BG FFA kicks off school year with soil judging and greenhand events

FFA Members Eddie Eschedor and Hunter Sockman evaluate a soil pit as part of the Ag Soils CDE.

(Submitted by BG FFA)

Bowling Green FFA is excited to get the new school year kicked-off with a variety of different events. The officer team started off the year organizing FFA Families, which are groups of FFA members each led by one of the officers. Families are meant to create stronger bonds among the FFA members as well as encourage underclassmen to feel comfortable getting more involved in the organization. 

These families will also help to facilitate healthy competition among the members at various events throughout the year. The families were kicked off with a donut meet and greet. Members were invited to receive their family welcome letter, meet their officer, and enjoy a donut while doing so. Being able to kick the year off this way was a nice way for members to meet each other.

The start of the school year also means the start of CDEs, or Career Development Events.  The first CDE of the year was Soil Judging. BG took nine members to the county and district soil judging contests including Eddie Eshcedor (taking first place in the county), Emma Walker, Hunter Sockman, Brian Tussing, Tyler Bowen, Madison Carillo, Easton Schick, Cole Brokaw, and Drew Thomas. The team placed 8th in the district.

The officer team was also able to hold a Greenhand welcome day in their classes. Officers planned activities to interact with the new members. This was another initiative to try and help the first year members get more comfortable in FFA and in high school. By building strong relationships between the members and giving them a taste of the FFA, the officer team hopes to see more involvement throughout the year from these members.

Bowling Green FFA ended the month with the induction of the Greenhand members into the National FFA Organization. The ceremony was the first official meeting of the year for the members. BG FFA welcomed 58 new members.  After the meeting, the members and their families were invited down to the Ag Department for an open house where they were able to show their parents around and introduce them to some of the opportunities and activities BG FFA has to offer.