Assignment for 11-12-13

The first time I went hunting I was in 4th or 5th grade.  My uncle took me rabbit hunting with some of his friends.  I was proud of being able to walk through the woods with my uncle and his dog as we eagerly waited for rabbits to dart out from their hiding spots in the soft snow.  Even though I didn't have a gun of my own, this hunt was a rite of passage for me and got me excited about hunting.  After the hunt was done, my uncle let me shoot his shotgun at some targets.  This was the first time I was able to shoot a "real" gun besides a BB gun!

What about you-what was your first hunting experience like?

A Month's Worth of Updates

Well, I guess it's been about a month since we've updated the blog.  Here are a couple of highlights from the last couple of weeks and I apologize up-front for the lack of photos of our activities:

• Researching and presenting on crops grown in South Dakota
• Parliamentary Procedures
• Firearm Safety
• South Dakota Hunting Regulations
• Conservation and Stewardship
• First official SBA FFA Meeting on October 21st  *Below is a copy of the "unofficial" minutes

The Minutes for FFA             

     By Tricia

            Sunshine Bible Academy held its first ever FFA meeting on Oct. 21^st 2013. The members present were Brian, Faith, Tricia Sierra, Jana, and Jt. Members gone were Trig and Noah. Our advisor Mr. Boresma was present, and our guests were Miss Van Holstyn and Vince Dixon.

            Brian called our meeting to order, followed by the opening ceremony. Sierra gave our treasures report Our FFA chapter did two different work projects in the community to raise money. We had to pay $50 for going to the land and range judging school and $180 for our FFA dues, which leaves us with a total of $865 in our FFA account.          

            Some opportunities for our FFA chapter are on Friday November 8^th for the Jack Rabbit Invitational. Jana informed us that on December 7-8^th(weekend of Auction) there is a cattle showing clinic in Brookings SD. It is done by professional cattle showers and you’ll receive tips on showing and other details on how to do things. It is also free so if people want to go let Mr. Boersma know. We also discussed the BOSDRC (Building Our South Dakota Rural Communities) which provides grants for our FFA chapter to do projects to help our community. It includes Basic which gives you $750 per project and Safety $200 per projects. You would need progression and completion reports. Jana moved to talk about Grant opportunities and Faith 2^nd it. After discussing for a while Tricia moved to set aside the motion to talk about the Grant and move on to new business, and JT seconded it.

            New Business- Mr. Boersma suggested a committee for Thank you cards. Sierra opened the floor to talk about it, and Jana 2^nd it. We discussed how our chapter needs to send Thank- you cards to people who have given our FFA chapter money. Our president Brian appointed Tricia, Jana, and Sierra on a Thank-you card committee. Jana moved to close Thank-you card discussion and Sierra 2^nd it. An auction Fundraiser idea was suggested and Jana moved to open discussion. Sierra seconded it. Some of the ideas were Silent Auction or Fencing Basket. After discussing a bit Jana moved discussion to discussed at a later date and Brian 2^nd the motion. The Rancher Relief Fundraiser in Miller asked our chapter if we wanted to donate a basket to be auctioned off. Brian moved to open discussion and Jana seconded it. During discussion we decided to make a movie basket and to spend $65 on it. Sierra moved for Jana to pick out a movie basket and Brian 2^nd it. After the new business was done discussing, Brian made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Sierra 2^nd it. Meeting was adjourned and dismissed by 9:04. 

Where do we turn in tough times

This week's activities have been a little less exciting than the previous weeks as the students are researching different crops grown in South Dakota.  The students are getting hit with projects and tests from many different classes as the end of the first quarter is coming up next Wednesday.
The West River families and communities have been in our thoughts and prayers this week as they continue to deal with losses and clean up from last week's storm.  I am proud of how the students have kept their focus here at school, however, we also realize how difficult it is for them to be here knowing the loss and extra work going on back home.
We read from Psalm 40 today in devotions which says:  "I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet upon a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.  He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.  Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods."

Range Competition and Looking Ahead

Three of our students took part in the Central Area Range Competition on October 1st in Wessington Springs. They (and their teacher) were a little nervous about the first competition! It was a beautiful day and the students performed very well, especially considering our inexperience. We placed 5th out of 10 schools and one of our students finished 21st in the individual scores. This is an area that I believe our school can really build upon and compete at an even higher level in the years to come.
 Five of our students won FFA jackets from a contest that we entered in last month. The students had to fill out an application and then answer questions about their future plans in agriculture, what an FFA jacket would mean to them, and what their goals for FFA are. Congratulations to our students for a job well done in this area!
 Earlier this week, we were privileged to have 2 state FFA officers join our class and answer many FFA questions. This is also my first year being involved with FFA so it was a blessing to have them for an hour class. The officers commented on how engaged the students were in wanting to learn more about FFA.
 We are finishing up our range unit and moving into crops. Each student has picked (figuratively) a crop to research and present to the class in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for more details!

FFA Visit Assignment

What is one thing that you learned from the state FFA officers that visited us on Monday? What opportunities in FFA are you interested in and would like to learn more about?

Getting out into the community!

 We had a couple of great opportunities to get out into the community over the past week.  The above picture is taken at the Ufen ranch which is just south of school.  Brad Ufen (an SBA alum) was kind enough to flag about 30 range grasses and plants for us to go look at on their property.  He did a great job walking us through the plant line and sharpening our identification skills.

 Backing up to Tuesday, we had an opportunity to help a family put tires on top of their silage pile.  They had spread a large tarp across the silage to keep it fresh and needed tires on top to hold it down.  The size of this pile was almost as big as a football field and was at least 15-20 feet high!
The students worked very hard and we were able to get the job done in about 45 minutes!  We had great help from a couple of future FFA students (we hope!) Jaden Brockel and Zach Sybesma-they decided working outside would be more fun than sitting in study hall!

Everybody got their workout and helped encourage each other to get the job done.  It helps to have some competitive students in class.  I told one of them I'm glad he works half as hard as he talks!

On Thursday, we went to out to the Johnson's place with my smaller class.  We helped pick up ears of corn that had fallen out the back of a trailer as they were picking corn.  The students did well with that and enjoyed getting to drive the Gator and Big Red around the field!
One of our goals is to be able to connect our students to some of the local operations around school.  It's a win-win situation where we get to go out and help families and learn from them.  They in turn get to know our students/program and help support us in what we are doing.
Coming up this week is a visit from two state FFA officers and a Range Competition in Wessington Springs that 3 of our students will be competing in.  Thanks for tuning in!

What an exciting week!

We had a very busy yet exciting week at SBA. Chad Coppess, from Grace Adventures, came and challenged us from Ephesians 5 using horse training to relate what God desires to teach us. Our Ag classes had the opportunity to work with Chad and the horses during classtime and learn more about horse training. Thanks to Chad and the students for their willingness to go deeper. We also had an opportunity with the 3rd period class to visit Dakota Vet in Miller to watch a horse get it's teeth floated. The vet explained the procedure and allowed the students to get some hands-on learning. Thanks to Dakota Vet for allowing us this opportunity. This week we are going to help a local family put the tarp and tires on their sileage pile. We also will be finishing up our range management section over the next two weeks. The bottom photo is displaying a gavel that Trig made for our FFA meetings. I enjoy seeing the students use their gifts in a variety of ways to add to our class experience. Thanks for tuning in!