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By Dawn Slade
Mille Lacs County Times
Learning and leadership. Those are two strengths of FFA. And the Milaca FFA members are learning to become leaders.
Milaca’s FFA members will tell you all about their passions that revolve around FFA, whether it’s horses, mechanics, poultry, food science, dairy, fish, wildlife or floriculture.
“There’s more to it than plows and cows!” Milaca FFA President Jordan Kurtz said. “There are so many things you can do that can lead to a future career.”
“You don’t have to be an avid farmer, there are a lot of other activities you can be part of,” added secretary Steven Girard.
“It teaches us leadership skills and how to be a better person,” vice president Krystal Hoheisel said.
And they appreciate the friendships they’ve made with other FFA members throughout the state.
These kids are involved in all sorts of activities throughout the year and many of them will be competing at state in April.
Celebrating National FFA Week Feb. 21-28, the members are hosting several events at school again this year.
There’s the annual medallion hunt ($25 cash if you find it), a hay bale toss and a scarecrow contest. On Friday, the FFA members will treat themselves to roller-skating and laser tag.
During FFA week, the members will also encourage more students to join FFA, targeting the seventh, eighth and ninth graders in their membership drive. Students can become FFA members in ninth grade.
Throughout the year, the members participate in the Mille Lacs County Fair, the Minnesota State Fair, they host an elementary ag day, they have a float in the Milaca parade, they’re part of the Adopt A Highway program, they attend leadership training and conferences and they sell fruit for their annual fund raiser.
In addition to all that, the members work on their individual projects throughout the year.
Some work on the family farm (or someone else’s farm) for beef placement or equine science placement.
Some get judged on how well they judge. For instance, the dairy team might look at four cows and the team has to judge the cows on their qualities (build, milking capabilities, etc.). After giving oral reasons to the official judges on why they rated a cow a particular way, the judges judge the team’s analysis.
Award winners
As they learn leadership skills, members are earning awards for their accomplishments as well.
Hoheisel participated in the state degree interview, the highest degree in Minnesota, while Scott Stellmach interviewed for the region degree.
They will learn their standings in April.
“It’s quite the accomplishment,” president Kurtz said of her fellow FFA members.
After earning seventh in the region, the horse evaluation team is heading to state.
The team includes Kurtz (who earned sixth place individually), Paige Theisen, Ashley Peterson, Mandi Eisenbraun and Danielle Walbridge.
Anthony Weisz is also competing at state in the poultry division for a Career Development Event (CDE).
And the soil judging team will also be competing at state. The team includes Kayla Albertson, Amanda Carlson, Cassy Chalberg and Megan Fossland.
Sentinel Stephanie Miller said proudly of the dairy team, “Even though we didn’t make state, we did a really good job.”
Miller is not part of the dairy team, but that’s the kind of support these FFA members give one another.
The ag mechanics team, the forestry team, the fish and wildlife team and the floriculture team will compete in March to determine if they move on to state competition.
“There’s some amazing opportunities because of FFA,” Kurtz added.
“Everybody’s so close and we always help each other out,” said Miller. “It’s like we’re a family.”
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