Category: Activities

Edward Jones financial advisor, Jay Peterson, was a featured speaker in the Personal Finance classes this week.  Peterson shared his wealth of knowledge about investing and gave advice about choosing stock.  This helped prepare the students for their upcoming Stock Market simulation in which students will select stock to purchase and monitor their investments over the next 7 weeks.  He also shared the importance of learning about personal finance while in high school with the juniors and seniors in the class.  Peterson advised the students that regardless of their future career, they will be using the information learned in Personal Finance class.  Students especially enjoyed how Peterson was able to relate the investing concepts to their own lives.  Senior Brooke Eisenhauer stated, “It helped to have Mr. Peterson give examples of real money situations people might go through during their lifetime.”

The Fairbury FFA Chapter had 30 members compete at the 2016 District 5 Career Development Events (CDE) Contest on Tuesday March 1st at Southeast Community College in Beatrice.  These 30 members represented Fairbury FFA well by showing how hard work and dedication can pay off.  Fairbury FFA was named district champions in the Welding and Vet Science Contests.  Fairbury FFA also had three individual district champions with Nathaniel Stapaules placing 1st in Oxy/Acetylene Welding, Dylan Au placing 1st in Gas Metal Arc Welding, and Ryan Umland Placing 1st in Vet Science.  Below is a complete list of all the team and individual results for the Fairbury FFA Chapter members that competed in the District 5 CDE contests.  

The welding contest consists of a team of three members where one member has to Oxygen-Acetylene (O/A) weld, one member has to Shielded Metal Arc Weld (SMAW), and one member has to Gas Metal Arc Weld (GMAW).  Fairbury had two welding teams compete in the district contest with team one consisting of Nathaniel Stapaules who placed 1st in the O/A division, Tyler Heidemann who placed 7th in the SMAW division, and Trevin Likens who placed 4th in the GMAW division.  This team was named as the District 5 welding champions.  The second team consisted of Tony Grummert who placed 10th in the O/A division, Brandon Reese who placed 13th in the GMAW division and Dylan Au who placed 1st in the GMAW division.  This team placed sixth overall in the district 5 welding competition.  

The Agronomy team placed 4th overall and consisted Cody Huss who placed 2nd, Patrick Ondrak who placed 21st, Jon Engelman who placed 25th, and Blake Bauer who placed 48th individually.  

The Agriscience team placed 6th as a team and consisted of Michaela Buchli and Tori Likens who tied for 10th, Kaylee Sipek who placed 32nd, and Delaney Miller who placed 36th individually.  Bryn Livingston also competed in the Agriscience contest and placed 46th individually.  

The Ag Sales team placed 4th and qualified for the state contest.  The team consisted of Garret Ragland who placed 10th, Ryan Umland who placed 11th, Althea Esteller who placed 15th and Natalie Stapaules who placed 16th individually.

Fairbury FFA was represented by two Meats teams with team 1 finishing in 10th place and consisting of Tony Grummert who placed 26th, Jesse Graves finishing in 28th, Dylan Au finishing in 45th place, and Brandon Reese finishing in 48th place.  Team 2 finished in 11th place and consisted of Jake Maschmann who finished in 27th place, Jerod Hughes who finished in 31st place, Brock Barton who finished in 41st place and Carson Bohlmeyer who finished in 43rd place.  

The Floriculture team placed 3rd overall and qualified for the state contest.  Team members include Shavara Kroeker who finished in 10th place, Paige Livingston who finished in 14th place, Evie Schwab who finished in 15th place and Jordan Ruhnke who finished in 16th place individually.  

The Livestock Management team finished 10th place and consisted of Tori Likens, Sarah McCown, Delaney Miller, Michaela Buchli, and Kaylee Sipek.  

Fairbury was represented by two Vet Science teams with the 1st team consisting of Ryan Umland placing 1st, Patrick Ondrak and Natalie Stapaules placing 10th, and Madison Black placing 36th individually.  This team was named the District 5 Vet Science Champion.  The second team consisted of Sarah McCown who placed 13th, Jordan Ruhnke who placed 29th, Paige Livingston who placed 42nd, and Evie Schwab who placed 47th individually.  This team placed 8th place overall.  

Fairbury FFA had two Natural Resource teams with the first team placing 4th overall.  This team consisted of Nathaniel Stapaules who placed 16th, Carson Bohlmeyer who placed 20th, Tyler Heidemann who placed 26th, and Trevin Likens who placed 32nd individually.  The second team placed 8th overall and consisted of Brock Barton who placed 21st, Jesse Graves who placed 25th, Jake Maschmann who placed 27th, and Jerod Hughes who placed 35th individually.  

The last team that competed for Fairbury FFA was the Food Science team that placed 4th overall and consisted of Garret Ragland who placed 5th, Blake Bauer who placed 22nd, Althea Esteller and Madison Black who placed 24th individually.  The Fairbury FFA Chapter had a day to remember!  It was a great day to be a Jeff.       

     

It was a great day to be a Fairbury FFA Jeff!  On January 20th, 14 students of the Fairbury FFA Chapter competed at the 2016 District 5 Leadership Skills Events contest. This year these contests were held in York at the Holthus Convention Center.  Fairbury FFA members competed in a variety of contests throughout the day.  Ryan Umland, Garret Ragland, Althea Esteller, Patrick Ondrak, Blake Bauer, and Madison Black all competed in the Senior Parliamentary Procedure contest and received a red ribbon. Carson Bohlmeyer, Trevin Likens, Cody Huss, and Tyler Heidemann competed in the Agricultural Demonstration contest where they showed the judges how to process baby pigs.  They received a blue ribbon for their demonstration.  Ryan Umland competed in the Natural Resource speaking contest where he discussed the importance of the Ogallala Aquifer.  He received a purple ribbon for his speech.  Michaela Buchli and Tori Likens both competed in the Creed Speaking contest and both received a blue ribbon.  Lauren Patton competed in the Discovery Speaking contest where she discussed the “Wide World of Agriculture”.  She received a red ribbon for her speech.  Kennedy DeBoer competed in the Agricultural Literacy contest where she discussed how farmers harvest and plant their crops.  She received a blue ribbon for her speech.  Garret Ragland and Althea Esteller both competed in the Job Interview contest and both received a purple ribbon.  Garret was then named the District 5 Job Interview Champion and will be representing the Fairbury FFA Chapter at the Nebraska State FFA Convention in April.  Congratulations to all of the FFA members who participated in this year’s Leadership Skills Events contests.

National Honor Society inducted ten new members in the Fairbury chapter.  Students were selected by a faculty council based on scholarship, leadership, character and service.  FHS has been part of this national organization since 1936 inducting new members every year.  Chapter president, Ryan Umland, lead the ceremony with readings, candles, signatures, a pledge and a poem.

New members include: Madison Black, Emily Burkley, Jonathan Engelman, Althea Esteller, Jacob Johnson, Macy Ohlde, Britney Scheetz, Evie Schwab, Jolie Scott and Megg Vaughn

Members carried over from last year include: Nick Christiansen, Halle Knigge, Mark Kroeker, Lindsay Lee, Trevin Likens, Paul Mach, Patrick Ondrak, Justin Peterson, Anna Schouboe, Ryan Umland and Hannah Yantz.

These students are expected to be leaders in their school and community, while maintaining a high GPA, distinguished character and active service.

 

BEATRICE, NE –Fairbury FFA received a $2,000 Working Here Fund grant for a plasma cutter to use in the ag classroom at Fairbury High School. The grant is provided through Farm Credit Services of America’s (FCSAmerica) Working Here Fund.

Fairbury FFA will purchase a plasma cutter to be used to teach students important skills related to future careers in welding or metal fabrication. The students will learn how to properly use the plasma cutter, gain skills through practice and training, and will be introduced to careers in welding and metal fabrication, a growing career opportunity for students.

“Our goal in the Fairbury Agricultural Education Department is to help students find a career that interests them,” said Thomas Dux, Fairbury FFA. “Welding is a great career to get students plugged into.”

“As members of the communities we serve, we’re actively demonstrating our commitment with contributions that serve the rural agriculture life we value so highly,” said Amy Blomenberg, vice president of retail operations at FCSAmerica’s Beatrice office.

Fairbury FFA is one of 68 organizations to receive a Working Here Fund grant in the third quarter of 2015. FCSAmerica awarded $120,870 during the latest grant cycle ending September 30, 2015.

About Fairbury FFA

Fairbury FFA is an agricultural science program located in Fairbury, NE. The chapter has 49 active AET student accounts and 1 teacher.  The students are developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.

Farm Credit Services of America is a customer-owned financial cooperative proud to finance the growth of rural America, including the special needs of young and beginning producers. With $24 billion in assets and $4.3 billion in members’ equity, FCSAmerica is one of the region’s leading providers of credit and insurance services to farmers, ranchers, agribusiness and rural residents in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Learn more at www.fcsamerica.com.

On November 17th, 13 members of the Fairbury FFA Chapter competed at the District 5 Livestock Judging competition at Southeast Community College in Beatrice.  The contest is split up between junior livestock evaluators that are in grades 9th and 10th and senior livestock evaluators that are in grades 11th and 12th.  The top four teams in each division qualify for the state contest that is held during the Nebraska State FFA Convention in April.  Fairbury was represented by four senior evaluators that consisted of Blake Bauer, Jonathan Engelman, Althea Estellar, and Madison Black.  This team placed 5th and was one spot away from qualifying for state.  This team, however, did have the district champion evaluator as Blake Bauer won the senior competition.  Fairbury was represented by nine junior evaluators that consisted of Jordan Ruhnke, Evie Schwab, Michaela Buchli, Tori Likens, Kaylee Sipek, Olivia Koop, Tommy Kroeker, Colton Starck, and Kristin Branson.  The team that consisted of Jordan Ruhnke, Evie Schwab, Michaela Buchli, and Tori Likens placed third and qualified for the state competition. Congratulations to all of the Fairbury FFA Livestock Evaluators for your hardwork and success.

Five FBLA Members attended the National Fall Leadership Conference in Omaha on November 6 and 7.  With over 2400 students in attendance, members were able to connect with FBLA members from many other states including Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, and even Vermont. Members had the opportunity to listen to motivational keynote speakers Patty Hendrickson and Aaron Davis.  The Conference provided ample opportunities for professional development and career planning through networking and workshops.