I had the opportunity to visit with our first FFA Advisor, Ashley Mattke. Here is what she had to say.
"The night of orientation (August 2016), we had an informational meeting for potential members and their parents to discuss what FFA was and their thoughts on the chapter. I brought in Elisa Russ, which was the state FFA president, to share her experiences and what FFA was all about. I do remember at some point going to the school board asking permission to have an FFA chapter. Once school started, I was on a mission to get members and officers so we could be chartered. Jessica S. and Codi W. volunteered their time after school to help get the bylaws and constitution done and well as the Program of Activities. When that was completed, I had to send it off to Scott Johnson and wait for a chapter number. The first year was spent trying to expose the students to different things as much as possible. In the fall classes that year, I taught the students how to judge dairy cattle and took them to Calmar for the Tri-state Dairy Expo. A few students did well. I had kids compete at district, and state dairy judging, held monthly meetings and had students participate in the spring LDEs. We celebrated FFA week with dress-up days. The first year we also had "fan" t-shirts that non-members could buy to support our chapter. When we were looking for start-up funds, we sent a donation letter to community businesses asking if they would like to donate, and we did very well. The first year, Nathan M. was the only TV student to go to the National Convention, but there was much more interest the year after. Both years we had students go to State Convention. The second year, we did a Farm Safety Day, which I left up to the members to do as much planning as possible. Students showed in fairs both years. We were also given a test plot that we planted in the spring of the second year. The summer after we became a chartered chapter, we took over the pedal tractor pull for Lawler's Irish Fest instead of New Hampton FFA coming over and doing it. "
Turkey Valley FFA
Turkey Valley CSD 3219 State Hwy 24 Jackson Junction, IA 52171 US
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