Information about the Atlantic FFA Banquet has been released. The Banquet was held on Monday, March 29th at the Atlantic High School. There were 150 members and guests were present at the event. The banquet started with the opening ceremonies, led by the 2020-2021 chapter officers. This year the officers include President Taylor McCreedy, Vice President Alyssa Derby, Secretary Craig Alan Becker, Treasurer Gunner Kirchhoff, Reporter Aspen Niklasen, Sentinel Wyatt Redinbaugh, and Student Advisor Garrett Reynolds. 2020-21 Chapter President Taylor McCreedy said, Ti was a great year despite all of the challenges the chapter had to navigate. We accomplished a lot, learned to adapt and succeed under circumstances that were different. Overall I think we had a great year”

The opening ceremonies was followed by a welcome to members and guests, and was given by President Taylor McCreedy. A reflection was then said by Craig Alan Becker. Following the reflection, dinner was held for members and guests alike. HyVee provided the Brisket and sides for the FFA members and guests. At the conclusion of dinner, two guest speakers spoke to the audience. The first was Shelby McCreedy, the mother of FFA President Taylor McCreedy. Mrs McCreedy talked about the importance of overcoming adversity as a group and building a better chapter in the long run. McCreedy also spoke about strength, resiliency and determination of this Chapter to continue to make things happen even while adhering to COVID protocols.”

2020-21 FFA Seniors: Left to Right Back Row -Taylor McCreedy Alyssa Derby, Garrett Reynolds, Craig Becker, Gunner Kirchhoff; Left to Right Front Row – Hannah Carlson, Bethany Anderson, Caroline Pellett.

The next speaker was Atlantic FFA Alumni Representative, Tyler Comes. Comes talked about the many possibilities for people to get involved with the Alumni organization. “There are many opportunities to get involved. Some examples include helping with fundraisers, driving FFA members to events when needed, and just finding ways how to help benefit our chapter.” Craig Alan Becker gave the secretary’s report. And the treasurer’s report was given by Gunner Kirchhoff. The balance on hand stated was $18,870.19.

Following the guest speakers, awards were given out. First were those recognized for earning 10,000 FFA points throughout their time as a member. These points are earned through getting involved with our chapter. The more activities and events a member participates in, the more points they earn. Those recognized for reaching 10,000 points included Craig Alan Becker, Hannah Carlson, Alyssa Derby, Taylor McCreedy and Garrett Reynolds. The next award was the Academic Achievement Award. This award is given to those who have been a part of the Atlantic FFA chapter for three years, and have maintained a 3.5 GPA throughout all those years. Those who received the Academic Achievement Award included Bethany Anderson, Craig Alan Becker, Hannah Carlson, Alyssa Derby, Gunner Kirrchoff, Taylor McCreedy, Drey Newell, Carloine Pellett, and Garrett Reynolds.

After the Academic Achievement Award came the Star Greenhand, Star Ag Placement, Star Ag Business, and Star of Ag Production Awards. The Star Greenhand is awarded to a freshman who the chapter officers feel was the most involved with the chapter in the past year. This year there were two outstanding Greenhand members so the award was given to Claire Pellett and Colton Becker. The next award, Star Ag Placement, is an award is given to a member that has done an exceptional job in their employment, whether that be in or out of agriculture. This award was received by Gunner Kirchhoff. Next came the Star Ag Business Award, which was given to Craig Alan Becker. Craig Alan was given this award for his outstanding work at his family farm operation. Following the Star Ag Business Award, Taylor McCreedy was awarded the Star of Ag Production. This award is given to a member who does an outstanding job in their work of agriculture production, while working on their own operation.

Honorary Chapter Farmer: Left to right – Shelby McCreedy, Abby and John Becker.

This year, the new officers for the 2020-2021 term elected four members to receive the Atlantic FFA Leadership Award, which is given in appreciation to those who have shown leadership through their years in FFA. These 7 members who received the award include Taylor McCreedy, Graig Alan Becker, Alyssa Derby, Hannah Carlson, Garrett Reynolds, Caroline Pellett and Garrett Reynolds Officers also elected 3 families and individuals to receive the Honorary Chapter Farmer award, which is given to people who have played a large role in helping the Atlantic FFA chapter and the activities they do. Those that accepted this award include Marty and Shelby McCreedy, John and Abby Becker, and Steve Barber Superintendent of Atlantic .

To finish the award recognitions, Taylor McCreedy and Bryan York were recognized for winning their state proficiency awards. Taylor competed in Diversified Livestock and Bryan competed in Vegetable Production. Four other Atlantic FFA members also competed in State Proficiency Awards: Gunner Kirchhoff placed 3rd in the state in his proficiency award area of Ag Mechanics, Caroline Pellett placed 3rd in Beef Entrepreneurship. Garrett Reynolds placed 4th in Ag Sales for his job at Fareway and Hannah Carlson placed 5th with her Goat entrepreneurship. These proficiency awards are given to members who have an outstanding Supervised Agriculture Experience (SAE) project.

This year, 14 members were given the Discovery Degree. The Discovery Degree is awarded to members who are finishing their 8th grade year of schooling, and have been involved in FFA for one year. Those that have been involved for one year of high school Ag, received the Greenhand Degree, which was given to 16 members. Next came 11 members who were Chapter FFA degrees, which are given to members who have been involved in FFA for 2 years since being in high school, or members who have been in FFA for three years including their 8th grade year.

The banquet concluded with the installation of new chapter officers. For the upcoming 2019-2020 year, the new officers include the following: Wyatt Redinbaugh as President, Cooper Jipsen as Vice President, Bryan York as Secretary, Dylan Comes as Treasurer, Aspen Niklasen as Reporter, Logan Eilts as Sentinel, and Malena Woodward as Student Advisor. Chapter President Wyatt Redinbaugh said “The 2021 FFA Banquet was a strange experience for me, it marked the end of the seniors leadership and time for our class to step up. This senior class has influenced me in so many different ways. I am excited to see what I can do to help build this FFA chapter for the future.“

(Story credit: Aspen Niklasen, Atlantic FFA Reporter)

Atlantic FFA Advisor Eric Miller reports, that on Monday, April 26th and Tuesday April 27th, Atlantic FFA members Malena Woodward and Bryan York participated in the 10th annual Virtual Iowa Youth Institute (IYI) hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation. Woodward and York were part of the 264 students and 110 teachers from 93 Iowa high schools. This virtual, 2 day-long event was the first of its kind for the IYI supported by over 90 experts from across Iowa.

Each year, the World Food Prize Youth Institutes convene high school students, teachers and experts to explore and solve local, national and global hunger and food security issues. In order to be a part of the Iowa Youth Institute, students research and write a paper on a global challenge related to hunger and food insecurity. Currently, 25 states, the Netherlands and Honduras host Youth Institutes, where students can be selected to serve as delegates at the Global Youth Institute as part of October’s Borlaug International Dialogue.

Woodward’s paper was on the malnutrition problem occurring in Guatemala. Woodward said, “I had fun researching and learning more information about Guatemala. After learning that over half of their population is malnourished I feel it is important to educate the local population on nutrition and producing their own food.” York’s paper focused on Sustainable Agriculture in Tanzania and how this affects the food insecurity problem. “I was interested in soil health and Sustainability overseas. After Doing a bit of research, I decided to write my paper about Tanzania, a country who has been on the raise in recent years, but has had trouble with its malnutrition and infrastructure.” York stated, “I found, in my research, that Tanzania can produce almost 95 percent of its own food. But, many Tanzanians have trouble accessing this food inside its borders.”

Malena Woodward

Bryan York (Photos submitted)

The day began with remarks from Kelsey Tyrell, Organizer for the Iowa Youth Institute and Wendy Wintersteen, President of Iowa State University. The keynote address was provided by Kim Reynolds, Governor of Iowa. Once the opening session was complete Woodward and York began Roundtable Discussions. Students presented their research in a roundtable fashion to ISU faculty and industry professionals by using Zoom Meetings. Students were also supportive of their peers and asked questions to provide a diverse array of perspectives to the discussion. During the afternoon session students and teachers participated in virtual Immersion Discussions with World Food Prize Partners.

At the end of the second day, Woodward and York were declared Bourlag Scholars and awarded a $1,000 scholarship to Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Both Woodward and York are going to be Seniors next year and have the opportunity to participate again. When talking about her experiences Woodward said, “I really enjoyed the presentation. I thought it was interesting hearing the ideas of other students and experts trying to solve world hunger as well as hearing their input and giving me more ideas about my topic.”

This one-day event is offered at no cost to teachers or students. More details are available at www.worldfoodprize.org/iowayouth.