Parkway FFA Awards Burtch Seed as Honorary Member

ROCKFORD, Ohio- The Parkway FFA Chapter recently awarded Burtch Seed as their honorary member at the annual banquet held on April 15^th. The honorary membership is chosen by the efforts that the person/persons give in order to benefit the Parkway FFA Chapter and local community. Burtch Seed was chosen for their many contributions to the Parkway FFA Chapter. They have made donations for many different activities the Parkway FFA is involved in throughout the year. Burtch Seed and Parkway FFA also partner for Burtch Seed’s Customer Appreciation Day which helps to promote the chapter and the Parkway Local Schools. Burtch Seed also assists students that are involved in the botany division for agriscience fair projects.

Burtch Seed received a plaque from the Parkway FFA to show their appreciation for their efforts.
Above: Burtch Seed representative Ed Burtch with 2008-2009 Officer Team

 Below: Ed Burtch with Chapter Student Advisor Jenifer Thomas.

 

 

Parkway FFA Attends Agricultural Diagnostics

On February 20^th, Parkway FFA sent 2 students, Caleb Caffee and Brandon Riley, to Spencerville for Agricultural Diagnostics. This was formerly known as Tractor Trouble Shooting.

The students had to first take a written test over the internet at their own school. Many more than just two took the computer exam but it was used in place of the written exam on the day of judging, and it was used to help pick the top two students from each school. At the Agricultural Diagnostics, students had to find a reason why the equipment would not function properly. The equipment used was a John Deere skid-loader, John Deere garden tractor, New Holland skid-loader, Kubota tractor, and a McCormick tractor. Many times the problems were electrical and mainly it was the switches were wrong. There were the five stations and students only had twenty minutes to correct the problem.

The Parkway FFA Chapter placed 7^th overall. Agricultural Diagnostics was a good team building activity and help students learn a great deal about the different tractors. Brandon Riley, who attended Agricultural Diagnostics said about the experience,” The Agricultural Diagnostics was a good way for me to get experience in a field of study that I want to continue studying after high school.” The Parkway FFA Chapter would like to congratulate the boys on their effort and hard work.

For the month of March, the Parkway FFA has changed the date of the monthly recycling. Usually recycling takes place on the third Saturday of each month from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. On March 21^st however, Parkway FFA will be sending many of its students to contests for Equine judging, Wildlife, Agronomy, etc. This means there will be no students available to help. Therefore the date has now been changed to March 14^th, 2008 and still from 8a.m. to 12 p.m.

The Parkway FFA would like to thank all of their supporters and is sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

The Parkway FFA Chapter recently sent five students to compete in sub-districts at Delphos for the Public Speaking Contest.

The students who participated were Caden Hellwarth, Destinee Guggenbiller, Sam Jackson, Corbin Hellwarth, and Abby Evans. Caden and Destinee both participated in Creed Speaking and they both received a gold rating. Abby Evans competed in the Beginning Prepared and received a gold rating as well as second place. Corbin Hellwarth also competed in Advanced Prepared receiving first place and a gold rating. Sam Jackson participated in Extemporaneous Speaking and received a gold rating as well as a first place.

Abby Evans, Corbin Hellwarth, and Sam Jackson move on to districts at Gibsonburg on February 17th for their public speaking.

Parkway FFA Evaluations
by Danielle Matthews

The Parkway FFA recently sent a large amount of State and American Degrees as well as Officer Books and Proficiencies to the District evaluation. To obtain a State, American, or Proficiency Degree, the students must put many hours into completing books on the SAE’s that they have participated in. The officers spent long hours also working on their books for judging.

The students who applied for State Degrees are Michael Ford, Aaron Bollenbacher, Corbin Hellwarth, and Danielle Matthews. All of them have made it through Districts and are now being evaluated at the state level.

The students who applied for their American Degree were Sara King, Travis Guggenbiller, Michelle Thomas, Ethan Hayes, and Danny Knapke. These books have made it through district judging and now move on to the state level.

The chapter also had four members apply into proficiency awards. These members were Sara King in Vegetable Production, Dee-Dee Knapke in Sheep Production, Michelle Thomas in Diversified Grain Production, and Samantha Beerbower in Floriculture.

There were also four students who sent their Officer Books for judging. These were Corbin Hellwarth, Dee-Dee Knapke, and Danielle Matthews. Corbin Hellwarth, treasurer, received a gold rating on his treasurer’s book. Dee-Dee Knapke, secretary, received a gold rating on her secretary’s book. Danielle Matthews, reporter, sent her scrapbook and received a bronze rating.

The Parkway FFA Chapter would like to congratulate all of the students for their hard work and wish them good luck at the state level.

Parkway FFA Parliamentary Procedure Teams Do Well at Districts
by Danielle Matthews

The Parkway FFA recently sent two teams, a Varsity and JV, to Parliamentary Procedure District Competition held at Lincolnview High School on December 9^th. Both teams have been working extremely hard and it has shown for both teams received first place in their divisions. This qualifies the Varsity to move onto State competition held on Saturday, December 20^th, in Columbus.

The members of the Varsity Parli Pro team are: Vice President Sam Jackson, Treasurer Corbin Hellwarth, Reporter Danielle Matthews, President Jenifer Thomas, Secretary Dee Dee Knapke, Student Advisor Zach Searight, Sentinel Patrick Jackson, Abby Evans, Olivia Houts, and Caden Hellwarth.

 

The JV team consists of: President Olivia Houts, Vice President Abby Evans, Reporter Rikki Shannon, Treasurer Landon Brehm, Secretary Stephany Hesse, Sentinel Patrick Jackson, Student Advisor Brad Shaffer, Trevor Eishen, Dylan Hartman, and Garth Louth. Not pictured: Danielle Matthews and Jenifer Thomas

The chapter would like to congratulate the teams and wish Varsity the best of luck at State!

Parkway FFA members sold a large amount of fruit this holiday season. The chapter raised approximately 17,741 dollars and sold 689.25 boxes.  

The members of the chapter sold boxes of grapefruit, oranges, apples, peanuts, BBQ sauce, and many more goods. The sale went on for a 4 week period. The fruit was then received in December and the members packaged the fruit and delivered it to the customers.

The money from this fundraiser is used by the Parkway FFA chapter in regards to paying for FFA trips and contests throughout the year. The chapter would like to thank the community for buying fruit and supporting the FFA chapter.

The Parkway FFA this year competed at the Sub-District Parliamentary Procedure Competition on Thursday December 4th, 2008 at Delphos Jefferson High School.

The Varsity team which consists of: Sam Jackson, Olivia Houts, Corbin Hellwarth, Abby Evans, Danielle Matthews, Jenifer Thomas, Dee Dee Knapke, Caden Hellwarth, Zach Searight, and Patrick Jackson placed 1st at Sub-District. The team will be moving on to Districts which is December 9th at Lincolnview High School.

The Parkway FFA Chapter took a JV team as well. The team members were: Olivia Houts, Abby Evans, Rikki Shannon, Trevor Eishen, Patrick Jackson, Stephany Hesse, Brad Shaffer, Dylan Hartman, Landon Brehm, and Garth Louth. The team placed 1st in their division as well and will be moving on to Districts at Lincolnview High School.

Congratulations and good luck to both teams at Districts!

On October 21^st and 22^nd a group of Parkway FFA students traveled to Chicago before attending the 81^st National FFA Convention in Indianapolis. While in Chicago, we went to the Chicago Board of Trade. We got to first stand above the floor where we could look over on all the pits. When the bell rang for the stock Markey to open, we saw just how crazy it was down on the floor. We watched a short video in which they tried to explain the stock Market to us a little. We then got to go walk down on the floor. This was a great experience for us. When our tour was over we ate lunch at the Board of Trade, courtesy of Advanced Agri-Solutions.

After lunch we went across the street to the Federal Reserve Bank. At the bank we got to ask questions about money and see one million dollars. We learned the differences between real and counterfeit money and got our own shreds of real cash. Then we were off to learn about science and technology at the Museum of Science and Technology. They have exhibits ranging from on the farm, to a coal mine, and from wars to the circus. After we left the museum we got to end our eventful day at Navy Pier followed by a long bus ride to the hotel. This trip to Chicago was a very informational and fun trip. We would like to give a big thank you to Burtch Seed and Helena for your donations that funded our FFA polo’s, and also to Advanced Agri-Solutions for buying our lunch for us.

Parkway FFA Attends 81^st National Convention
by Danielle Matthews

The Parkway FFA chapter recently took 20 members to Chicago, Illinois and Indianapolis, Indiana for the week of October 21^st thru October 25^th.

Members that attended were Brandon Riley, Jenifer Thomas, Kara Heiser, Dee-Dee Knapke, Corbin Hellwarth, Danielle Matthews, Jackie King, Samantha Beerbower, Zach Searight, Olivia Houts, Abby Evans, Patrick Jackson, Garth Louth, Stephany Hesse, Caden Hellwarth, Josh Heppard, Devin Adams, and Destinee Guggenbiller. The Chapter FFA advisor, Mr. Post attended as well as Deb Knapke as a supervisor.

The week was started off on Tuesday with a tour of Chicago Board of Trade. The tour consisted of seeing the markets open which consist of grain and animal prices. We were able to walk through the floor as the transactions were taking place. A presentation was given about economics and how the market works. Lunch was provided and sponsored by Advanced AgriSolutions. “I learned how the stocks are traded and how crazy it is while buying and selling are going on,” Brandon Riley stated of the tour.

After the Board of Trade, the next tour was of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. A presentation was given on how the bank regulates flow of money and how much is printed. The Museum part of the tour highlighted how much a million dollars was with a display of the amount in twenties and one dollar bills. “It was cool seeing a million dollars in the many different bills,” said Devin Adams. While still in Chicago, the students toured the Museum of Science and Industry. The museum held sections filled with genetics, aviation, railway, internet and technology, and a German U-boat from WW II. “It was interesting seeing technological advances in agriculture as well as other industries,” said Caden Hellwarth.

The next stop in Chicago was the Navy Pier. There were shopping centers, gardens to look at, and plentiful food options. The members then made a quick stop at Cabella’s to browse through on their way to the hotel.

Wednesday began with a bus ride to Albanese Candy Factory. Gummy candy was especially made here, but chocolate was made as well. A tour was given explaining how gummy candy was made along with a little candy background. The students then were allowed to shop in the candy store which contained softball size jawbreakers, one pound Sugar Daddy, and a chocolate fountain. “It was rather interesting seeing how they reused the corn starch for the molds to make gummy bears,” stated Zach Searight.

Fair Oaks Dairy Farm in Illinois was the next stop. The farm is a large dairy farm with nine different locations and about 27,000 cows in all. The “4-D’ movie gave a general overview of the farm. The next part of the tour was a birthing area to watch a calf being born. A meal was given by the dairy and a tour on the bus was next which was a quarter mile long. Here was shown how the farm is powered off of the cow manure. Lastly was the 72 cow rotating parlor where cows are milked at one time. “Growing up on a dairy farm, it was a great opportunity to see how the dairy industry has greatly progressed,” Corbin Hellwarth stated.

 

The third tour of the day was at Tyson Food Company. We saw the slaughtering process for 17,000 pigs a day. There were two sides of the plant, a kill side and cold side. The kill side was where the pigs were cut and dismembered so each part of the pig could be used for different purposes. The cold side was where the meat was packaged and brought to consumer grade. “It was really cool watching the whole process for getting pigs ready for processing,” said Garth Louth.

Opening session was held that night in Indianapolis. The main speaker was Dana Hee, who was a stunt double for multiple actors in Hollywood. She told us about her life as a stunt double and a gold medalist. Her main point was to keep trying until you are successful.

Thursday morning began with a tour of Not Just Popcorn. This is a popcorn factory that makes over 250 different favors of popcorn. Some of these favors include: Mango, Apple Cider, Bar-B-Q, Bacon and Cheese Pizza, and much more. These favors are only known by the owner, not even the cooks! The group was split into two groups. One group watched how the popcorn was cooked and the flavor was added. The second group looked around the shop and was able to try different favors as well as buy bags of flavored popcorn. “I was thoroughly impressed by the popcorn factory’s amount of flavoring and efficiency,” Jackie King said.

The chapter then attended the second session where the National FFA secretary, Becky Sullivan, gave her retiring speech on “Live the Creation.” National Chapter Awards were handed out during this session as well. After the session, students were allowed to look around the Career Show which had information on colleges, cars/trucks, and different companies.

The third general session is where the students ended up next. Here a retiring address was given by the National FFA Sentinel, Kari Boettcher. Her speech was about the word “zango,” which means to make something fun. The milestone sponsors for up to sixty years were presented awards following her speech. The chapter then was split up. Some members attended the Buckeye Bash, which was a dance held for all Ohio FFA members. The second group stayed at the session to watch an illusionist and escape artist do many different tricks.

After waking up bright and early, we attended the first session on Friday. A retiring address was given from our Central Region Vice President, Morgan Parker, on “Loving Alive.” The keynote speaker was Mark Scharenbroich, who told us to be thankful for what we have and not to be upset by what we don’t have but someone else does. This is because there are worse situations you could be in.

Once again, the students were able to walk around the Career Show and also attend multiple leadership conferences held throughout the day. The group met up again and went out for supper. We ate at The Spaghetti Factory, which had different types of pastas; the food was great. The students and adults rode the bus back to the hotel for the night where they played cards, rested, watched movies, and swam in the pool.

On Saturday morning we went to the American Degree Ceremony which was held at the new Lucas Oil Stadium and watched two members from our chapter as well as other members from Ohio and other states receive their degrees. The two students from Parkway were Brett Sheets and Kendra Smith. After the ceremony, the students boarded the bus and started on their way home.

Overall, the convention and trip were a wonderful and educational time for all the students who attended. The FFA chapter would also like to thank Burtch Seed, HELENA, and Advanced AgriSolutions for sponsoring the t-shirts and meal.

Parkway FFA Holds Annual Fall Fresh Fest
by Danielle Matthews

The Parkway FFA held its annual Fall Fresh Fest on Saturday, November 1^st. This is a way for the freshman to get to know older members as well as meet the FFA officers. The fest was also helpful in getting the members more involved in the organization. Members played corn hole, basketball, cards, and could sit around the fire. There was also pizza, chips, desserts, and drinks for the members.

“It was nice to get to know some FFA members outside of school in a relaxing environment,” Corbin Hellwarth stated.
 

 

“It was awesome. It was a great time meeting the officers while playing games,” said Caden Hellwarth of the fresh fest.

Parkway FFA Chapter Competes at Hardin-Northern Soil Judging

Parkway FFA Chapter recently took members to Hardin County to compete in soil judging. Soil judging is a FFA Career Development Event. There are two different types of soil judging available to compete in. They are rural and urban soil judging. The members are split into teams of three or four to get a team score as well as be placed as an individual. The results are based on the three pits judged by the students as well as a test score over a County Soils booklet.

Parkway sent five teams in the rural category and did very well out of 61 teams. The first team consisted of Paul Brown, Michael Ford, Stephany Hesse, and Brad Shaffer and they placed first. The third team placed seventh which consisted of Hank Bevington, Patrick Jackson, Dan Shellabarger, and Garth Louth. Top rural individuals were Michael Ford – 4^th, Paul Brown – 6^th, Casey Mullen – 29^th, and Garth Louth – 32^nd. These individuals were placed out of 222 students.

Parkway also sent two urban teams and did well out of 43 teams. The first team placed sixth which consisted of Corbin Hellwarth, Caden Hellwarth, and Abby Evans. The second team placed 20^th with the members being Olivia Houts, Brandon Dellinger, and Destinee Guggenbiller. Top individuals were Corbin Hellwarth – 21^st, Caden Hellwarth – 24^th, and Brandon Dellinger – 32^nd. This was out of 145 students.

On September 17, Parkway FFA Chapter attended the Farm Science Review in London, Ohio. The Farm Science Review is a display of new and upcoming technology for the agriculture world as well as agricultural related career opportunities for the students.

The students who attended, which were juniors and seniors, observed the careers, as wells as the colleges and universities that had these programs available. This could help many students find the career choice they were looking for as well as careers they never heard of but found interesting.

Corbin Hellwarth, who attended said, “Visiting the many displays greatly broadened my view of what I can do in the future.”

Tours were also available about wildlife conservation where many students learned things to help better them for their Career Development Events, such as soil-judging. Multiple machine demonstrations were also available to watch throughout the day.

Sam Jackson said of the experience, “It was nice to be able to see the advancements in today’s farm technology. It was a great experience.”

The Parkway FFA traveled to Coldwater on September. The students were once again split into two types of soil judging: rural and urban. The students were judged based on their scores in three soil pits and a written test.

Parkway sent 19 students to judge rural and did very well. Brad Shaffer placed sixth place out of 98 students. Michael Ford placed 16th and Stephany Hesse placed 20th.

Parkway FFA sent 6 students to judge urban soils and they did extremely well. Corbin Hellwarth placed 3rd out of 44 students. Caden Hellwarth and Abby Evans both placed 14th and 24th respectively.

The urban soil team of Corbin Hellwarth, Caden Hellwarth, Abby Evans, and Olivia Houts moved on to districts which will be held in Wapak. The rural team of Michael Ford, Paul Brown, Casey Mullen, and Dylan Hartman will also be attending districts. Congrats to these two teams for advancing to districts!

The Greenhands from the Parkway FFA chapter recently attended the Greenhand Conference in Versailles on September 6th. The members that attended this conference were Devin Adams, Caden Hellwarth, Rebecca Baker, Amy Agler, Brenden Gray, Jamie Dicke, Destinee Guggenbiller, and Haylee Abromavich.

When the Greenhands first arrived they were split up into groups with different FFA members. They played icebreaker games to get to know one another better. Then within these groups the state officer team went over teamwork and listening skills. With the knowledge of these two skills, multiple games were played to demonstrate.

Haylee Abromavich, who attended the conference said,” I met a lot of new FFA members at the conference while learning more about teamwork and listening. Both of these skills are something I need to help me in the future.”

“I met a ton of new people and it was a lot of fun. In my group there was no one I knew so I had to meet new people and develop teamwork skills with them,” Rebecca Baker said of the conference as well. 

The Greenhand members would like to thank Versailles for holding this conference again this year.

Parkway FFA Participates in District Soil Judging

The Parkway FFA recently sent two teams to Auglaize County for District soil judging on Thursday, September 28^th. There are two types of soil judging, urban and rural, and Parkway sent a team in each category. Each team worked very hard and were in the top ten of their category.

The rural soil team, consisting of Paul Brown, Michael Ford, Casey Mullen, and Dylan Hartman placed 6^th out of 30 teams. The highest scoring individual for the team was Michael Ford who placed 8^th out of 121 students in the rural soil judging. Casey Mullen placed 22^nd. Paul Brown placed 34^th and Dylan Hartman placed 45^th.

The urban soil team, consisting of Corbin Hellwarth, Caden Hellwarth, Abby Evans, and Olivia Houts, placed 7^th out of 28 teams. Corbin Hellwarth was the top member for the chapter placing 9^th out of 100 students. Caden placed 24^th. Abby Evans placed 43^rd and Olivia Houts placed 69^th.

The chapter would like to congratulate these members on a great job.

  Urban team – Olivia Houts, Caden Hellwarth, Corbin Hellwarth, and Abby Evans

  Rural Team – Dylan Hartman, Paul Brown, Casey Mullen, and Michael Ford

 

Parkway FFA officers recently held their summer officer retreat at Bearcreek Farms. The retreat was held June 3^rd through the 5^th. The officers worked very hard on upcoming events for the 2008-2009 school year. The officers and Mr. Post stayed in a log cabin for the three days to accomplish not only the goals for the chapter but also for themselves in the FFA. Throughout the three days new activities, committees responsibilities, and committee chairmen were established. On the second day, the officers and Mr. Post’s family took a break from their hard work and swam at the Ol’ Swimming Hole. Throughout the three days the officers complete many team building activities and learned many new things about each other. The retreat was a great success and officers have the next school year events already planned. The Parkway FFA Officers would like to thank Bearcreek for giving us this opportunity to plan out next school year.  

Multiple students from Parkway FFA attended FFA Camp Muskingum July 14-18^th. It was located in Eastern Ohio and around Leesville Lake. The students that attended were Corbin Hellwarth, Zach Searight, Destinee Guggenbiller, Garth Louth, Ashley Trafzer, Jackie King, Jenifer Thomas, and Olivia Houts.

There were many different types of workshops there, with the students being split into different groups with other FFA members. The students learned about leadership, communication, global awareness, and teamwork. Sports competitions between the different groups also went on through the week.

“I had a good time, not only having fun but learning new things as a team,” Corbin Hellwarth stated about his second camp experience.

“I had a great time at FFA Camp. I learned a lot about communicating and teamwork. I met a lot of fun people in the process too,” Jackie King, a junior, told her peers of her experience.

Parkway FFA would like to thank Camp Muskingum for giving the students a fantastic learning experience.

Mendon, Ohio – Melinda Miller of Parkway High School was recently presented the school’s highest agricultural honor, the DEKALB Agricultural Accomplishment Award, sponsored by Monsanto Company.

Miller, the Daughter of Paul and Sharon Miller, received the award for excellence in academics, leadership and agricultural work experience. Miller’s significant experiences and accomplishments have included State FFA Degree, Elks Student of the Month, Academic Achiever, and Salutatorian. Alan Post is Miller’s agricultural education instructor at Parkway High School.

This year the DEKALB Agricultural Accomplishment Award celebrates its 61^st anniversary. Over these 61 years more than 160,000 high school seniors from across the country have received the Award, which has become a symbol for excellence and the school’s highest agricultural honor. In 2007, over 2,000 students from high schools in 48 of the 50 states were recognized with the Award.

As the winner of the 2008 Award, Melinda Miller’s name will be recorded on a permanent plaque displayed at Parkway High School.

Monsanto, a long-time supporter of agricultural education, FFA, 4-H, and other farm youth organizations and initiatives, has sponsored the DEKALB Agricultural Accomplishment Award, named for its brand of seed, since 1998. Monsanto is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality.

On May 10^th, the Parkway FFA held the annual Daddy-Daughter Dance for all Parkway girls ranging in grades from kindergarten through sixth. For the past five years the chapter had held this dance. One hundred and twenty-eight girls came with their fathers to have a good time.

The chapter also has door prizes for the girls and refreshments for everyone at the dance. The girls will also receive pictures in their classes that were taken that night with their fathers.

The Parkway FFA Chapter would like to thank everyone that attended and Matt Suzuki and Chad Ransbottom for being the DJs of the night. It was a lot of fun and we hope to see you next year!

The Parkway FFA would like to congratulate Travis Guggenbiller, Brett Sheets, Jenifer Thomas, Dee-Dee Knapke, and Brandon Riley for all receiving their State Degrees.

To receive your State Degree you must complete the following requirements: earned the Chapter Degree, have completed one year in an agricultural education course, have an approved SAE, be a junior, senior, or high school graduate, assisted in the development of our FFA Chapter’s Program of Activities, grossed earning exceeding $3,000, worked more than 1,000 hours, have a GPA of 2.0, and a 93% or better school attendance record.

Travis Guggenbiller is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Guggenbiller. Travis worked on Mullenkamp Farms and Monterey Fabrications.

Brett Sheets is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Dwight Sheets. Brett did numerous jobs at Sheet and Sons Farms and Heritage Farm Equipment.

Jenifer Thomas is the daughter of Deb Thomas and Larry Thomas. Jenifer did her work to earn her state degree on her family farm near Chatt doing field crops. 

Dee-Dee Knapke is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Steve Knapke. Dee-Dee did all her work on her family farm in Rockford where her family raises 200 Suffolk sheep.

Brandon Riley also received his state degree by working on Roger Farms. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Riley.

All of these students also completed numerous home improvement projects. They put an enormous amount of effort into earning their degrees. They all received their State Degrees on May 3^rd at the 80^th Ohio FFA Convention. Congratulations!

The FFA offers many opportunities for students to do well at many different areas of agriculture. These are called proficiencies. There are different proficiencies such as: Forestry, Floriculture, Sheep Production, and Poultry. Parkway was very lucky to have two students do very well at the state level with their proficiency.

To qualify you must fill out an application that tells the committee about your Supervised Agricultural Experience. The application is graded at districts and state level. The top four state qualifiers are interviewed and placed. Parkway had Danny Knapke and Brett Sheets place in the top four in their proficiency.

Brett Sheets competed in the Mechanics Repair and Maintenance. He received a gold rating and was 2^nd place in his proficiency. He did his work at Heritage Farm Equipment and Sheet and Sons Farms. He has been working at Sheet and Sons Farms for four years and Heritage for one year. He would fix and repair farm equipment.

Danny Knapke received a 1^st place in Sheep Production. He did his work at his family sheep farm. He raises around 200 Suffolk sheep each year and shows them at many different shows across state or in national shows. He has been doing this is whole life.

As a first place recipient, Danny will go on to nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana to compete. Results will be told at National FFA Convention in November.

The Parkway FFA Chapter would like to congratulate Danny and Brett for all their hard work and being one of the top in the state!

“Since 1928, there have been a countless number of ways in which the agricultural industry has progressed. Changes such as the use of tractors and mechanical milking parlors have increased production an amazing amount.” This is how Corbin Hellwarth from Parkway FFA chapter feels agriculture has changed with the advances of technology since 1928.

“So how do I envision agriculture in eighty years? I see broad expanses of land farmed by a single farmer, herds of genetically superior cows that produce twice the amount of milk that today’s cows can.” Corbin imagines this is how technology will change everyday life in eighty years.

He wrote this essay to submit to the Ohio FFA Organization. His essay was judged at districts and then state level. It was chosen to be in the top three essays of the state of Ohio, meaning he would be recognized at the 80^th Ohio FFA Convention.

At the first session of the convention on May 2^nd, Corbin’s essay was named top essay in the state of Ohio. For this accomplishment he received a plaque and sixty dollars.

The chapter would like to congratulate Corbin on a great essay!

Do you have what it takes to answer 100 questions about Engineering? The questions range from Environment to Equipment from Natural Resources to Market. To be able to answer these questions you have to study very hard. The Parkway team Brandon Riley, Paul Brown, Mark Sheets, and Aaron Bollenbacher did just that. After the written test, the top twenty teams compete in finals. In finals, they may work with small engines, welding, and problem solving.

The team placed 8th out of 16 teams in the state of Ohio. For their accomplishment, they received a plaque.

Congratulations to the Ag Engineering team on a job well done!

The Parkway FFA Chapter attended the 80th Ohio FFA Convention on May 1st to May 3rd. The chapter had four members take their Agri-Science Fair Project to the state level.

The chapter on Thursday night ate at Mongolian Grill and many of them learned how to eat with chopsticks. The group then toured The Cheesecake Factory and many bought some for themselves.

The chapter attended the five sessions in Columbus. All the sessions had a theme; each pertained to one line of the FFA motto. The first session was held on Friday and the theme was “Living to Serve.” The second sessions keynote speaker was Mark Scharenbroich and “Learning to Do” was the theme. The third session on Friday night was about “Earning to Live” with the keynote speaker being Shawn Harper. The last two sessions were on Saturday with the themes being “Doing to Learn” and “Blue Jackets, Bright Futures.”

Friday morning the chapter had each member take a CDE test. The different tests were Cooperative Learning, Agriculture Engineering, Grain Merchandising, Farm Business Management, and Greenhand Quiz. The students all studied very hard and did well in what they participated in.

The students, as you can see, were very busy this week and worked hard to earn recognition at the 80th Ohio FFA Convention. 

The Parkway FFA Chapter had multiple students take their Agri-Science Fair projects to state level to be judged in many different categories and divisions.

There are four different categories you can be judged in which are: Biochemistry/Microbiology/Food Science, Environmental Sciences, Zoology, Botany, and Engineering. After being placed in a category, they are split into divisions. The divisions are based upon number of people in the project and your grade. Division one is for grades seven, eight, and nine with one member doing the main portion of the project. The second division is for one member in grades ten, eleven, and twelve. Division three is for two project members and grades seven through nine. Lastly, is division four designed for grades ten through twelve for two students with the project.

Three students received the top gold rating and one student received the bronze rating. Travis Guggenbiller and Michelle Thomas competed together in Microbiology, division four, with their project, “To Treat or Not to Treat?” It was about whether or not seed treatment would affect seed germination or emergence percentage. Guggenbiller and Thomas received a 3^rd place gold rating.

Travis Guggenbiller took a second project in Botany, division two, with his project, “Does seed shape matter?” It was based around whether or not seed shape, rounds or flats, would affect the growth rate and germination. He received a 2^nd place gold rating.
 

Corbin Hellwarth entered his project “Moovin’ in the Milk House,” into the Zoology part of the fair. It was about two different ways to prep and milk cows and which one would have the best milk amount. He received a third place gold rating.

Danielle Matthews of the Parkway FFA received a bronze rating in Botany. Her project, “Which Way Is Up?” was about the placement of the eye of a soybean would affect germination and leaf growth.

If they received a gold rating, they were able to walk across the stage at the fourth session of the 80^th Ohio FFA Convention.

The Chapter would like to congratulate all members on a job well done!

Parkway FFA Students Attend Tractor Trouble Shooting 
On February 22, the Parkway FFA Chapter attended Tractor Trouble Shooting at Spencerville. The students who attended were Mark Sheets and Brandon Riley. The students had to find a reason why a tractor was not functioning properly. The Parkway FFA Chapter placed 12^th out of 15 teams. Some of the problems the students found were disconnected wires, blown fusses, disconnected safety switches, shut-off to the injector pump misplaced, and air intake systems plugged. There were five stations and twenty minutes of time to fix these problems. Tractor Trouble Shooting was a great way for the students to work together as a team and develop their own way of leadership. Mark Sheets who attended the Tractor Trouble Shooting said, “Working on different tractors than the ones you work on at home is always interesting.” The Parkway FFA Chapter would like recognize your effort and hard work.

Recently the Parkway FFA Chapter held the District Four Ag Mechanics Skill Contest. The Parkway FFA had three students from their chapter who participated which were Mark Sheets, Brandon Riley, and Michael Ford. The Parkway FFA team placed 6^th out of 12 teams. Some tasks that took place were wire welding, stick welding, oxyacetylene cut, tap, sharp a drill bit, caliper readings, tool identification, fastener identification, small engine identification, electrical problems, and a written test. The team worked extremely hard and their hard work paid off. The chapter would like to congratulate the team for their hard work.

 

Public Speaking Contest Held in Delphos

The Parkway FFA recently had five students that competed in sub-districts at Delphos for the Public Speaking Contest. The students were Olivia Houts, Corbin Hellwarth, Crysti Hoehamer, Abby Evans and Samantha Jackson. Olivia Houts and Abby Evans competed in the Creed Speaking and did very well. Olivia Houts received 3^rd place and Emily Evans received 4^th. Samantha Jackson competed in Extemporaneous Speaking and received first place with a gold rating. Corbin Hellwarth and Crysti Hoehamer competed in Beginning Prepared and did very well. Corbin Hellwarth received 1^st place with a gold rating and Crysti Hoehamer received a gold rating.

Corbin Hellwarth and Samantha Jackson moved on to districts at Cory Rawson on February 19^th for their public speaking. Corbin Hellwarth received 6^th place in Beginning Prepared and Samantha Jackson received 2^nd place in Extemporaneous Speaking. Sam will now compete at the state level for the Parkway FFA Chapter under Extemporaneous Speaking.

The Parkway FFA Chapter would like to congratulate everyone for their hard work and wish Sam best of luck at State.

This year the Parkway FFA Chapter had a can food drive for Parkway Ministerial Food Bank from November 7th through the 16th. The food bank gives these non-perishable foods to churches in the school district to help families in need.

The chapter asked all the high school and elementary students to take part in this donation. The cans were counted and collected every morning during homeroom. The chapter collected an enormous amount of non-perishable food. The total of non-perishable foods collected was a whopping 2,989 units. The elementary class that collected the most cans was Mrs. Shellabarger’s 5th grade class.

The Parkway FFA Chapter would like to thank everyone for making this a successful fund-raiser. All of this food collected will be a wonderful gift to those families in need.

The Parkway Parliamentary Procedure Team placed first at the District contest held at Sentinel on December 4, 2007. The team consisted of Sentinel-Jennifer Thomas, Advisor-Abbea Hoehamer, Corbin Hellwarth, Sam Jackson, Secretary-Megan Monroe, President-Melinda Miller, Reporter-Travis Guggenbiller, Treasurer-Michelle Thomas, Ethan Hayes, and Vice-President-Sara King. The team will move on to state on December 15, 2006. Good luck and Congratulations.

The Parkway FFA attended a leadership conference at Coldwater on Thursday November 19, 2007. The Conference was hosted by the Coldwater FFA Chapter and pizza and refreshments were provided at the conclusion of the conference for all the members who attended. Leadership skills were brought to our attention by Ohio’s Brittani Regula, District 4 President, Tyler Church, District 5 President, and Anna Hall, State Secretary. The three officers broke everyone up into three groups and rotated them into three different stations. The first station was “Describe a Leader”. In this station the students had to build a leader out of craft items and describe how the parts of the body relate to leadership. The second station was “Discover Everyone”. This station helped students interact with other members of their group. They learned about their favorite color, ice cream flavor, vehicle, and future career. The last station was “Design Your Own Avenue”. This station taught students how to work together as a team and make a bridge out of straws. Therefore the leadership conference taught everyone an enormous amount of information on how to become a better leader.

The Parkway FFA Chapter would like to thank the Coldwater FFA Chapter for hosting the Leadership Conference and the officers for taking the time to teaching leadership skills to the students.

The Parkway FFA Chapter recently attended the 79^th National Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana during October 24^th-28^th. The students who attended the convention were Travis Guggenbiller, Corbin Hellwarth, Garth Louth, Zach Searight, Mark Sheets, Sara King, Jackie King, Melinda Miller, Danielle Mathews, Michelle Thomas, Jenifer Thomas, Kara Heiser, Alissa Belna, Abbea Hoehamer, Olivia Houts, Tasha Walls, Megan Monroe and advisor Mr. Alan Post.

The students started off on Tuesday with a tour of the Top Cut Boar Farm in Ohio. At the boar farm, the farmers showed six of their boars that range in price from 15,000 dollars to 50,000 dollars. They use these boars to collect semen which must stay at a certain temperature; otherwise it could kill the sperm. Abbea Hoehamer who attended the boar farm stated, “The boar farm was very intriguing and informative. I was shocked at the prices of the boars.

After the tour of the Top Cut Boar Farm, the next tour on the agenda was the tour of Pierre Foods, OH. Here the students were able to see some of the school food processed. Some of their foods they make that is served in our school are chicken patties and BBQ rib sandwiches. Many of the students that saw this tour thought it was very interesting including Sara King who stated, “I was really fascinated when I saw how our school food is made. It was hard to believe the finished product came from the raw meat I saw at the beginning.”

The next tour we attended was Cargill Grain Facility, OH. There we observed the corn being tested for Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and saw how they transport their grain in barges down the Ohio River. Michelle Thomas stated, “It was interesting to see the barges and how much grain they held.”

The last tour of day one was the tour of Jungle Jim’s International Market. The Jungle Jim’s International Market is the biggest grocery store any of the students had ever been too. There was food for all ethnic groups there. They had live fish and lobster for people to take home and thousands of different types of fruits and vegetables from across the world. Danielle Mathews’ favorite tour was Jungle Jim’s and she stated, “Jungle Jim’s is one of the biggest grocery stores I have ever been too. My favorite part of the tour was how they designed their restrooms.”

On Wednesday, they started the day off on a tour at Integrity Biofuels. The students were shown the entire process of how they make their Biofuels and how they transport their fuel to their consumers. Melinda Miller stated, “Integrity Biofuel was my favorite tour because it is an occupation that I can see myself going into. It was interesting to learn about a new and growing industry.”

The next trip we took was a tour of a winery. They showed us the process of making wine and how long they keep the wine in barrels. “The winery tour was very interesting.” stated Travis Guggenbiller, “We were able to see the vineyard and how they propagate their grape plants and learn the process of making a wine bottle.”

On Thursday, the students’ morning started off on a tour of Campbell’s Seed. The tour included a tour of their facility and an explanation on how they breed their corn. Jackie King who thought the Campbell’s Seed Company was very interesting states, “The process of the seeds going through the facility to be sorted into bags was very interesting.”

On Friday, the last tour we took of the week was the tour of Traders Point Organic Farm and Creamery. The tour guide gave us a tour of the milking parlor and the barnyard. They also explained to us that their cattle pasture grazed and how the cows heal themselves if they become ill. Olivia Houts who attend the convention said, “Living on a non-organic farm, it was interesting to see how an organic farm works.”

Throughout the whole week of convention the chapter went to many sessions and listened to many guest speakers. Two guest speakers they had were Dr. Rick Rigsby and Mr. Henry Winkler. Dr. Rick Rigsby gave a speech on how everyone one needs to live their lives the best they can. One of his key notes that he spoke on was “In Whatever You Do, Do Your Best.” Rick Rigsby was trying to tell the students that doing your best will lead you to a great future. Mr. Henry Winkler also told the students a powerful message. Winkler’s message was to never let anyone put you down for whom you are and that you should follow your dreams and achieve great things. Both of these guest speakers were outstanding and had great leadership techniques.

The national officers also gave their retiring addresses during the sessions. They all talked about their family lives and how the FFA helped them become great leaders.

Also during the week, the Parkway FFA Chapter had two students place second place at the national level on their Agriscience Fair Project. The two students were Michelle Thomas and Travis Guggenbiller. The Parkway FFA would like to congratulate them on their accomplishment.

On Saturday we woke up in the morning and went to the American Degree Ceremony where we watched members from Ohio, four of which were members were from our chapter, and members from other states receive there American Degree. After the ceremony we went our way home. The convention was a wonderful time for all the students that attended the convention.

 The Parkway FFA competed this year at the Sub-District Competition on Tuesday, November 28, 2007 at the Delphos Jefferson High School.

The Varsity team included: Melinda Miller Corbin Hellwarth, Michelle Thomas, Travis Guggenbiller, Sara King, Megan Monroe, Jenifer Thomas, Sam Jackson, Abbea Hoehamer, and Ethan Hayes. The Varsity team placed 1^st at Sub-Districts and will be moving on to Districts on December 4, 2007 at Sentinel.

The Parkway FFA Chapter would like to congratulate the parli-pro team and wish them good luck at districts.

Indianapolis, In., -- Travis Guggenbiller and Michelle Thomas, members of the Parkway FFA Chapter of Rockford, OH, competed in the National FFA Agriscience Fair program. The event was held during the 80^th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, In., October 24-27. Participants from 40 associations defend their projects against other entries for judging in 20 divisions.

Travis and Michelle’s project, Does Seed Shape Matter, was on display at convention in the National FFA Agriscience Fair area of the FFA National Agricultural Career Show. Categories for competition were biochemistry/microbiology/food science, botany, engineering, environmental science, and zoology. The four divisions divide students in grades 7-12. Each winning participant received either a cash award or scholarship.

The agriscience fair program is sponsored by Ford Motor Company Fund as a special project of the national FFA Foundation. It is one of many ways FFA combines classroom teaching and hands-on learning to prepare youth for future success.

FFA is a national youth organization of 495,046 student members preparing for leadership and career in the science, business and technology of agriculture with 7,242 local chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. FFA strives to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through education in agricultural science. Visit www.ffa.org for more information.

The Parkway FFA Chapter held their annual Fall Fresh Fest on November 3^rd as a way for the freshmen to interact with other members of their chapter. The Fresh Fest also gave the freshmen and other members an opportunity to become more involved with the organization.

The Fall Fresh Fest provided the members with pizza, chips and pop. There were also games for the students to play such as hillbilly golf, corn hole, and cards.

Travis Guggenbiller, chapter reporter, stated “The Fresh Fest is a great way for freshmen to interact with other members in the chapter. The fest helped members in our chapter realize all the things that our chapter does for our community.”

The chapter had a great turn-out this year and plans on having another for next year.

This year the Parkway FFA Chapter had two students receive awards at the 63^rd Mercer Soil & Water Conservation District Banquet. The banquet was held on November 8 and was started off with a welcome from Bob Pohlman. After the welcome everyone was catered dinner from Romers. Once everyone finished their meal Bob Pohlman gave an introduction and then gave out the scholarship award with Scott Piper. The Mercer Soil & Water Conservation Scholarship was rewarded to Danny Knapke from the Parkway FFA Chapter. Later on during the banquet, Travis Guggenbiller, also from the Parkway FFA Chapter, was rewarded the Urban Soil Award from Nikke Hawk. Travis received this award for placing first at Mercer County soils contest. After the soils award, the banquet was entertained by the Sisters of the Disorder. The sisters sang songs and told jokes. At the end of the banquet, door prizes were handed out to people and a closing was given by Brother Don Fisher.

The Parkway FFA Chapter would like to congratulate Danny and Travis on their awards they received.

 

This year at the 80^th FFA National Convention the Parkway FFA Chapter had four former members receive their American FFA Degree. The four students were Felicia Quaintance, Katie King, Ashley Gamble, and Jessica Suman. They were just four of the 271 Ohio FFA members and of the 3,169 members from the United States, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands who received their American Degree.  

The American FFA Degree is the highest level degree that a FFA member can achieve. Before any of these members can receive the degree, they must have received the Greenhand Degree, Chapter Degree, and State Degree. To receive these degrees it takes a lot of dedication and hard work and only a small percent of the students receive the degree. Receiving the American Degree allows the members to remain active in the FFA beyond their high school graduation.

The Parkway FFA Chapter would like to congratulate Katie, Ashley, Felicia, and Jessica for receiving their American Degree.

The Greenhands from the Parkway FFA Chapter attended the Versailles Greenhand Conference on Saturday, October 6. The members that attended were Kara Heiser, Jenifer Thomas, Brad Shaffer, Brad Goodwin, Abby Evans, Patrick Jackson, Tyler Alt, Stephaney Hesse, Garth Louth, and Casey Mullen.

When the group arrived, they did icebreaker activities to meet Greenhands from other schools. Then they went into workshops which were developed by the state officer team. These workshops focused on communication and leadership skills, which can be incorporated by the students in their home chapters. Kara Heiser, who attend the conference stated, “I enjoyed meeting new people from other chapters and this was a great way for me to develop new leadership. I hope to take these skills back to my home chapter and help make a difference.”

The Greenhands would like to thank Versailles for holding the conference.

On October 13, 2007, the Parkway soils team competed at Hartford Fairgrounds for the state soils contest. Parkway was proud to have their Urban Soils team compete at state for their second time.

At the state level the teams were divided into multiple groups in their judging class. Then the groups went to four different soil pits and 2 different testing stations. The students faced everything they were exposed to at the district level but with an extra pit.

The Urban team did very well this year for it being their second time at state competition. The Urban team consisted of Sara King, Corbin Hellwarth, Travis Guggenbiller, and Melinda Miller. As a team, they placed 11^th out of 51 teams. As individuals, Sara King placed the highest for Parkway being 24^th out of 194 students. Melinda Miller placed 36^th, Travis Guggenbiller placed 69^th and Corbin Hellwarth placed 95^th.

The Parkway FFA Chapter is extremely proud of all the students’ hard work and ability to accomplish their goal of going to state in soils. We would like to congratulate the urban team for their efforts.

Parkway FFA Does Well At Districts

On September 27, 2007, the Parkway FFA took their teams to the Districts soil judging contest near Ottawa, Ohio. The teams worked very hard and did extremely well in the contest. The contest consisted of three pits, a soil survey test and a general knowledge test. The teams were faced with multiple questions. They were questioned, is the dirt loamier or siltier? What was the depth of bedrock? What was the latest glacier that crossed Ohio? Those are just a few of the questions they were asked.

The rural soil team of Michelle Thomas, Michael Ford, Sam Jackson, and Paul Brown, placed 12^th out of 28 teams. Paul Brown was the highest scoring for Parkway who placed 27^th out of 113 students, along with Michelle Thomas who placed 29^th, Michael Ford 73^rd and Sam Jackson 74^th.

The urban soil team who placed 1^st out of 27 teams consisted of Sara King, Travis Guggenbiller, Melinda Miller and Corbin Hellworth. Corbin Hellworth was the highest scoring student for Parkway and of all other judgers in the urban soils contest who placed 1^st out of 89 students, along with Sara King who placed 3^rd, Travis Guggenbiller 27^th and Melinda Miller 40^th.  

The Parkway FFA Chapter would like to congratulate the urban team for placing first and wish them good luck at state on October 13, 2007. Submitted by Travis Guggenbiller, reporter.

This year for 2007-2008, the Parkway FFA Chapter has started a recycling program for the new facility. The chapter received a Building Our American Community Grant for $2000 to purchase our blue recycling tubs for all classrooms and containers to collect cans and plastic bottles. The chapter started the recycling program last year but decided to make a bigger step this year by collecting more than just paper and start collecting, plastic bottles, cans and cardboard at the school. We have students that go throughout the schools on a regular basis that collect the recyclables. Last year, during FFA Week, the chapter had a contest on what class could collect the most cans throughout the school as a fundraiser for the Children’s Medical Center. The chapter raised nearly $1,000 for the organization. This year the chapter hopes to raise more money for the medical center.

The Parkway FFA Chapter in cooperation of the Mercer County Solid Waste received a grant from the Department of Natural Recourses for a trailer to be placed in the back of the school for all of our recyclables. The FFA Chapter would like to expand their program by having the community be involved. The chapter is asking the community to start collecting tin cans, plastic bottles, cardboard, glass bottles, aluminum cans and paper for our recycling program. All of the proceeds will be donated to the Children’s Medical Center.

The chapter is having the drop off day every 3^rd Saturday of every month. The time to drop off will be any time between 8:00am and 12:00pm behind the school. The first drop off date will be October 20^th.  
                       

Parkway FFA Recycling 2008

For a list on how all recyclables should be sorted - Click Here 

The Parkway FFA traveled to Hardin County for a Soils Invitational on Thursday, September 20, 2007. There are two types of soil judging: rural and urban. The students were divided into teams of three to four and given individual scores and a team score based on three pit scores and one test score. The results are as follows:

Parkway sent two teams in the urban category and both teams placed in the top twenty out of thirty-two. The first team consisted of Jackie King, Olivia Houts, Abby Evans, and Brandon Dellinger who placed seventeenth.  The second team consisted of Sara King, Travis Guggenbiller, Melinda Miller and Corbin Hellworth who placed second. Out of 102 competitors the placing of the 8 students were Sara King 3^rd, Corbin Hellwarth 9^th, Melinda Miller 10^th, Travis Guggenbiller 13^th, Abby Evans 62^nd, Olivia Houts 66^th, Brandon Dellinger 68^th, and Jackie King 79^th.

Parkway sent seven teams in the rural category and placed very well out of sixty-nine teams. The first team consisted of Michelle Thomas, Paul Brown, Abbea Hoehamer, and Michael Ford who placed 4^th. The second team consisted of Sam Jackson, Eddie Burtch, Stacy Speelman, and Vickie Teboe who placed 3^rd. The third team consisted of Taylor Bates, Jake Jackson, Cole Hamrick, and Jarrod Bourelle who placed 29^th. The fourth team consisted of Matt Dugan, Ashley Trafzer, Danielle Mathews, and Nick Strader who placed 36^th. The fifth team consisted of  Blake King, Ashton Houser, Mark Sheets and Caleb Caffee who placed 28^th. The sixth team consisted of Cody Motyka, Samantha Beerbower, Crysti Hoehamer, and Zack Searight. The seventh team consisted of Ryan Steinbrunner, Kasey Krugh, Trent Mullen, and Zack Kuhn. Out of 246 competitors, the placing of the top 10 students from Parkway are Sam Jackson 3^rd, Michelle Thomas 12^th, Samantha Beerbower 15^th, Eddie Burtch 20^th, Ryan Stienbrunner 22^nd, Michael Ford 32^nd, Paul Brown 33^rd, Blake King 54^th, Vickie Tebeo 57^th, and Jake Jackson 62^nd.

Nice job!

The Parkway FFA traveled to Mercer County for a Soils Contest on Friday, September 21st, 2007. There are two types of soil judging: rural and urban. The students were divided up into 4 groups and rotated with three soil pits, and a written test.

Parkway sent eight students to judge urban and these students did extremely well. Out of 27 participants, the results of the eight participating were: Travis Guggenbiller 1st, Corbin Hellwarth 2nd, Melinda Miller 3rd, Olivia Houts 4th, Sara King 5th, Jackie King 6th, Abby Evans 13th, and Brandon Dellinger 18th.

Parkway sent 25 students to judge rural soil. These 25 students did extremely well too. Out of 58 students the 10 that placed the best for Parkway were: Cole Hamrick 3rd, Crysti Hoehamer 4th, Ashden Houser 8th , Nick Strader 9th, Caleb Caffee 10th, Trent Mullen 11th, Danielle Mathews 13th, Paul Brown 18th, Stacy Speelman 19th, and Vicki Teboe 20th.

The urban soil team of Travis Guggenbiller, Sara King, Corbin Hellwarth, and Melinda Miller and the rural soil team of Paul Brown, Michael Ford, Michelle Thomas and Sam Jackson will be heading towards Ottowa for Districts. Parkway FFA would like to congratulate these students for all of their hard work.

Nice job and good luck at Districts!!!

Students to Participate in Agriscience Competition

INDIANAPOLIS – The National FFA Organization has selected two local students to participate in a national agriscience competition. Travis Guggenbiller and Michelle Thomas, members of the Parkway High School FFA Chapter of Rockford, Ohio, will be competing in the National FFA Agriscience Fair program. The event will be held during the 80^th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN, Oct. 24-27, 2007. More than 300 participants from across the nation will defend their projects against other entries for judging in 20 divisions.

          Guggenbiller’s and Thomas’ project “Does Seed Shape Matter?” will be on display at convention in the National FFA Agriscience Fair area of the RCA Dome. Categories for competition are biochemistry/microbiology/food science; botany; engineering; environmental science and zoology. The four divisions divide students in grades 7-12. Each winning participant receives either a cash award or scholarship.

          The agriscience fair program is sponsored by Ford Motor Company Fund as a special project of the National FFA Foundation, which includes cash awards.

          The National FFA Organization, formerly known as the Future Farmers of America, is a national youth organization of 495,046 student members – all preparing for leadership and careers in the science, business and technology of agriculture – as part of 7,242 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The National FFA Organization changed to its present name in 1988, in recognition of the growth and diversity of agriculture and agricultural education. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. Visit www.ffa.org for more information.

Sheets Receives the 2007 DEKALB Agricultural Accomplishment Award

Brett D’Wight Sheets of Willshire, Ohio, who attends Parkway High School, was recently presented the school’s highest agricultural honor, the DEKALB Agricultural Accomplishment Award, sponsored by Monsanto Company.

Sheets, the son of D’Wight and Michelle Sheets received the award for excellence in academics, leadership and agricultural work experience. Sheets’ significant experiences and accomplishments have included 1^st at district Ag Mechanics 06 and 07, 1^st at State Ag Engineering 06, Attend Tractor Trouble Shooting and small engines contests, and the Big Eastern States Expo Ag Mechanics Contest. Alan Post is Sheets’ agricultural education instructor at Parkway High School.

This year the DEKALB Agricultural Accomplishment Award celebrates its 60^th anniversary. Over these 60 years more than 158,000 high school seniors from across the country have received the Award, which has become a symbol for excellence and the school’s highest agricultural honor. In 2006, over 2050 students from high schools in 49 of the 50 states were recognized with the Award. As the winner of the 2007 Award, Brett’s name will be recorded on a permanent plaque displayed at Parkway High School.

Monsanto, a long-time supporter of agricultural education, FFA, 4-H, and other farm youth organizations and initiatives, has sponsored the DEKALB Agricultural Accomplishment Award, named for its brand of seed, since 1998.

Monsanto is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. For more information about Monsanto, visit their website at www.monsanto.com.

Parkway FFA Chapter Attends Farm Safety Review On Friday, September 7, the Parkway FFA Chapter attended the Farm Safety Review at the Mercer County Fairgrounds. The Farm Safety Review had three different categories broken down into three different stations where each one explained farm safety. The first group explained to us how the ingredients for drugs, such as methamphetamine, are used on farms. They explained to us the effects these drugs have on people and how they destroy your life. The second group explained the safety of farm machinery. They gave a demonstration on how you should run your lawn mower and what to look out for. They gave a demonstration to show how badly the blades can destroy someone’s foot and what happens when you run over things. They also showed us how you should run a skid loader and what you should watch for when operating on the machine. The third group, which was demonstrated by Helena, explained the relationship of chemicals used on a field to the cleaning supplies used at home. They also told us when looking at a chemical you always look and see if there is a danger sign, caution sign, or warning sign. All of these groups taught us a great deal on farm safety which will help each and every one of us. The Parkway FFA Chapter would like to thank Helena, Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and Lefeld Implement for giving the demonstrations.

Parkway FFA Participates at the Mercer County Fair

The Parkway FFA Chapter had many students participate this year in the Mercer County Fair. The chapter had students participate in the animal shows, such as Danny Knapke, Dee Dee Knapke, and Melinda Miller who showed sheep and Michelle Thomas and Jenifer Thomas who showed poultry. We also had many students from the chapter who brought in wood projects, welding projects and vegetables that were judged at the fair. That is just a small portion of what the chapter worked on at the fair.

Students, as well as their parents, from the Parkway FFA Chapter volunteered to work at the FFA Food Stand with Fort Recovery FFA Chapter members. The stand had Pepsi products and all kinds of fried food such as fries, chicken fingers, etc. The students had a great time working with the other members from the Fort Recovery Chapter and the customers that went to the food stand. The FFA Food Stand had another successful year and will probably be at the Mercer County Fairgrounds next year.

The Parkway FFA Chapter would like to thank everyone who supported our food stand by buying food and thank the students for making this another successful year.

Parkway FFA Summer Officer and Chairmen Retreat

The Parkway FFA officers held a summer officer and chairmen retreat at Bearcreek Farms on August 15. The officers worked extremely hard with the Chairmen on the upcoming FFA events for the 2007-2008 school year. The officers broke all of the chairmen into seven groups and worked with each group trying to figure out new ideas, and improving old ideas that we can work on for the new school year. After a couple hours of work, we took a break and enjoyed ourselves with pizza and pop. Then we went back to work.

When we finished our working day, everyone went to the Ol’ Swimming Hole. That evening, after the committee chairmen went home, the officers invited their parents to a meal and a show at Bearcreek’s restaurant and theater.

The retreat was a great success in helping plan this year’s events. The Parkway FFA Officers would like to thank Bearcreek Farms for the great opportunity of allowing us to plan out our new school year.

Parkway FFA Chapter Attends Camp Muskingum

This year the Parkway FFA Chapter attended Camp Muskingum in Carroll County near Leesville Lake. The chapter had students that attended the 3^rd session from June 22^nd through 29^th and the 5^th session from July 9^th through 13^th. Camp Muskingum was a wonderful learning experience for the Parkway FFA students who attended. The camp counselors split the students into 14 groups with other FFA students throughout the state.  The students attended camp for 5 days and interacted with many different students in their group and all of camp. Students learned the responsibility of leadership, working with others, and dealing with difficult problems in workshops. However, Camp Muskingum also held sports competitions between the groups that the students were assigned. Camp is a wonderful way for students to interact with others, and work in groups with people they have never met before. One group activity that was assigned to seniors only was to build a cardboard boat with duct tape that a person could fit in and stay afloat. This activity was a great way for students to work together and develop a boat that would outlast the other boats. Travis Guggenbiller who attended camp stated, “Camp was a great opportunity for me to meet other members from different chapters and to work on my leadership skills.” Parkway FFA would like to thank Camp Muskingum for giving the students a fantastic learning experience.