The Crookston High School FFA is celebrating National FFA Week this week. Students in the program are participating in several themed events throughout the week. All students enrolled in an agriculture class are members of FFA. Those classes include Intro to Ag, Food Science, Food Creations, Leadership 101, Floral Design, and Landscape Design.
Crookston FFA President Victoria Proulx provided an over of the events. “Yesterday, we had a guest speaker from Ridgewater College, and they talked about their agriculture program,” said Proulx. “Today, we have – Ag Behind Cupcakes and Pizza – so, we learned about all the stuff we use in the farm to make pizza and cupcakes. Tomorrow, we will have a legislative breakfast to meet with Representative Deb Kiel and talk about all things legislative. On Thursday, we’ll have – Ag Olympics – with a tie-tying contest and roping contest. And Friday, we’ll have an FFA jacket coloring contest and make – Thank You Farmer – letters.”
Crookston FFA Reporter Jasmine Haglund said Tuesday’s activity led to some interesting creations. “Today, in food science, we made pizza,” said Haglund. “We got a recipe and were told to just go make it. We made everything from scratch and even shredded the cheese. Then, we also made cupcakes and were told to find a recipe and go for it. We had many different, interesting creations in there like flour and salt (frosting).”
Two teams also recently placed in events. The Floriculture team of Ellyn Adams and Hayley Leckie placed eighth. And the Ag Mechanics team of Weston Benoit, Lucas Hall, Alvin Killough, Michael Miller, and Dylan Thode placed 12th.
The program has also received several grants and scholarships in its first year, some of which were explained by Proulx. “The Crookston FFA was selected to receive a $1,500 Legacy Grant for the MN FFA Foundation,” said Proulx. “The FFA received a grant from the USDA to cover the cost of the FFA memberships for the next three years, which is really amazing of them to do that. And Polk County Soybean-Corn Growers donated $250 to the chapter for jackets and leadership events.”
ADDITIONAL FFA PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
- Timothy Brule, Taylor Schulz, Dakota Laughery, Nvaeh Hampton, and Zachary Simpson-Gibson received FFA jackets from the Blue Jackets Bright Futures Scholarship from MN FFA Foundation.
- Ag Country donated FFA Student Handbooks for the program.
- Purchased two Cricut machines through a grant. Cricut machines can cut various fabrics, and other materials for the projects students create for FFA.
- Purchased landscaping supplies through a grant
Haglund said she’s happy FFA came to Crookston. “FFA is such a great thing,” said Haglund. “I’m so glad that Mrs. Rupprecht came here and decided that Crookston needed FFA because it is so fun.”
Proulx shared a similar sentiment. “I’m very happy to be a part of the Crookston FFA program,” said Proulx. “I’m very happy that Mrs. Rupprecht has joined the Crookston community with her teaching and bringing all of these new ideas to Crookston. I never would’ve thought that I’d be in FFA or even be good at it. Having this opportunity and learning so much more about Crookston, Minnesota, and where all of our food comes from with agriculture has been a great blessing. And I can’t wait to see all the things the FFA does for Crookston.”
The 2020-2021 Crookston FFA Officers:
President – Victoria Proulx
Vice President – Libby Salentine
Secretary – Stella Duden
Treasurer – Linnea French
Reporter – Jasmine Haglund
Sentinel – Carter Bruggeman
Historian – Emma Sherman
Advisor – Whitney Rupprecht
