By Justin Sharp
The Silver Lake FFA members, who have done well in the past, have come off to a hot start by competing in multiple SAE’s and contests, along with annual gatherings in the first semester. Starting the year, in August, students began a fun-filled evening with a back-to-school bash held at Mrs. Curlo’s house. High school and junior high students had the opportunity to enjoy swimming, food, and other activities to set a positive tone for the 2024-2025 school year. The event also had representatives from both FFA and FBLA officer teams who spoke about the benefits of joining these clubs and how they could participate in events, competitions, and community service projects. Thanks to Mrs. Curlo and many others, the event was a success, bringing students together and inspiring them to be involved in the school community.
Starting off with the first two of the many FFA contests to come in the future was Range Judging and Land Judging. Many people competed in Range Judging for the first time and competed quite well. As Mrs. Trausch commented, Land Judging consisted of four small but mighty contestants: sophomore Kaisley Hansen, freshman Aleigha Mankhey, freshman Laikyn Krueger, and freshman Justin Sharp. They recently traveled to Gibbon to showcase their newly inherited skills in soil evaluation and land management. Despite 3 out 4 members competing for the first time, the team performed impressively, demonstrating both skills and perseverance. Although they didn’t bring home any ribbons this time, the team gained valuable experience and represented our school with pride. On Halloween, the FFA chapter participated in the Trunk-or-Treat at the elementary school. Rather than a trunk of a car, the group decorated a trailer and had different animals for the kids to pet. Trausch commented that it was a great way for younger students to see all of the activities that FFA does and hopefully encourage them to want to participate in FFA in the future.
The group also sent a large number of students to participate in the District 6 Fall Career Development Events on Wednesday, November 13th at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds. The group had an Ag Biotechnology team, a floriculture team, multiple middle school quiz bowl teams, and many livestock judgers. In the senior division of livestock judging, senior Emma Strampher placed 33 out of 95 participants. In the junior division, freshman Jordan Bonifas placed 16th out of 198 competitors, and in the middle school division, 8th grader Elisha Johnson placed 22nd, 7th grader Olivia Whitten placed 24th, and 7th grader Colston Karr placed 27th. There were 195 competitors in the middle school division.