THE NATIONAL FFA ORGANIZATION ------------ By Reporter Cheyanne Strong

The leaves have fallen and the water troughs are starting to freeze. What does this mean? Winter is in the air! Yes I said it, Winter is here whether you want it to be or not. The North Lake FFA chapter has been getting ready in the last month for the Sales Contest coming up soon, so I have had some time on my hands to come up with a new article. I thought that I spend so much time talking about what our FFA chapter does, that maybe some folks don’t really know what the FFA is all about.

The National FFA Organization is an American youth organization that has been around since 1928 when it was founded as The Future Farmers of America. The organization focuses on promoting and supporting agriculture education within middle and high school classes. There are more then 507,763 members in 7,439 chapters throughout all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.

Some things you may not know are that women were not allowed to become members until 1969. The FFA acronym for Future Farmers of America was changed to The National FFA Organization in 1988 because they wanted to expand its membership beyond youth working in traditional “production agriculture.” The North Lake FFA chapter was started on March 21,1992. The first North Lake FFA President was Stephen Roth of Christmas Valley.

High School students compete in various events called Career Development Events (CDEs). Supervised Agriculture Experience (SAE) programs such as raising a fair animal, and Leadership Development Events (LDEs). All these programs are designed to broaden students abilities in different fields of agriculture. The basic levels are national level, serving all of the united states of America; the state level, serving an individual state; the district level serving a group of chapters in a geographical area; and the chapter level, serving at a particular school or set of schools. In each level a person holds an office. The officers elected are usually the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Reporter, Sentinel and Historian. All of these officers have their own responsibilities and are needed to serve. We have several members of our chapter currently serving as officers at the district and state level. Allan Overton is the 2008-2009 Oregon State Secretary. Colleen Hunt is the Central Oregon District Vice President and Joe Carlon is the Central Oregon District Sentinel. Our 2008-2009 chapter officers are: Colleen Hunt as our President, Preston Fivecoat is our Vice President, Amanda Dark as our Secretary, Cheyanne Strong is our Reporter, our Treasurer is Kori Worthington, Joe Carlon is our Sentinel, and our Historian is Jon Sprague.

Every year each state has their annual State Convention. At this convention all the chapters within that state gather and compete in CDEs, SAEs, and public speaking events. If members do well here they can continue to the national level. This convention is currently held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 2006-2012.
The National FFA is an amazing organization that teaches students leadership skills they’ll need to succeed at school and future careers. It influences many great qualities that youth need in everyday life.

North Lake FFA Officer Team

Student FFA officers from the North Lake Chapter join the notorious Central Oregon FFA Polar Bear Club. Lft to Rt. Kori Worthington, Jon Sprague, Amanda Dark, Linda Robles, Beverly Henkel, Joe Carlon, Avery Overton, Colleen Hunt, Tyler Byrant

LEADERS AT ALL LEVELS
Allan Overton is currently serving as the Oregon State FFA Secretary, and Colleen Hunt is the Central Oregon District FFA Vice-President and the North Lake FFA Chapter President

Oregon Agricultural Tour

Some things you just can’t learn in a classroom. That’s why on November 16th , twelve students from the North Lake and Culver FFA chapters took time out of school and traveled to the Portland area to educate themselves about various aspects of agriculture, the Oregon economy and career opportunities. Students spent three days, two nights and traveled over a thousand miles. The tour included stops at Stroller Vineyard, The Port of Portland, Vigor Marine Shipyard Construction and Repair, Monrovia Nursery, Portland Community College Shipyard Welding Training Center and the Willow Lake Water Reclamation facility.

At Stroller Vineyards, students learned about niche markets associated with viticulture, the food science and chemistry that are involved in making a quality product, as well as the intensive effort that goes into the marketing process. Strollers has made a tremendous investment in energy conservation, with such innovations as solar panels, recyclable construction and consumable materials, composting and using natural cooling principles and utilization of gravity flow for fluid movement.Andre Borlak learns the science of viticulture at Stoller’s Vineyard

Students had the opportunity to experience the vastness of the marine portion of the Port Of Portland. The Port of Portland has an impact on 1 of every 14 jobs in the State of Oregon, and has an annual operating revenue of 168 million dollars. Students learned about the advances in port security and cargo x-rays. They watched the loading and unloading of containers on an oceanic cargo vessel and learned about how imports and exports affect our local economy. They were also introduced to the day-to-day operations of some of the Ports largest customers: Hanjin Shipping Lines, Toyota, Lufthansa, Columbia Sportswear, FedEx and Alaska Airlines. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this tour was to learn about just how much of the common items we use on an everyday basis come through the Port of Portland in containers.Port of Portland

At Vigor Marine and Portland Community College Shipyard and Welding Training Center, students observed construction of recently commissioned barges, Hanford’s 60,000 gallon stainless steel nuclear waste storage vessels and the repair work on ships in dry-dock, including the refitting of a top secret navy stealth ship.

Mike Rasmussen, PCC welding instructor and Vigor Marine Public Relations Representative stressed the point that even in these tough economic times, there are jobs in the metal industry. Vigor Marine recruits workers from all over the county because they cannot find enough skilled workers locally. When asked by one of the FFA students, what they need to do to get a job at Vigor Marine, Mr. Rasmussen responded, “It’s important to learn basic metal and welding skills in high school, but more importantly, show up to work on time everyday and be able to pass the monthly drug test.FFA members touring Vigor Marine Ship Yard. Left to right: Chad Waldron, Joe Carlon, Avery Overton, Andre Borlak, Daniel Miles

Monrovia is the largest container nursery in the world and offers a large range of intern opportunities. With over 600 hundred employees, on a typical summer day, they will ship 1.5 million dollars worth of foliage from their nursery. Our tour guides took us through the process of greenhouse and nursery management; controlling temperature, moisture, nutrients and plant pests, and the process of plant propagation and tissue culturing.

Joe Carlon ponders the future at the Monrovia Nursery

Willow Lake Water Reclamation Facility serves the entire Salem-Keizer area and processes over 155 million gallons of waste-water a day. The solid waste is extracted and shipped to Hermiston to be used as rangeland fertilizer. The liquid waste is then cleaned using natural biological agents and filtration techniques, and then chlorinated to kill any remaining pathogens. The reclamation plant than treats all the chlorinated water with ascorbic acid to neutralize it and render it harmless to aquatic life before dumping it into the Willamette River.

The focus and goal of the trip was to expose students to careers and jobs that they might not be familiar with, and to demonstrate how the concepts and principles that Agriculture teachers teach everyday in class, can be applied in real world work conditions.

All the tour guides and managers we spoke with stressed that even in times of economic slowdown, there is still a demand for high-paid skilled workers who are willing to work and willing to learn.

When asked what impressions they came away with from the tour, Daniel Stirwalt from Culver FFA said, “It’s amazing that they assemble the ships upside down and then flip them over.” He was also impressed with the post Panamaz cranes they use at the Port of Portland to load containers on the large ships that are too big to fit through the Panama Canal.”

Andre Borlak from the North Lake FFA responded, “Don’t do drugs and show up on time and you have a good chance of getting a job.”"I never knew there was so much science behind a flushed toilet." - Avery Overton, at the Willow Lake Water Reclamation Facility

Oregon Agricultural Tour

Itinerary Oregon Tour
November 16, 17, 18

Sunday Nov. 16

Depart North Lake School - 7:00 A.M.
Depart Culver High School 9:00 AM
Lunch in Salem (fast food) 12:00 noon
Arrive Stoller Vineyards 1:00 PM
Arrive Hotel (Sunnyside Best Western) 5:00 PM
Dinner 6:00 PM ish
Lights out 11:00 PM

Monday Nov. 17

Arise 7:00AM
Breakfast (hotel continental {good})
Board bulldog bus 7:45AM
Arrive Port of Portland Marine terminal 9:00AM
Lunch noon ish
Arrive Portland ship yards 1:00 PM
Dinner 6:00 PM ish
Lights out 11:00 PM

Tuesday Nov. 18

Arise 7:00AM
Breakfast (hotel continental {good})
Board bulldog bus 7:45AM
Arrive Monrovia Nursery 9:15AM ish
Lunch noonish
Arrive Willow creek treatment facility 1:00 PM
Arrive Culver 6:00 PM ish

Needs
GOVERNMENT ISSUED PHOTO IDENTIFICATION This is required
Money for meals two dinners three lunches snacks if you desire
Toilet articles
PMA
Swimming suit if you want
Field trip form, (Port of Portland has requested to take photos, need parent permission on field trip form.)
FFA Jacket, white shirt and tie. Nice jeans and shoes This is required

This is a professional field-trip tour. We will be in FFA Jackets and ties on Monday.
Tuesday to be announced. At no time will TEE-shirts, caps and tattered clothing be worn outside the hotel.


●November 16th, Sunday.

Leave North Lake School at 7:00 A.M. and meet up with Culver FFA

- Stoller Vinyards and Winery

●November 17th, Monday.

- Port of Portland

- Portland Ship yard construction and repair

●November 18th, Tuesday

- Monrovia Nursery

- Willow Creek Sewage treatment and water reclamation

Return home around 8-9 P.M.


●We’ll be staying at the:

Best Western Sunnyside Inn
12855 SE 97th Ave.
Clackamas OR 97015
503-652-1500

Down and Dirty with North Lake FFA

Mud, rain, wind─and a whole lot of dirt. That pretty well sums up the month of October for the North Lake FFA Chapter. Four weeks of collecting soil samples, poking around in soil pits after school, and dozens of hours of class time studying math formulas and scientific principles have prepared students to be competitive at demonstrating their knowledge and skills of soil science at both the District and the State level.

The North Lake FFA Soils teams dominated the District Career Development Event (CDE) at Crook County, outperforming the competition in both the advanced and beginning contests. Team scores in the Advanced Contest were: North Lake = 399, Sherman County = 393, Culver = 372. Team scores in the Beginning Contest were: North Lake = 415 points, Madras = 374, Culver 363.

On October 13th, nine students from North Lake School packed their bags and headed out to participate in the 2008 State FFA Soils Career Development Event. Over 28 teams from the various 119 Oregon FFA Chapters qualified and attended the contest. The advanced team, consisting of Joe Carlon, Andre Borlak, Avery Overton and Shayne Dinger placed fifth. With their two second place State finishes the previous years, they were able to make the cut for the chance to represent the State of Oregon at the National Soils Career Development Event in Oklahoma City.

The Novice team placed first in the Beginning Contest, and had the third highest score of all teams in the competition. Daniel Miles had the second highest individual score of all competitors. Other members of the team were, Felicia Bias, Kody Worthington, Adam Henkel and Kourtney Worthington.

The results of the Advanced CDE: Culver ─ 352 points, Sutherlin ─ 347, Bonanza ─ 338 points, Hermiston ─ 338 points, North Lake ─ 335 points.
The results of the Beginning CDE: North Lake ─ 340 points, Culver ─ 335 points, Hermiston ─ 323 points, Bonanza ─ 306 points.

Working the Pits: Students worked hard and spent hours practicing before the contest: Kourtney Worthing, Felicia Bias, Shayne Dinger, Adam Henkel, Kody Worthington, Andre Borlak, Avery Overton.

Kourtney Worthington and Shayne Dinger prepare for the State Contest.

North Lake FFA Soil Teams Dominate at District

On October 8th, North Lake competed in the annual District FFA Soils Career Development Event. This year the contest was held at Crook County. Both the Advanced and the Beginning teams placed first and took home the blue banners. This is the second year in a row that both teams have won the District competition.

In the advanced competition, Avery Overton placed 2nd individual with 105 points, Joe Carlon placed 4th individual with 104 points and Daniel Miles placed 5th with 100 points. Other members of the advanced team were: Andre Borlak, Alex Defender, Jesssica Kelly and Sydnee Bias. Team scores were: North Lake = 399, Sherman County = 393, Culver = 372.

In the beginning compettion, Felicia Bias placed 1st individual with 106 points, Shayne Dinger placed 2nd individual with 105 points, Cody Worthington placed 3rd individual with 104 points and Adam Henkel placed 4th individual with 100 points. Other members of the team were: JJ Smith, Calvin Bowers, Kourtney Worthington, Elijah Puckett. Team scores were: North Lake = 415 points, Madras = 374, Culver 363.

Both of North Lake Soils teams will be participating in the State contest this year which is being held in Culver Oregon on October 14th.
The Soils CDE requires students to determine the slope, soil texture, color and structure, identify mottles, course fragments, horizons and any “special features” like duripans, fragipans and tillage pans. The students then have to use that information to calculate available water holding capacity, effective rooting depth, surface and subsoil permeability, water and wind erosion hazard, parent material, site position, internal drainage, drainage feasibility, most intensive crop for the site, erosion control practices, pH corrections and septic tank limitations.

Farmers are the primary stewards of the soil, for they are the tillers of the land. All of us, however, share the responsibility to protect this valuable resource. If we manage our soil properly it will continue to nourish us for generations to come. If we don’t, our very civilization is threatened.

The main objective of the Soils CDE is to encourage students to investigate this fascinating resource we call soil, to discover how soils are organized, to learn both how to describe key properties of soils horizons and to interpret them in terms of management practices–and to develop a sense of stewardship for the land. By learning and understanding important properties of the soil, students will be able to manage the soil wisely and make a number of important decisions about drainage, irrigation, crop selection and erosion control.

Next year’s District contest is scheduled to be held in the North Lake area.
The North Lake FFA would like to thank the Fort Rock Soil and Water Conservation District, and especially LeeRoy Horton, Harold Miles, Lloyd Miles and Leon Baker for all soils pits they’ve dug and the help, encouragement, and educational programs they have provided the students. They’re a great asset to our chapter, school and community.
Beginning Team, Front Row: Adam Henkel, JJ Smith, Felicia Bias, Shayne Dinger, Kourtney Worthington, Calvin Bowers, Kody Worthington. Advanced Team, Back Row: Daniel Miles, Andre Borlak, Alex Defender, Elijah Puckett, Joe Carlon, Avery Overton, Jessica Kelly, Sydnee Bias.

JJ Smith fills out his soil card.

Sydnee and Felicia Bias

Distirct Tractor Driving

District Tractor Driving
By: Reporter Cheyanne Strong

On September 24th, 2008 six of our North Lake FFA Chapter members met with the other Central Oregon District chapters in Madras for the Tractor Driving Contest.

Of course we all got tired during the summer sitting in our tractors and driving around in circles. These boys: Jon Sprague, Joe Carlon, Avery Overton, Tyler Meyer, Elijah Puckett, and Calvin Bowers, didn’t. They took this contest very seriously and always try to beat out their competition.

The Tractor Driving Contest involved three parts: the safety test, where they took a written exam on common safety precautions while driving a tractor, the Parts I.D., where the competitors had to identify certain parts on the tractor, and the main event consisted of the members taking the tractor, with an implement on the back, and driving through the course without touching the flags. Then they had to back the tractor up to a pole, and get as close as they could without touching it.

The advanced team: Avery Overton, Joe Carlon, and Jon Sprague, placed third. Avery Overton placed 2nd in the individual placing.

The beginning team, Elijah Puckett, Tyler Meyer, and Calvin Bowers, placed 1st. They did extremely well against their competition.

This summer on August 24th, Tyler Meyer and Avery Overton had the honor to attend the State Fair in Salem, Oregon. They competed in the Tractor Driving Contest. Avery Overton did an outstanding job placing first, and won himself a belt buckle. Tyler Meyer did not place, but represented the Chapter and District very well.

District Soils CDE

FFA District Soils CDE

October 7 – 8th, @ Crook County. Bus leaves at 2:00 on Tuesday.

We will be camping out at Jerry and Kristi Breese ranch. Jerry and the Crook County FFA will be providing hamburger and hotdogs Tuesday night. Students will need to bring a lunch for Wednesday.

List of students who have indicated to me they will be participating: Updated 10/2/08


Advance Team
Avery Overton
Joe Carlon
Daniel Miles
Kori Worthington
Jessica Kelly
Andre Borlak
Alex Defender
Sydnee Bias

Beginning Team
Elijah Puckett
Shayne Dinger
Kody Worthington
Kourtney Worthington
Calvin Bowers
JJ Smith
Felicia Bias
Adam Henkel


Official dress is not required for this event. Be sure to pack warm clothes and bring all your soils evaluation tools: knife, water bottle, calculator, clipboard, writing utensil, mud rag, boots and a rain coat.

Other items to bring: tent, sleeping bag, toiletries, towel, lunch, flashlight, cell phone…I’m sure I’m forgetting something…

Students need to make sure they have turned in their pre-arranged absent sheet and their FFA participation form that I sent out the first week of school.

Any questions or concerns, please give me a call on my cell. 977-3106

Lake County Fair

County Fair 2008
By Reporter Cheyanne Strong

Well it has happened again. Fair has gone and passed another year in what seems like a blink of an eye. I remember the very first fair all of us went to in our 4-H years, and it seems just like yesterday. It’s amazing how fast time flies by. Speaking of flying by, where in the world did our summer go? Most of our members were looking forward to the fair weekend to get a break from those summer jobs.

We all woke up at the crack of dawn Thursday, August 28th, to load our animals and head to Lakeview for weigh ins. The members spent that afternoon getting their animals weighed in, filling stalls with wood chips, and getting ready for the competition. That night the swine market class competed at 5:00 P.M. and beef market at 7:00 P.M. The members rushed around that evening getting their animals washed and groomed for the show.

In swine market, what matters is how long, lean, and well finished your animal is. In the first class of showman we had Hannah Hand who got Champion, and Jessica Hand who received Reserve Champion.

The second class consisted of Lesley Dark who got Champion, Jordan Fisher who received 2nd blue ribbon, Amanda Dark who placed 4th, and Jessica Kelly who placed 5th. Three of our members, Lesley Dark, Hannah Hand, and Jessica Hand, went back in for the Championship round where Lesley Dark placed Grand Champion and Jessica Hand received Reserve Grand Champion. They both did extremely well against their competition.

The beef market class was a tough competition. In this class the judge compares the finished steers to the well conditioned and muscular bunch. In the first class of beef showman we had Sydnee Bias who placed Champion, Cheyanne Strong who received Reserve Champion, and Tyler Meyer who got 7th place.

In the second class, Avery Overton received Reserve Champion, Kori Worthington got 4th place, Talon Gauthier placed 6th, and Hunter Kittredge got 7th place. Three of our Beef showman, Avery Overton, Sydnee Bias, and Cheyanne Strong went back in for the championship round. Avery Overton received Reserve Grand Champion.

The next morning, Friday, August 29th, members woke up around 6:00 A.M. to clean barns and fill stalls with clean wood chips. In between trips to the chip pile you could find some of our members standing in line at the Espresso Shop waiting for their coffee. It was not what I call warm on some of those days.

The sheep and goat showman were busy that morning getting ready for their market class at 9:00 A.M. All of our members were in the first class because there was only one class of sheep showman. Gonzalo Reyes received Grand Reserve, Linda Robles placed 3rd, Adam Henkel got 4th place, and Tylor Bryant placed 7th.

Emily Little was our only goat showman, and she did a great job placing Reserve Grand Champion in Market Class.

Later that evening our beef and swine showmanship classes began at 6:00 P.M. This is the class where it all comes down to how well you trained your animal, and how much time you spent with it over the Summer.

In the first class of swine showmanship we had Jessica Hand who placed 3rd, Amanda Dark who received 4th, and Hannah Hand who placed 5th.
The second class consisted of: Lesley Dark who received Reserve Champion, Jessica Kelly who placed 3rd, and Jordan Fisher who got 5th place. Lesley Dark hustled back in for the championship round, but did not place in the top two.

In the first class of beef competitors we had Avery Overton who received Champion, Talon Gauthier who placed 3rd, and Sydnee Bias who got 7th place.
The second class consisted of Tyler Meyer who received Champion, Hunter Kittredge who placed 4th, Kori Worthington who got 5th, and Cheyanne Strong who placed 6th. Avery returned for the Championship round where he placed Reserve Grand Champion. Avery did a very great job in all his classes.

That night some of our members went and ate that yummy-greasy fair food for dinner and headed back to their hotels to rest up for the next day.
The next morning, Saturday, August 28th, the members did their usual routine of cleaning and organizing their barns. After the chores were done the sheep showmanship class began at 8:00 A.M. All of our sheep showmen were in the second class because they are all beginners in FFA. Tylor Bryant received Reserve Champion, Gonzalo Reyes placed 4th, Adam Henkel placed 5th. Right behind Adam we had Linda Robles in 6th.
Emily Little also showed that morning, and placed Reserve Grand Champion in goat showmanship.

At noon on Saturday all the members got ready for the moment they had been waiting for. It was time for the livestock auction in the sale barn. A few kids got emotional when it came close to their turn in the ring, because they new it was getting close to saying good bye. Others were looking forward to the sale because they had a little bit of a hand full this summer with their animal. The sale lasted most of the day. Later on some of the members attended the Tracey Lawrence concert a 6:30 P.M., while the rest sat out behind the wood chip pile and listened to what they could here.

The next day was Sunday, August 31st. All the members did their duties in the barns as early as 6:00 A.M. to get it out of the way. The only competition that day was the Round Robin. This was the top showmen of each group who got together and competed by showing every class of livestock. We had four competitors in this class, Avery Overton, Emily Little, Linda Robles, and Tylor Bryant. Avery Overton was the only one who placed and he received 4th. They all did very well and tried their hardest.

Later that night members went to the Destruction Derby. Nothing could be more fun then watching cars crash into each other on purpose. That night you could see everybody with three layers of clothes on, or wrapped up in blankets because it was so cold outside! No one hung out at the fair grounds that night, because they all wanted to get back to their warm- cozy hotel rooms.
The next day, Monday, September 1st, was the last day of fair. All the members mucked out stalls that morning. Throughout the day kids were filling out thank you cards for buyers, and at 4:00 P.M. they collected their checks from the office and headed home. Most were anxious to get home because they were so exhausted from the long weekend, and had only the next day to get ready to go back to school.

We all had great fun at fair this year, and made more memories we will have forever. We couldn’t have done it without our communities support. The North Lake FFA would like to give a special thanks to all our supporters at fair this year and throughout the next year.

FFA Schedule 2008-2009

Schedule of Events 2008-2009
Updated – 2/16/09

*Sept. 24 District Tractor Driving CDE @ Madras

*Oct. 7-8 District Soils CDE @ Crook County

*Oct. 13-14 State Soils CDE @ Culver

*Dec. 10 District Sales CDE @ Culver

*Dec. 13 State Ag. Sales CDE @ Crater

*Jan. 8 State Degree/Prof. @ Redmond

*Feb. 11 District Leadership CDE @ North Lake

*March 2 Sectional Leadership CDE @ Bend

*March 2 District Books/Portfolio @ Bend

*March 11 Chapter Officer Appl. Due

*March 12 Ag. Advisory Com. Mtg 4:05 P.M.

*March 20-24 Oregon State FFA Convention

*April 6 North Lake FFA Banquet

*April 15-17 District Leadership Camp

*May 27 District Shop Skills CDE @ Redmond

Upcoming Event - Soils CDE

District Soils CDE - Oct. 7-8 @ Crook County

State Soils CDE - Oct. 13-14 @ Culver

In the next couple of weeks, we will be traveling to Crook County for the District Soils CDE, and up to Culver for the State Soils CDE's. Both trips will be over-nighters. We will be camping at Breese's in Crook County for District, and staying in a hotel in Madras for the State contest. Students need to get their prearrange absence form and parent permission form completed and turned in to Mr. Waldron by Oct. 6th.

Last year North Lake placed 1st in the Advanced competition and 3rd in Beginning. We then went on to State and placed 2nd for the second year in a row. Your hard work and dedication has paid off. Keep it up.

We will be practicing after school on Sept. 22nd, and 23th and 30th.

Official dress is not required for this event. Be sure to pack warm clothes and bring all your soils evaluation tools: knife, water bottle, calculator, clipboard, writing utensil, mud rag, boots and a rain coat.