In the weeks since school was closed due to COVID-19, the Pella FFA worked to highlight their members with weekly features.

Read the following profiles, submitted by Pella FFA students Sierra VanderWeerdt, ’20-21 Pella FFA Reporter, and Aiden Huckstep, ’19-20 Pella FFA Reporter:

Kayla Beyer is a senior at Pella Community High School and has been a part of the Pella FFA chapter for four years. Each FFA member has an SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) and for Kayla her SAE is goat production and cow calf operation. This past February she was awarded 1st place in the state her goat project by the state FFA, and will be competing at the national level with her record books this summer. In the next five to ten years Kayla sees herself graduating from DMACC with an Agri-Business degree and working a job in the agricultural industry. Kayla also hopes in the future to rebuild her goat herd. A few skills Kayla has gained through her agricultural projects are money management, record keeping, and organizational skills, as well as learning new information about animal health and nutrition. One life lesson that Kayla has learned through her agricultural projects is that tomorrow is never a guarantee so you should enjoy every moment.
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Camren Westerkamp is a senior at Pella Community High School and has been a part of the Pella FFA Chapter for four years. In that time he has served as the chapters treasurer, and vice president. His favorite FFA contests include soils judging and agricultural mechanics. His highest FFA achievement however, was placing second in the state treasurer’s book contest his junior year. Camren’s supervised agricultural experience is working for Swamp, VandeHaar Dairy, and Westerkamp farms. In the next 5-10 years Camren sees himself working in the agronomy field as his future plans are to become an agronomist. Through his supervised agricultural experience (SAE) Camren has gained more knowledge about farming and what his future career looks like. One life lesson Camren has learned through his SAE is that hard work pays off.

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John Fetty is a senior at Pella Community High School and has been a member of the Pella FFA chapter for three years. This year John has served as the 2019-2020 chapter treasurer. John has had a variety of SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) projects while in FFA including working at Fareway, showing goats, and working construction. In FFA he has even completed several job shadows as part of the SAE program which lead John’s current SAE of working at De Ruiter Lawn Equipment in Pella. Through his SAE John has learned a lot about working on and fixing mowers, troubleshooting skills, invoicing, and the value of having skills. One life lesson that John has learned through his SAE is patience. In the next 5-10 years he sees himself graduating with a construction management degree from Kirkwood Community College, and working in construction somewhere around Pella.

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Sydney Davis is a junior at Pella Community High school and has been a part of the Pella FFA Chapter for three years. In her three years Sydney has served as the 2019-2020 Secretary and is currently serving as the 2020-2021 Chapter President. Sydney’s SAE is maintaining her family’s garden, and she works for the city of Pella. Skills Sydney has gained through her SAE are learning how to grow and process food, and customer service skills. In 2019 Sydney placed second in the state in the Chapter Display contest, where she created a 5×8 foot display about the Pella Thursday night on the square event Ag in the City. In 5-10 years Sydney sees herself in college becoming a teacher as she is pursuing elementary education for her career.

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Bradley Vander Wilt is a junior at Pella Community High School and has been a part of the Pella FFA Chapter for three years. Bradley’s SAE is farming on his family farm, restoring his grandpas 450 Farmall, and he manages a school based enterprise SAE for the Pella FFA Chapter ten acre crop plot. Skills Bradley has gained through his SAE are how to change water pumps and how to rebuild engines. Bradley is currently serving as the 2020-2021 chapter treasurer and throughout his time in FFA has helped build the chapter Tulip Time float, farm the chapter crop plot, competed in parliamentary procedure, and conduct of meetings. This year Bradley received his Iowa Degree along with eight other members of the chapter. In the next 5-10 years Bradley sees himself having a career in criminal justice.
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Megan Buyert is a junior at Pella Community High School and has been a part of the Pella FFA Chapter for two years. Throughout her time in FFA Megan has competed in reporter’s scrapbook, veterinary science, and parliamentary procedure. Of her highest achievements Megan placed fourth in the state veterinary science contest, maintains the highest GPA of all junior FFA members, and in 2019 was selected by the National FFA Organization to perform in the National FFA Band in Indianapolis. Megan’s SAE is sheep production on her family farm, and this spring added goats to her project as well. Skills Megan has gained through her SAE are time management, productivity, accountability, and how to inject a vaccine. One life lesson Megan has learned through her SAE is the responsibility she has in taking care of her animals. In the next 5-10 years Megan see’s herself attending Iowa State or veterinary college as her future career goal is to be a veterinarian.