Contest in Perry, Georgia. This event took place in conjunction with the Georgia National Fair on October 17th.

The West Jackson Middle FFA team included Charlie Brooksher, Madyson McDaniel, Savannah Page, and Hannah White. The East Jackson FFA team included East Jackson Middle FFA members Bella Chandler and Makayla Gooch and East Jackson High FFA’s Wyatt Chandler.

These students judged market hogs, breeding gilts, market lambs, breeding ewes, market steers as well as breeding heifers. The FFA members were also required to give a set of oral reasons to judges to justify their placings.

Officer’s Message My name is Ashlyn Tomlin, and I am your 2015-2016 WJMS FFA Reporter. I am so excited about serving you this year! This is my third year being in FFA, but it’s my first year as an officer.

I love everything about FFA especially how you don’t always have to live on a farm to be involved! I come from the city and live in a subdivision, so I don’t really know what it is like first hand to grow up on a farm. However, that doesn’t mean that I can’t be involved in FFA. That’s what I love about this organization - it’s so open and welcoming to all types of people with all different backgrounds!

One of my favorite things to do in FFA is to compete in the Floriculture CDE. Our competition was on November 10th, and we placed 6th out of 29 teams!

If you are interested in getting more involved in FFA, stop by the Ag Room to sign up for an upcoming event. You won’t regret it!

FFA members’ scores were ranked individually and added together for their team scores. Charlie Brooksher placed 10th overall, Bella Chandler placed 7th overall, Savannah Page placed 6 th overall, and Wyatt Chandler placed 4 th overall.

The West Jackson team placed third in the contest while the East Jackson team placed second in the contest.

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West Jackson Middle FFA Newsletter

Jackson County FFA Chapters Attend National Convention

By Ashlyn Tomlin West Jackson Middle FFA Reporter Members of East Jackson Middle School and West Jackson Middle School FFA Chapters attended the 88 th National FFA Convention on October 27th - 31st, in Louisville, Kentucky. East Jackson Middle FFA Members attending the convention were Allison Lounder, Bella Brook Chandler, Sara Saliba, Cheyanne Smith, Sammy Jones, Cale Howington, and Nathan Pagsisihan.

West Jackson Middle FFA members attending the convention were Hannah White, Madyson McDaniel, Savannah Van Buren, Alyssa Bradley, Ashlyn Tomlin, and Charlie Brooksher. The trip started early Tuesday, October 27th when the FFA members met up with their FFA Advisors, Kate Wooten and April Davis, make the journey to Kentucky.

In August, the both the East Jackson Middle and West Jackson Middle FFA chapters were ranked as National Three Star Chapters which is the highest ranking a chapter can receive.

Moreover, West Jackson Middle FFA was named as one of the five national finalists for the Outstanding Middle School award.

This award is based off of the National Chapter

Award, and each of the five finalists was to create a 10 minute presentation about their application and be prepared for a 10 minute session of questions. On Wednesday, West Jackson Middle FFA President Savannah Van Buren and former President Peyton Puckett presented to a panel of judges as they competed for the honor of Outstanding Middle School chapter.

Dr. April Howard, Superintendent of Jackson County School System, had this to say about the accomplishments: "Jackson County School System is so proud of the outstanding work of our FFA students and leaders.

Our district motto is "Student Success through Leadership, Character, and Performance." The middle school FFA programs provide quality experiences where students rise to new levels of performance. We're exceptionally proud of the leadership and character demonstrated by our FFA students! We appreciate the recognition National FFA provides; it inspires students to work hard and reach new heights!"

When the group arrived in Louisville on Tuesday evening, they began their trip with a Horses and Haunts Tour at Churchill Downs. The students heard spooky stories and legends from the

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West Jackson Middle FFA Newsletter

other side of the famous race track.

On Wednesday, while Puckett and Van Buren made their presentation, the other Jackson County FFA members made a visit to Schmpiff’s Confectionery, where the owners make their own candy. While there, they got the opportunity to venture through the kitchen, museum and store. After the candy factory the FFA members went to Churchill Downs, home of the famous Kentucky Derby. The members got a tour of the track and derby museum.

The opening session on Wednesday night was highlighted by an amazing, keynote speaker, Dr. Rick Rigsby. EJMS FFA member Sammy Jones shared, “Attending the National FFA Convention was a great experience. The sessions were filled with humor and inspirational speeches.” Between sessions, FFA members got the opportunity to go through the Career Show and Expo where they could check out booths about agriculture related colleges and universities as well as agriculture career opportunities.

In addition to all of the college and career booths, the FFA mall offered the sale of FFA apparel and gear, as well as a multitude of other shops including boots, show supplies and souvenirs.

On Thursday, FFA members started the day by traveling into Indiana to visit Huber Farms Orchard and Winery for a tour of their facilities. The Second General Session was held later that afternoon, and Jackson County’s FFA members were able to share in the excitement as East Jackson Middle and West Jackson Middle FFA officers received awards for being ranked as Three Star National Chapters.

Also during this session, WJMS was named Outstanding Middle School.

Volume 4, Issue 5

On the Friday, FFA members went to the Louisville Slugger Museum, and got a tour of the facility where bats are made for professional and minor league baseball players before returning to the convention center for more time at the career show and expo. The convention was a great success for many, and it was an opportunity for the Jackson County’s FFA members to make lasting memories, see the big picture of FFA and the many opportunities and goals for their future FFA careers.

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West Jackson Middle FFA Newsletter

WJMS FFA Members Compete at FFA Floriculture CDE West Jackson Middle FFA members competed at the Area II FFA Floriculture Career Development Event. This event was held at Franklin County High School on November 10th, and WJMS FFA members participating in the event were Gracen Dutton, Harley Martin, Noel Plunkett, and Ashlyn Tomlin.

For the Floriculture CDE, students are required to learn to identify 50 common floriculture plants including flowers, house plants, and bedding plants. In addition, they take a 25 question general knowledge test at the contest. The WJMS FFA team was in the junior division where they competed against other middle school chapters as well as

ninth grade teams. Overall, the team placed 6th out of 29 teams! Moreover, Gracen Dutton was the high scoring individual on the WJMS FFA team and tied for 11th individually out of more than 100 students!

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West Jackson Middle FFA Newsletter

WJMS FFA Launches the SLG Program West Jackson Middle FFA recently launched a program called SLG which stands for Sharing, Learning, and Growing. This program will be used to learn more about agricultural education programs and FFA chapters from all across the nation.

Even though our chapter knows about other middle school chapters in Georgia and knows about some of the activities they might do, we decided that we would like to learn more about what middle school programs look like in other parts of the country.

In order to get the word out about this program, Mrs. Davis sent out a message on the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) Communities of Practice message boards as well as a nation-wide agriculture education Facebook Group. We also created a meme and sent it out on our WJMS Instagram and Facebook page.

We sent out these messages in order to get email addresses from FFA Advisors who might be interested in participating in the SLG Program. We then sent them an initial email with a description of the program and a link to a Google form where the advisors could fill out information about their FFA chapters including contact info so that we could send them care packages about our FFA chapter! The goal for us is to develop a pen-pal type relationship with other middle school FFA chapters in order to learn more about hem and help us grow and develop our FFA chapter. So far, we have heard from 17 different schools that would like to participate, and they include the following states: Illinois, Iowa, New Mexico, New Jersey, Texas, Mississippi, Delaware, Idaho, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio! We are so excited to learn more about these FFA Chapters and their agriculture programs, and we look forward to sharing that information with everyone!

WJMS FFA & FCCLA Chapters Host a Painting Party at Sips N Strokes The West Jackson Middle FFA & FCCLA Chapters took a trip to Sips N Strokes Paint Studio in Hoschton on November 12th. Check out some pictures from this fun event!

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West Jackson Middle FFA Newsletter

WJMS FFA & FCCLA Chapters Host a Painting Party at Sips N Strokes The West Jackson Middle FFA & FCCLA Chapters took a trip to Sips N Strokes Paint Studio in Hoschton on November 12th. Check out some pictures from this fun event!

West Jackson Middle FFA Competes in Area II Livestock Judging CDE The FFA Area II Livestock Judging Career Development Event (CDE) was held on Tuesday, December 8th at the Habersham Central High School Livestock Facility in Mt. Airy.

Twenty-two Senior teams and twenty-seven Junior teams competed at this event, and the top two teams in each division get to move on to the state competition.

For the Livestock CDE, students learn to judge various classes of livestock including both breeding and market classes of goats, sheep, swine, and cattle. In addition to judging classes of livestock, the FFA members also learn to defend their decisions with sets of oral reasons they present to judges.

The West Jackson Middle FFA Livestock Judging team competed in the Junior division against other middle school teams and ninth grade teams. WJMS FFA Livestock Judging team members included Charlie Brooksher, Madyson McDaniel, Savannah Page, and Hannah White.

These students have been practicing since early August, and all their hard work paid off! The West Jackson Middle team took home first place honors at the area contest. Moreover, three members individually placed within the top 5 of the contest - Charlie Brooker was fifth place individual, Madyson McDaniel was fourth place individual, and Savannah Page was second place individual. After winning the area contest, the WJMS FFA team members now have their sights set on the State Livestock Judging CDE in March.

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West Jackson Middle FFA Newsletter

West Jackson Middle FFA

WJMS FFA Makes Plans to Attend Discovery Conference: January 21st—22nd, 2016

***We will leave from the back of WJMS at 7:30AM on Thursday and drive to EJMS to pick up their FFA members before traveling to UGA and then the conference. The rally will conclude around 12:00PM on Friday. Students will return on Friday to return home like normal.

The cost to attend the Discovery Conference is $55 per person. That fee includes all conference material, tshirt, meals, lodging, and activities at the Georgia FFA-FCCLA Center and must be paid before Tuesday, January 19th. Turn in a deposit of $25 (non-refundable) with the permission form ASAP! Only the first 15 FFA Members to sign up with permission forms and $25 will be able to attend!

Upcoming CDEs The following CDEs will take place in the spring, and we still have spots left! Please talk to Mrs. Davis ASAP if you would like to join one of the CDE teams!

Horse Judging Jr. Prepared Public Speaking (need 1) Jr. Ag Mechanics (need 4)

400 Gum Springs Church Rd Jefferson, GA 30549 Phone: 706-654-2775 Extension: 503 E-mail: adavis@jackson.k12.ga.us Website: wjmsffa.wix.com/wjmsffa

Website: wjmsffa.wix.com/wjmsffa Facebook: www.facebook.com/wjmsffa Instagram: www.instagram.com/wjmsffa#

The Discovery Conference will be held January 21st—22nd, 2016 at the Georgia FFA/FCCLA Center near Covington. Students should plan to wear casual (warm) dress for the entire conference. In addition to the Discovery Conference, the WJMS FFA chapter will be visiting The University of Georgia’s Department of Agriculture Leadership, Education, and Communication on the way to the camp on Thursday, January 21st.

Once we are done at UGA, we will stop for lunch, and then move on to the Discovery Conference in Covington.

West Jackson Middle School

Checkout West Jackson Middle FFA online!

The Discovery Conference is a wonderful opportunity for students in grades 6-8. It is a great way to get young members excited about the FFA and is designed to introduce middle school students to the opportunities that FFA has to offer. Every middle school FFA chapter in the state is invited to attend this annual event, and the West Jackson Middle FFA Chapter will be traveling with East Jackson Middle FFA to the conference.