By Audra Mongtomery
From the SRCTC November Newsletter
During the 2019 District Leadership event held in Wahpeton, Lisbon FFA had 18 students attend and participate in many individual and team events. Everyone had a day full of competition, catching up with friends, and seeing all their hard work pay off during awards! Jamie Geyer placed 2nd in the demonstration event in our district! This earned her a chance to attend State LDE Day on November 20th for a chance to win the baby bison. Good luck to Jamie!
National FFA Convention was held in Indianapolis, Indiana on October 30th until November 2nd. The Lisbon FFA chapter took 10 students along on the trip, with 4 of them competing on the Agricultural Technology and Mechanical Systems team. Students on the team were Levi Schwab, Gavin Reinke, Jacob Bear and Brady Carlson. Students who also attended convention were Kendra Myers, Jonah Welter, Mason Lukes, Maddie Katzenmeyer, MacKenna Toyne, and Jamie Geyer. On our way to convention, students were able to tour Fair Oaks Dairy in Fair Oaks, Indiana. They had the chance to tour the dairy and swine barns and got to see a live calf being born! The highlight of the trip was during the team awards banquet, attended by Levi, Gavin, Mason, Brady, Coach Miss Montgomery and special guest Randal Brockman. As a team they earned a gold award and were the 6th high team in the nation. Levi earned a gold award, placed first in the Structural component of
the event, received a $1000 scholarship and placed 5th overall as an individual. Gavin received a gold award, Jacob and Brady received silver awards. As a team they placed in the top 12 as a team in the structural component of the contest and received a free welder to take back to the chapter.
Continuing the excitement, an opportunity has opened in the Lisbon Agricultural classrooms as the Cemetery Monuments project. The Agricultural Mechanics and Community Development classes have teamed up to construct 100 name monuments to be placed out at the Oakwood Cemetery in Lisbon. With the help of our Alumni Chapter, we secured a grant through the Lisbon Endowment Fund to aid in the construct of these monuments. Students in the classes will further their knowledge in mixing cement, construction of the form boxes, bending and welding rebar, learning what goes into a cement project and further their involvement in the local community. Overall, this individualized project will be an excellent educational opportunity for our students as it not only teaches them about construction, but the value and reward of hard work paired with the importance of community service. This project will benefit the community for many years to come, as these monuments will be a permanent reminder of history in our cemetery.
As a department, we are so proud of our students and FFA participants these last few weeks. A lot of hard work, dedication and time have been put into District Leadership and National FFA Convention, yet the excitement doesn’t stop there. State LDE is coming up in November, and we will be working hard to complete our community service project!