(Submitted by Bowling Green FFA)
The Bowling Green FFA has had a busy, but early, end to the 2019-2020 school year.
Members competed in numerous Career Development Events (CDEs) including the Ag Sales, Greenhand Quiz, Poultry, Equine, Wildlife and General Livestock Judging contests.
The District Ag Sales Contest took place in February at Redline Equipment. The team from BG FFA placed third and included team members Arika Adams, Kennedi Hendricks, Amanda Mantel, and Emma Walker. This contest involves the team members completing a sales demonstration as well as a practicum dealing with customer relations.
All Greenhand members in the 5th and 6th period classes participated in the State Greenhand Quiz CDE where they tested their FFA knowledge. The team placed 46th out of 153 teams. The top 10 scorers included Bennett Staneart, Mikey Kinzel, Emma Ferguson, Eddie Eschedor, Kalie Billiot, Conner Frasor, Kathryn Mullins, Alex Stutzman, Peyton Bosworth, and Kenzie Spangenberg.
The Spring District Contests took place in March at the Fulton County Fairgrounds. We would like to recognize the members of each team that participated.
- The 13th place Equine Judging team consisted of Jaycob Bagrowski and Autumn Marshall.
- The 10th place Poultry Judging team consisted of Lynette Bechstein, Konnaly Kale, and Chloe Lamb.
- The 18th place General Livestock Judging team consisted of Hayden Belleville, 15th place individual, Marcus VanVorhis, Gavin Baer, Cayden Seither, Mason West, Phil Albright, Cole Bechstein, Zach Crawford, Brianna Marovich, Madison Carrillo, Erica Dauterman, Eddie Eschedor, and Dominick Burch.
- The 13th place Wildlife team consisted of Kaitlyn Applegate, Arika Adams, Alyssa Graham, Morgan Schick, Carysa Johnson, Audrey Geyman, Ethan Helvoigt, Mikey Kinzel, Collin Gidley, Caden Wisniewski, and Bennett Staneart.
The BG FFA is proud of all students who participated in these competitions.
FFA Members spent time in February and March recruiting 8th graders to become members in the 2020-2021 school year. The chapter hosted an 8th grade recruitment day where all 8th graders in Bowling Green visited all elective options at the high school including the Agricultural Education Department. While in the Ag classroom and shop area, 8th grade students learned about options in animal science, plant science, food science, and mechanics.
The FFA officers also hosted an open house and set-up an information booth at the 8th Grade Parent Night hosted by the high school guidance office. Officers were able to share about the program as well as answer questions that the parents and students had about Ag and FFA.
Finally, members sent informational letters home to all potential member’s homes to provide additional information about the program. We hope that all of these efforts pay off for next year with a great group of first year members.
FFA week was hosted in the end of February and we kicked it off with hosting the 5th Annual Bobcat-a-Thon at BGHS on Saturday, Feb. 22. The Bowling Green FFA hosted the event and had over 100 dancers, chaperones and miracle family members attend. Dancers stayed on their feet for 4 hours to raise money for Mercy Children’s Hospital. Through the fundraising work of the chapter and individual dancers, BG FFA presented a check for $6,820.21 to Mercy Children’s Hospital in Toledo.
At Bobcat-a-Thon, students stand on their feet for 4 hours participating in a variety of fun activities and events planned by the Bobcat-a-Thon committee. During the event, miracle families were on hand to meet the dancers and tell their stories, thanking everyone for their efforts. Music was provided throughout the event by Officer Robin Short who donated her time for the cause. The overall total was revealed at the end of the 4-hour event.
“Bobcat-a-Thon” was previously sponsored by BGSU’s Dance Marathon, ZiggyThon, and called “Mini Dance Marathon.” The event began in 2004 for area high schools to assist in the fundraising effort. The BG FFA has participated every year since the event began. This is the third year that the BG FFA has hosted their own event.
Dance Marathon is a nationwide movement involving college and high school students at more than 450 schools – all raising money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Students spend a year planning the event while raising funds and gathering awareness for kids and families experiencing pediatric illness. The year culminates with an event where students stay on their feet through dancing, games, entertainment and interaction with children’s hospital patients and families in symbolic support of children served by Mercy Children’s Hospital.
The BG FFA extends its thanks to all who supported its numerous fundraisers for this event. These included tractor pull parking during the National Tractor Pull last summer, the Annual BG FFA Tailgate before a home football game, benefit night at Chipotle, strawberry sales, and Penny Wars held during class. All proceeds from these events went towards the final total revealed at Bobcat-A-Thon.
To date, since 2004, the BG FFA has raised and donated $65,223.35 to Mercy Children’s Hospital.
FFA Members hosted an appreciation event to say thank you to our faculty and staff for all their support throughout the year. The hydroponic salad luncheon gives teachers a chance to sample a product that we grow in our greenhouse. The Senior Ag Business class grows bib lettuce in our hydroponic unit in the greenhouse and then harvests it fresh for the teachers to eat. The FFA also provided a variety of toppings for the lettuce.
Other FFA Week activities included dress up days and setting up our informational booth at TSC to raise funds for local FFA scholarships.
The rest of the spring activities that our members look forward to were canceled due to the pandemic. We look forward to possible summer activities and getting back to it in the fall.
Bowling Green FFA is a satellite program of Penta Career Center.
