PHOTOS PROVIDED / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
STATE LINE CRYOGENICS … The Livestock Science Class traveled to State Line Cryogenics to learn more about bull collection and the cattle industry.
VET SCIENCE … The Vet Science Team of Zia Siegel, Tina Dickinson, Ashtyn Sanders, Rachel Dickinson, Maggie Altman, and Addison Smith.
AG POWER & AG SALES … The Ag Sales Team of Tina Dickinson, Carlee Schaffner, Eliza Higgins, and Bryce Peters, as well as the Ag Power Team Ayden Bennett and Jacob Stewart.
AGRISCIENCE FAIR … Agriscience Fair participants Avery Thompson, Aubree Miklovic, Lillian Snow, Zia Siegel, Aaden Judy, and Bryce Peters.
February came and went, but the Millcreek-West Unity FFA members were hard at work preparing for and competing in FFA contests.
Since the start of the year, members have tried several new Career Development Events and challenged themselves to gain new skills.
PUBLIC SPEAKING
To begin the month of February, one of the members, Bryce Peters, competed at the District Extemporaneous Public Speaking contest on February 3 after placing first at the sub-district competition in January.
Bryce traveled to Oak Harbor High School to compete in the district event. For this contest, he chose from six randomly drawn ag-related topics and was given 30 minutes to research and prepare a 4-6 minute speech on the chosen topic. This was Bryce’s first time competing in this contest, and he placed 5th in District 1.
LIVESTOCK SCIENCE FIELD TRIP
The following day, on February 4, the Livestock Science class took a field trip to State Line Cryogenics in Coldwater, Mich., to learn more about the process of bull collection.
In the fall, the class learned about artificial insemination in cattle and were able to use the class cow “Betsy” as a hands-on approach to learning.
During the visit to State Line Cryogenics, Kelsey and Drew helped to bridge classroom learning to real-world applications by showing the class how bulls are collected, processed, and shipped for producers to breed their cattle.
AG POWER AND AG SALES
On February 10, chapter members challenged themselves to participate in two contests that they have never tried before: Ag Power and Ag Sales. For these contests, they traveled to Sherwood, Ohio.
The Ag Power team had previously taken a general knowledge test and then participated in the hands-on portion at Redline Equipment. They had 20 minutes at each of five stations to read a customer report, diagnose the problem with the equipment — combines, skid steers, and tractors — and fix the problem. The team of Ayden Bennett and Jacob Stewart placed 5th in District 1.
The Ag Sales team also had previously taken a general knowledge test before they participated in the in-person event at Fairview High School.
Their in-person assessment consisted of a sales team preparation and judge questioning round, before they were given customer profiles, had five minutes to prepare and then complete individual mock sales scenarios with a judge.
They were tasked with finding the correct livestock feed to fit the customer profile and then “sell” this feed to a “customer.” The team included Tina Dickinson, Eliza Higgins, Bryce Peters, and Carlee Schaffner, and placed 8th in District 1.
AG MECH, OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT, AND VET SCIENCE
On February 24, members competed in three events at Four County Career Center: Ag Mech, Outdoor Power Equipment, and Vet Science. The Ag Mech team rotated through eight stations that tested their skills in mechanics.
These stations included welding, torching, bolt identification, using a hydrometer, classifying lubricants, making adjustments using a feeler gauge, completing precision measurements, and analyzing an electrical circuit.
This was the first time that Millcreek-West Unity competed in this contest, and the team of Coleton Ebersole, Jacob Stewart, and Peyton Stocklin placed 7th in the district.
The Outdoor Power Equipment team identified and completed troubleshooting on small engines. They rotated through stations where they identified parts and bolts, completed spool measuring, measured a cylinder bore, identified oil, and troubleshot a small engine. The team of Landon Bleikamp, Zakk Cammack, and Jordan Schaffner placed 12th in the district.
In the Vet Science contest, team members completed a general knowledge test as well as an animal, disease, and instrument identification test, before completing two practicums that simulated real-world procedures in veterinary medicine.
The team included Maggie Altman, Rachel Dickinson, Tina Dickinson, Ashtyn Sanders, Zia Siegel, and Addi Smith, and they placed 8th in District 1.
AGRISCIENCE FAIR
To round out the month of February, six members competed in the District 1 Agriscience Fair at Oregon Clay High School in Oregon, Ohio.
Prior to the contest, these members solved real-world problems utilizing the scientific method. After months of research and analyzing data, these members presented their research to judges who asked them about their projects, their use of the scientific method, and how their project attempted to solve problems facing agriculture.
The members were divided into their specific categories of study and the results were: Bryce Peters placing 2nd in Plant Systems, Aaden Judy placing 3rd in Plant Systems, Lillian Snow placing 5th in Plant Systems, Aubree Miklovic placing 7th in Plant Systems, Zia Siegel placing 5th in Animal Systems, and Avery Thompson placing 2nd in Food Systems.
LOOKING AHEAD
The chapter members continue to put in hours of studying and preparing throughout the month of March as they prepare for more district contests, as well as upcoming state contests.