Thank you to the Slayton Veterinary Medical Center for selecting the Murray County Central FFA chapter to receive a donation for $625.00 from Zoetis. We will use the funds to purchase more study materials to help students with upcoming FFA Career Development Events, and help with the registration fees when attending contests. Thank you for all the support that we receive each year, it is much appreciated.
Last week saw a new chapter in the history of Murray County Central FFA take place. Recently the Minnesota FFA has allowed 7th-grade students to compete at Regional and State levels. MCC FFA decided to expand to some new contest areas for our chapter with the younger students. Mckade Gillette, Wyatt Biren, Brianna Engelkes, Alyssa Boerboom, and Mary McNab decide to compete in Forestry Career Development Event (CDE). This contest includes tree, leave, insect, and disease Identification, map reading, board foot calculations, reading a Biltmore stick to calculate lumber, chainsaw knowledge, and a general written test. The team performed well last week earning them a spot to attend the State FFA Convention in April. They placed 6th out of 11 teams at our local Region VI competition.
The Murray County Central FFA Horse Judging Team participated in their regional, state-qualifying career development event this past October 5th 2017 in Fairmont, MN. The horse judging contest consists of five classes of four horses in which the competitors place 1- 4. The FFA competitors placings are then compared to a professional carded judge’s placings for a score. The official judge also asks the competitors advanced questions about the set of horses presented, in which the answers of the contestants are taken for points. Another class to accumulate points in is a written test based on identification of horse breeds, colors, markings, tack, equipment, and other appointments. All of the competitors placing scores from these different classes are combined for a total score.
The MCC FFA Horse Judging team placed 2nd as a team overall, earning their trip to the 2018 Minnesota State FFA Convention next April. Two sisters, Maggie and Karlie Heezen both placed in the top 10 individuals earning 4th and 8th place. The rest of their team includes Kennedy Jackels, Macy Posthuma, and Makayla Rhodes. With Klaudia Gillette, Danika Jackels, and Madelyn Wendland on the Junior Varsity team. The girls have been practicing almost every day during their half-hour achievement period during school for the past couple weeks, and are planning on working very hard in preparation for the state contest.
