I wanted to take some time in this week’s Rebel Roundup to write about our FFA program. With one of the strongest chapters in southwest Minnesota, this group is a very active and vibrant part of our school and community. While this organization generally operates behind the scenes, the work they do and skills they teach makes a huge difference in the lives of our students. The FFA program at Murray County Central teaches students valuable life skills that are directly applicable to many of the careers and college programs they will be entering after high school. Their motto is “Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve.” Murray County Central’s FFA membership is up this year from 80 students last year to 95 students this year. Many of the new recruits are 7th and 8th graders with a passion to see FFA continue to grow and give back to our school and community.
Students involved in FFA just wrapped up their annual Corn Drive and Fruit Sales fundraisers, and they did a phenomenal job. A total of 3,800 bushels of corn were donated- a big thank you goes out to our local farmers who made this possible. The FFA students also posted strong fruit sales numbers by selling more than 35,000 dollars in fruit. Money from these fundraisers is used in multiple ways, a few of which include a donation to Camp Courage, attendance at FFA events, scholarships, and giving back to the organization by purchasing equipment and materials that will enhance student experiences here at school. The chapter will also help to purchase the coveted FFA blue jackets that are part of the full FFA experience.
With the increase in membership, FFA has added some new Career Development Event (CDE) teams- Milk Quality, Nursery Landscaping, and Veterinary Science. They have also expanded into the Leadership Development Events (LDE) categories including Parliamentary Procedure, Code of Conduct, Creed, Prepared Public Speaking, and Extemporaneous Public Speaking. Other teams have also seen increases with the influx of students. Several of the established teams that students participate in include: General Livestock, Meats, Dairy Cattle, Ag Mechanics, Small Animal, Fish and Wildlife, and Horse Judging. During the school year teams will compete in several regional competitions (ie. Region VI contests in Okabena, Martin County West, Brookings etc) as well as State Invitationals (ie. SMSU Ag Bowl and University of Minnesota) to determine what teams will qualify for the State Convention. I am happy to report that at this time we already have four qualifying teams for state which are Forestry, Soils, Poultry, and Parliamentary Procedure that will be going to the State Convention in April with the potential for more teams to qualify during other regional competitions.
Our program has also received some state and national recognition lately with Seanna Swenson earning her American Degree (less than a half of 1% of all FFA members in the nation ever receive the American Degree) and Lauren Stoel being selected as the state president, which is a first in the history of our district.
Of course, with all this activity there has to be great leadership helping to keep everything organized and moving forward. The two advisors charged with this task are Paul Haberman and Joe Biren. These two do a lot behind the scenes to keep the FFA program active and growing, and they recognize the importance of this organization within our community. They also recognize that the level of quality we find in our FFA program here at MCC would not be possible without the strong student leadership of the FFA Officers. President Sophia Nelson, Vice President Taylor Larson, Secretary Erica Doeden, Reporter Erin Kline, Treasurer Colby Miller, Sentinel Emma Risacher, and Officer at Large Owen Moline all do their part to keep our schools FFA program going. Without the leadership of these individuals the level of involvement and membership by our student body would not be what it is today. We are proud of our FFA organization and for all that our students, staff, and community do to keep this program running. Thank you for your support.
Jake Scandrett- HS Principal