The Crookston FFA has competed in several competitions during the first half of the Crookston School Year and still has many more in store for the 2022-23 School Year.
FFA Director and Agriculture Teacher Carolyn Pavlish had intended to inform the Crookston School Board of the FFA’s trip to the 95th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, at the end of October but was unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts, but we were able to learn more about their trip from the students themselves. Crookston FFA Chapter President Jo Jo Wallace reported that they stopped at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and toured the Caterpillar Visitors Center in Peoria, Illinois, where they saw videos and simulations of how their machines and tractors are built and operate. When they got to the convention, which was held at Lucas Oil Stadium, they explored countless careers and colleges from across the country and spent the day gaining leadership skills and meeting FFA members from every state, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. They ended the evening by attending an FFA-sponsored concert where they got to see Russel Dickerson. While there, the students got to shop at several local small businesses and stores involved in FFA and spoke with several colleges that attended the convention.
Their most recent endeavor was much closer to home when they attended the University of Minnesota Crookston to participate in the Agriculture and Natural Resources Activities Day (ANRAD) on Friday, December 2. The chapter sent about 50 students to compete in various competitions where their Milk Quality Team placed 3rd out of 14 teams, and member Ben Capistran won first place in the Ag Mechanics. Like their trip to the National Convention, the students met many representatives from other colleges and businesses, including from Crookston. “There were so many there, I don’t think I could’ve counted all of the businesses and the schools that were there representing their businesses and the places that they worked,” FFA Chapter President Jo Jo Wallace explained. “We even saw some people from Crookston at UMC, they had their booth there, and it was super fun talking to them too.”
With their recent success, five students in the Crookston FFA learned they were eligible to be qualified for one of the FFA’s Scholarship programs. “There’s this amazing program called Blue Jackets, Bright Futures. It’s an awesome program for kids that can’t support the funds to buy an FFA jacket,” Crookston FFA Chapter Reporter Allysen Wagner explained. “They give hundreds of jackets all over Minnesota, and this year, five kids from Crookston received one.” The scholarships give students their own FFA jackets with their names and Chapter positions that are all provided by freewill donations that sponsors can donate money to for the students.
With the end of the year in sight, the Crookston FFA will get a short break with the district’s winter break on December 22 but will soon go back to more competitions in early January and March. The earliest one is scheduled on January 11, where Crookston Chapter Reporter Allysen Wagner will compete in Creed Speaking and Conduct of Chapter Meetings. Chapter President Jo Jo Wallace explained that she would participate in a Livestock Evaluation competition on January 25 and a Dairy Evaluation competition in March. Chapter Historian Tessa Weber will also participate in the competition on January 25, taking part in Floriculture and Fish and Wildlife. With the latest results they’ve had in their recent conventions and seeing their fellow members putting so much time into preparing for the competitions, many students feel confident in their ability to place high at the coming conventions. “I’m super excited for these competitions, especially because of all of the time and effort that people put into these competitions, not only attending them but also running them, scoring, and judging them,” Jo Jo Wallace explained. “Its a lot of work from a lot of people, and it’s a good thing to see everything turn out and especially see your team or chapter go to states. Its a really great experience.”
We will continue to give more updates on the Crookston FFA’s results and future competitions.
