By Brooklyn Himmelberg
This year, Silver Lake FFA celebrated 10 years. They hosted their annual banquet at the Roseland Community Center where they served a meal to parents and community members and announced various achievements for the FFA members for the 2023-2024 school year. The junior high leadership team for the 2023-2024 school year was recognized at the banquet. The team consisted of 8th graders Jordan Bonifas (junior high representative), Libby Soucek (student chair), Justin Sharp (chapter chair), Kaylee Karr (chapter co-chair), Molly Hemberger (community chair), Lee Gibson (community co-chair), and 7th grader Ava Sorensen (student co-chair). At the banquet, officers for the 2023-2024 were recognized and the officers for the 2024-2025 school year were announced as well. Next year’s officers will consist of the following members. The president will be incoming senior Cody Plambeck; the secretary will be incoming junior Beau Bonifas; and the vice presidents will be incoming seniors Emma Schmidt and Emma Strampher, incoming juniors MaKenna Karr, Sophie Schmidt, Karah Bartels, and Trevor Kral; and incoming freshman Jordan Bonifas. This year, all 8th graders participating in FFA earned the Discovery Degree. To earn a discovery degree, one must be enrolled in an agricultural class, be a dues-paying member of FFA, participate in one FFA contest, help with all fundraisers, and have knowledge of an agricultural-related career. The 8th graders who earned the degree included Conner Blythe, Jordan Bonifas, Abigail Dumler, Lee Gibson, Molly Hemberger, Brooklyn Himmelberg, Kaylee Karr, Laikyn Krueger, Aleigha Mankhey, Justin Sharp, Libby Soucek, and Tanner Vance. The next degree that was awarded was the Greenhand degree, which is the first in a series of high school degrees available through FFA, and it symbolizes accomplishments and further growth in FFA and future careers. The members who earned their Greenhand Degrees included freshmen Austin Greenough, Xander Journey, Brody Knehans, Lane Magarin, Cooper Wengler, and Isabella Whitten. The next award given was a Star Greenhand degree, which is earned by going above and beyond the Greenhand Degree requirements; the degree was awarded to Isabella Whitten. The next award given was the highest degree given at the chapter level of FFA, The Chapter Degree. To earn a Chapter Degree one must have the required amount of school instructional hours, compete in at least three FFA events, have continued growth within their SAE, have led discussions, and demonstrated parliamentary law. The members who received their Chapter Degrees included sophomores MaKenna Karr, Sophie Schmidt, Kamille Karr, Karah Bartels, Beau Bonifas, Hayden Karr, Trevor Kral, Lanham Skrdlant, Jaxon tenBensel, and Frank Thomas. The next degree given was the State FFA Degree, which is the highest degree the state association can bestow upon a member. Members are awarded this degree based on their comprehensive Supervised Agricultural Experience Program. These members must submit at least two years of SAE record books, complete the State FFA Degree Application, meet all minimum qualifications, and complete an interview. The members who earned their State FFA Degree included seniors Sydney Bartels, Ashley Bonifas, Maddie Karr, and Savanna Junek. They will receive their state degrees at the State Convention on April 5th. The next award given was the Leadership Award, which was given to an individual who showed leadership while being active in the Silver Lake FFA chapter. The recipient was Ashley Bonifas. Bonifas was also recognized for being Silver Lake’s first-ever State FFA Officer candidate. Awards from competitions from the 2023-2024 school year were announced, as well as those members who qualified for the State agriscience fair. Members who qualified are Beau Bonifas, Karah Bartels, Trevor Kral, MaKenna Karr, Justin Sharp, Jordan Bonifas and Lee Gibson, and Kaylee Karr and Brooklyn Himmelberg. Lastly, nine seniors will no longer be a part of the Silver Lake FFA Chapter, and they retired their jackets at the banquet. The nine seniors are Angus Anderson, Sydney Bartels, Ashley Bonifas, Morgan Dinkler, Sam Hammer, Keaton Karr, Maddie Karr, Jack Sorensen, and Trey Vance. The banquet was a great commemoration of a successful year of FFA and a great celebration of the growth that the Silver Lake FFA Chapter has experienced over the last 10 years.