East Central FFA June 2017 Vol. 9. No. 1 Officer View Point Jr FFA Members Hello East Central FFA! This is Katie Kempen, and I m proud to serve as your 2017-2018 Chapter President as well as your Alamo District Vice President. As the officers come together for training in Austin, we are looking for some tremendous opportunities for you throughout the year. Currently, we are working on the 2017-2018 theme, t-shirt ideas and our POA- Program of Activities. So, if you have any ideas, please let us know. I cannot wait to see how our year unfolds. Star Green hand Chapter Banquet This year s FFA Banquet was held on May 16 th. This year s banquet honored many teams who were successful in our chapter throughout the 2016-2017 school year. Awards for outstanding members, honorary members, scholarships and junior FFA members were recognized. Koy Dieckow was award the ECISD School Foundation SALE Scholarship. Our new Officer Team for the 2017-18 school year was also installed. Officers names are listed below. Star Chapter Star Lone Star
District Banquet Outstanding Senior The Alamo District Banquet was held May 11 th at East Central High School in the cafeteria. Katie Kempen was elected Vice President for 2017-18. Trent Stolowski completed his term as President of the Alamo District FFA. East Central was also recognized for placing in many district contests based upon their placings at area or state competitions. Landen Taylor and Samantha Rangel also represented us in the District Talent Competed while Katie Kempen also won her Sr. Prepared Public Speaking Division. Our 2017-2018 Officer Team President Katie Kempen Vice President Trent Stolowski Secretary Candace Landrum Treasurer Meg Kosub Reporter Sheldon Pruski Sentinel Johanna Durham Student Advisor Natalie Lopez Sara Strey Scholarship Winners Career Spotlight Horticulture As we see more and more vineyards popping up around our area I would like to introduce you to a Viticulturist. This is a grape career! They work in the production and study of grapes. From winemaking to cellar workers to enologists (responsible for blending the different strands of grape together to create great tasting wine). Their salaries depend on what they specialize in. For example depending on the size of the vineyard, vineyard managers have reported making anywhere between 81,000 to 89,000 dollars a year. In high school you should take many science classes and in college you should go after a degree in viticulture, horticulture, biology, chemistry or agricultural science. This job field is increasing tremendously and there are job opportunities in every state of the United States.
Area Convention Area Convention was held May 20 th at James Madison High School. Cayla Golson completed her year as Area VII FFA Association First Vice President. Trent Stolowski was selected by the Area to serve as First Vice President for the 2017-2018. Katie Kempen was also selected to represent the Area VII Association as the Star Chapter Degree recipient in the Area of Agribusiness. Katie also placed first in the Agribusiness Division of Sr. Prepared Public Speaking and will compete at the state competition during the state convention in July. State Convention State Convention will be held in Corpus Christi this year on July 10 th -15th. Sixteen East Central FFA members will attend the convention. Members will participate in statewide community service projects including cleaning a section of beach. Four of our first year members will participate in the first ever Principles of Ag and Natural Resources Quiz Bowl. Sixteen East Central FFA members will be awarded their Lone Star FFA Degree during Stars Night. Cayla Golson will be running for office at the State level. Our State winning teams of Public Relations, Radio Broadcasting and Meats Evaluation will be recognized as well Katie Kempen in Star Awards. Katie will also compete in the Sr. Prepared Public Speaking Contest. Positive Stuff It always seems impossible until it's done. Area Leadership Camp Five FFA members attended the Area VII Leadership camp held in Burnet. Trent Stolowski serving as an Area VII officer was a leader of the camp. Johann Durham, Kaitlin Kempen, Candace Landrum and Sheldon Pruski all attended the camp. Valuable leadership skills were learned to bring back to our local members.
State Fair Validation This is a reminder that all those having sheep, goats or hogs to validate for State Fair you must bring them to the school on Tuesday, June 27 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. to be validated. This is the only time scheduled for the whole county. All paperwork will be filled out at this time. Feature Story An ongoing Agricultural issue is Water Retention. Water Retention is the right to make use of the water from a stream, lake, or irrigation. Water Rights have been an ongoing ag issue since the beginning of time, an example would be the Metropolitan cities growing in population and needing more water sources to keep up with the demand of their growing populations due to this they are taking water sources that have been historically used for ag production. A real life example would be Medina Lake, the lake was historically built by the farmers and ranchers for irrigation purposes the communities around it are now using it for their population need, which is an ongoing battle between the community and the ranchers and farmers who built it. FFA Members Awarded SALE Scholarships Four FFA members were awarded $20,000 San Antonio Livestock Show Exposition scholarships on Tuesday June 20, 2017 at the San Antonio Scholarship Reception. Koy Dieckow was awarded the East Central ISD School Foundation SALE scholarship while Shylee Baertich, Cayla Golson, Lane Real were chosen to receive a Bexar County FFA SALE Scholarships. Congratulations to each of them. College Spotlight Michigan State University We all wonder what will happen to us in the future, because we are all growing by the sun goes down and when it rises. It is good to have in mind a plan for your future. MSU has had their agriculture program for more than 150 years. Their program has 13 departments to fill the dream job you are looking for in your future. The programs have 20 majors, and 14 certificate programs. The top 3 classes that are most enrolled in are packaging food, industry management and the one class we all love animal science. Well you may think the program is really good that s just the beginning of the fabulous college. The students that chose to study abroad they receive about $35,250 in scholarships and you may also get awarded $904. In conclusion, so as we come to an ending think of a beginning to your new future life, as you set off to find a new career of your interest, so good luck and have a wonderful summer. Livestock Exhibitors Agreement In order to better facilitate all those desiring to show animals under the East Central FFA, the FFA advisors will continue using the Livestock Raisers Agreement that must be signed by all. This document is to make you aware of meeting dates that will require you and/or your family s presence. If you attended one of the meetings last year you qualify to take the online test. You must take it and pass the test by September 1st. If you have not you attended a meeting in the past then you must attend the meeting held on : Sept 7th Entries are to be turned on the following dates. All entries must be done on these dates. County and EC October 11 th Major Shows November 8th. Times: 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. Any entries not turned in on these days will be assessed a $25 processing fee.
Inside this Edition Area Convention Chapter Banquet State Convention New Officers District Banquet Scholarships Awarded Turkey Exhibitors Many of you have not sent in your difference that you owe on the turkeys. The price did go up so the difference for those that had purchased 75 birds is $37.50. Lamb & Goats Anyone? Anyone interested in feeding a lamb or goat for the 2017-2018 school year needs to contact one of the Agriscience Teachers. You should also be getting your facilities cleaned up and ready. PWC BBQ Cookoff It will be September 8th & 9 th at Mesquite Hall. Entries will once again be for categories of Brisket, Chicken, and Ribs. As you may know, People Who Care was a top buyer at Bexar County. Anyone who would like to be enter should contact Wayne Pieniazek @ 347-9620. Look for more information in next month s newsletter.