Celebrating 75 Years!

2021-2022 FFA Members

 

FFA Group Photo: We are proud to have 115 members in our FFA Chapter this year. We have a great group of Greenhands that joined us this year challenging us to keep working hard! We have an exciting FFA Week planned for February 13-18. We have had great successes this year with 11 state degrees selected and will be recognized at the State Convention in April. We are very proud of our American Degrees (six students) who were recognized at the National Convention in October, as well as our ranking as a 3 Star Chapter. As we head into the Spring we hope to see more awards for our students and chapter in contest teams and proficiency awards. Stay tuned for continued success! You can get more updates by following our Facebook page. We appreciate the community’s support of our program every year.

El Dorado Springs FFA Celebrates FFA Week!

by Hannah Klaiber

FFA week is a time that all FFA members enjoy and look forward to. FFA week will be held from Feb. 13-18, with plenty of fun activities on the agenda. To start off all the celebration, on Sunday the 13th, all FFA members and guests are welcome to attend morning services at the Missionary Baptist Church on Lafayette Street starting at 11 a.m. Immediately following, members will meet for lunch at Pizza Hut in town. Members will be asked to wear official dress to the occasion.

Monday the 14th, kicking off our first spirit day is CAMO day. That evening from 6-8 p.m. we will go bowling at Capri Bowl in Nevada. Tuesday, Feb. 15, is Blue Collar day. Dress like your current or future career, be proud to show off your SAE project. At 6 p.m. the Opera House Theater will be showing a movie for all FFA members and 8th graders interested in FFA in high school. We hope that 8th graders join us for a night of fun! Wednesday the 16th is T-shirt day. Wear your FFA T-shirt to support our chapter. Also, in the morning before school the FFA chapter will be hosting an Appreciation Breakfast for all teachers, parents, and FFA supporters, so if you are in the area from 7-8 a.m., stop by and enjoy a pancake with us! Thursday February 17th is Overall and Flannels Day. Members will be driving tractors to school for the Annual Elementary Parade. The parade will start at 2 p.m. and will go down the bus ramp. If community members wish to attend, they can watch from Park Street. Scavenger hunt and following after that will be Game Night which starts at 4:30pm after school. Dinner will be provided at game night and will end at 7:30 p.m. Our last day will be Friday the 18th. There is no school but we will have SAE Tours starting at 9 a.m. at the ag building. We will be visiting FFA members’ projects and agriculture careers in our area.

We want to hear from the community about their FFA Week Memories and Traditions. Please send your information through the Facebook page or email Jill Chapman at jchapman@eldok12.org. Happy FFA Week!

Cedar County Olympics

No Farmer, No Food

by Colbie Wood

It is a well known fact that the Earth’s population is rising at faster rates than ever, and it does not plan to slow down anytime soon. Roughly a hundred years ago in 1919, the world population was recorded at 2 billion. Today, the world’s population is nearing 8 billion. This means that in a little over a hundred years we multiplied the number of people on the planet almost four times! With so many people living on the planet, many questions arise. Where are all of these people going to live? What jobs will they have? How much food will they need? These questions plague many, and farmers have to carry the weight of feeding the growing world. You’re probably thinking, “There’s probably nothing I can do about this.” If you are thinking this, you have probably never heard of urban farming. Many people think farming is left up to people who own thousands of acres of crop ground, but you can build a garden in your backyard! You can get the most out of your available space by growing warm season crops in the summer and cool season crops in the winter. You can even have a garden on your rooftop, get into hydroponics, and farm vertically to save space. Farming is a wonderful thing to show interest in, as it teaches one to love and respect nature, teaches responsibility and care, and can build character. Whether you are farming a small garden or hundreds of acres of land, anyone can be a farmer! Sadly, farmers are often left without a “Thank You” for all of the hard work they do for other people. Without farmers, it seems like the world might stop spinning. It is important to show gratitude to all those who are responsible for the dinner on our table.

Missouri Welding Institute tour

Chapter Officer team picture: Back Row (from left): Gracie Mead, KayLynne McCullick, Carolyn Huff, Macy Stauffer, Garrett Klaiber, Tackett Arnold, Reese Schierck; Front Row (from left): Sydney Barger, Hannah Klaiber, Dillon Hargrove

Why is Agriculture Important to me?

by Rees Mccullough

I really enjoy going to my grandparents farm and doing “farm” stuff all my life. They have always raised cattle and horses. I always thought it was really fun going out there and doing something with agriculture from helping feed young puppies to banding calves. There is always something to do when we are out there. After being out there so much I realized that I wanted to be more a part of it so at 12 years old I bought my first cow that was a three year old black angus. It was really nice to almost bring the farm back to my house with a cow sitting out of our living room window. I have since expanded my small herd up to two cow calf pairs: a heifer that is red angus and another black angus cow. Since I am busy with sports and school most of the year, this project allows me to have some income for the years. I basically am in agriculture all year around either it is cows, fishing, hunting, or just riding horses. Agriculture is in almost everything I do and it is a big part of my life. I don’t know what I would be doing if I didn’t have my grandparents farm to start my small herd or even just hunting. I probably would have been just some kid that sat inside all day if it wasn’t for their farm. Agriculture means a lot to me because it is in my everyday life. I really don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t hunt or have calves to sell because that is a big chunk of my life. I know that Agriculture is super important to me and probably more important to you than most people realize. I am glad I was raised with agriculture in my life so I know how important it is and how hard farmers work every day to feed the world.

Senior Barnwarming candidates

El Do always comes out on top

by Kaden Hutsell

The Cedar County Bowl has been around for years, but the two neighboring FFA chapters decided to take it one step further. This year the El Dorado Springs and Stockton FFA chapters have teamed up to host their very first annual Cedar County Olympics. After some serious planning between the two chapters, a tradition was born. The event was held in Stockton and was kicked off with pizza and mingling. Things started heating up when the two chapters took to the grass for their first competition. There were a series of games lined-up for the night to determine which FFA chapter was truly better than the other.

The night started off with an intense game of tug-of-war.  Eldo lost the first round, but after a vigorous pep talk from Wriley Taylor, our team ended up winning the next two rounds. Both teams fought extremely hard, but Eldo came out on top. The second game that took place was musical hay bales, like musical chairs but with hay bales. The game lasted multiple matches, but unfortunately Stockton was able to secure the last hay bale. Musical hay bales was the only game Stockton won during the night.

The last and final game for the night was cow tongue volleyball. The concept of the game was to throw a slippery, slimy cow tongue over the net. The game used rally scoring, which meant every time the tongue touched the ground a point was scored. The tongue lasted many slimy and rough matches but Eldo ended up winning. Cow tongue volleyball was the most popular game of the night and gave everybody endless amounts of laughs and a couple of bruises. At the end of the night, Eldo was awarded the first-ever Cedar County Olympic trophy, which was made in the Shop. Both chapters made new connections with each other, and created a tradition for years to come!

Greenhand Conference 2021

Dreams become reality

by Hannah Klaiber

Kraysen Leonard is proudly representing her home chapter, El Dorado Springs, as a State Vice President in the Missouri FFA. She has been incredibly busy promoting FFA and advocating for agriculture all around the state. Being a state officer for FFA is a huge accomplishment. According to Kraysen she has been looking forward to this moment in her agriculture career since the day she walked into the ag building.

As I spoke with Kraysen, she told me that becoming a state FFA officer had long been a passion of hers. She has looked up to state officers since she was a young member in FFA seeing them not only as leaders but almost as siblings. Striving for a goal, such as being a state officer, allowed Kraysen’s thoughts and dreams to run wild. But now, those dreams are reality.  Just the idea that she, along with fifteen other officers, could work to inspire, motivate and change the lives of more that 26,000 Missouri FFA members.  Kraysen also spoke of the joy she found in listening to the stories of FFA members around the state and of her excitement in sharing her experiences with SAEs. When asked, Kraysen said her greatest joy has been found in her ability to be involved with in-person events that allow her to mingle with fellow FFA members. Especially since Covid 19, she is so excited to get back to the opportunities that we once had. Kraysen expressed how blessed she feels as a state officer and how she feels that the time and obligations involved with being a state officer are far outweighed by the rewards she has received during her time as a state officer. Kraysen is a great example within FFA of striving for your dreams and putting no limits on your opportunities. We are so excited to watch Kraysen come back to her home chapter to speak at our Chapter Degree Ceremony, and we are proud of her for representing us on such a high level.