The following have been submitted and written by Pella FFA Member Maylei Ruggles:

ADOPT A FAMILY
The Pella FFA is all about giving back to the community, one way being to adopt a family for Christmas. For the month of December, the chapter took on a family who was in need of a good Christmas by bringing in clothing, toys, and other needs. This is the Pella FFA chapter’s third year doing this, making this year the best. “I think it was amazing that so many members brought different things, I truly think that we blessed the family,” said junior Calleigh Vander Wilt.

ADOPT A HIGHWAY
Adopt a highway is designed for community members to get involved with cleaning up local highways. On October 19th, The Pella FFA took 12 students to a stretch of Highway 163 where they cleaned for 2 hours. The students had a lot of fun and found many different interesting things. “I found a mud flap holder for a semi and two and a half license plates,” said sophomore Elizabeth Thomas.

THANK A FARMER
The Pella FFA started a project called ‘Thank a Farmer’ a few years ago, and they kept this tradition going this year. During harvest season, the FFA chapter will sit outside Two Rivers cooperative and hand out a premade sack of food. “I like the ‘thank a farmer’ project because it helps feed farmers that have been out in the field working all day, so we gave them hamburgers, chips, water, and some other small treats as a ‘thank you’ from the Pella FFA. In my group, we had sex or seven people and at the end of the day we gave away all of our food, I think the farmers were pleased”, said FFA member Kegan.

KIRKWOOD LIVESTOCK JUDGING
On October 11, 2022, 12 kids from our Pella FFA chapter went to Kirkwood for the Kirkwood Livestock Judging Competition. They were to judge goats, sheep, swine, and cattle. There were five groups of animals that FFA members judged. One of Pella’s teams, which consisted of Lorin Mart, Sarabeth Decious, Reagan Decious, and Madalynn Schroder, placed 5th in beef judging and 4th in sheep judging. Out of all 270 individuals attending Kirkwood Livestock Judging Competition the 2nd highest-placing person happened to be a freshman by the name of Jace Peterson. Kaeru Peffers said that “It (the experience) will better prepare myself for if I choose to judge livestock later on in life.”

Parent Preview
To be a part of the National FFA Organization, every member must participate in an LDE, which stands for ‘Leadership Development Event’. There are many different events to choose from, such as Parliamentary Procedure, Job Interview, all the way to exporanious speaking. However, spots for subdistricts are limited, so the Pella FFA hosts a ‘Parent Preview’. This is a night for parents to come to watch their children do a mock performance and where judges decide who gets what position. “There were three people auditioning for job interview but there was only one position available at subdistrict. It was pretty nerve-wracking going into the night knowing that I would get a call anytime in the next three days letting me know if I got it”, said senior Maylei Ruggles.

Iowa FFA Degrees
There are many awards you can earn within FFA, such as the Iowa FFA degree. To be awarded the Iowa FFA degree, members have a list of qualifications they must meet. Some of these requirements include having a certain amount of time in FFA, community service, having a quality SAE book and the list goes on. This year, three members, Shaela Van Wyk, Dylan Van Dyke, and Taylor Klyn will be awarded their degrees at the Iowa FFA state convention. “The most nerve-wracking part was making sure it was accepted”, “I put at least six to seven hours just putting it together. Along with that I had to keep up with it throughout the school year.”, said junior Shaela Van Wyk.