CDE Season

 Our Ag Mechanics team finished in first place at the Miller CDE with Andrew finishing first overall.

 Our livestock judging team finished in first place at the Miller CDE with Cassidy finishing in first place overall and Teigan finishing in 3rd place overall.

 Here is a picture of all the participants at the Miller CDE.  This is the most participation we've ever had at an event before.

 The livestock judging team also finished in first place at the Redfield CDE

 Here are some updated photos from our swingset project.

FFA Week 2

 We had the opportunity to attend a CDE school in Winner this year during FFA Week.  They also brought in Dr. Rigsby who has spoken at the National FFA convention a number of times.  He had an inspiring message of the power of a parent/teacher on a student's life.  We were grateful to meet with him after the event.

 We also had our annual animal nursery during FFA week.  A huge thank you to a couple of SBA families who provided us with sheep, goats, cattle and a horse for our event.

 The bottle lambs were very young ranging in age from 1-4 days old.

 The Animal Science students taught the elementary students about the animals.

 

 Day 2 of our swing-set construction was successful as we secured the main beam on top of the swing-set,  We hope to move it on campus in the next month or so.  

The Animal Science class is making digestion murals to help teach the elementary students about digestion.

FFA Week 1

 Another FFA week is in the books and this year's activities lived up to all the hype.  We did a unique fundraiser this year by having students put money in jars to support their favorite teacher wearing a bovine costume for the day.  Here is a picture of our chapter with the winner!

 We hosted an Ag-Olympics theme having an apple-bobbing relay, hay bale throwing competition, potato peeling competition and a pop chugging contest out of calf bottles.  In the background, you can also see our tractor "Maxwell" which pulled in a trailer with the officer team on it.

 We also hosted our yearly art competition centered around the theme of "Transformed" where the artists reclaimed products and gave them a new meaning.  There were several outstanding pieces entered including the ones below:

Pie Auction

 We had another very successful pie auction which raises money for a variety of projects around SBA including some of our FFA activities.

 The students have fun displaying the pies and do a great job hosting the event.

 Thank you to all the students and supporters who come and give generously to the school each year at this event!

Restored Ford 9N Tractor

 A generous donor has given us a completely restored Ford 9N tractor to use for our chapter and school activities.  We are having a "name the tractor" contest for students with a $50 cash prize for the best name voted on by our FFA officers.  What a great illustration of how Christ has "restored" us to a right relationship to God for those of us who have placed our trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior!

Value and Purpose of Agricultural Education

In my graduate studies I come across several other professionals in Agricultural Education.  The following link is to an article written to Ag Ed students at Penn State University on the importance of both knowledge and skills in the world of agriculture.  It is lengthy, however, it lays out a great foundation for why we do what we do.
http://psuaee412.blogspot.com/2016/09/guest-blogger-problem-solving.html

January Highlights

 We are back in the saddle again after a much needed Christmas Break.  The semester started off with a couple of students helping out our director of development at the Miller Farm and Home Show.

 The Landscaping class received a package of PPE for competing in the ATV video safety project.  Here they are showing off their goods!

 We started on our swing-set project last week.  A generous supporter of our program is helping us assemble it in his shop.  It is a joy to see the passions and ideas of the students become a reality!

 We constructed the A frames of the swing-set using cedar logs and strapped them together with bands of steel.

One of our alumni from the first year of our program came back and gave a leather working lesson to one of our students interested in doing leather projects.  Another generous community member donated a bunch of leather working supplies and materials to our chapter.

Here are a couple more pictures from our swing set project.  Thanks for tuning in!