Meadow Heights FFA is gearing up for a week full of activities in celebration of National FFA Week Feb. 17 to 24.
The Meadow Heights FFA Chapter was founded in 1979. And 45 years later in 2024, the chapter includes 84 members, making it "one of the largest youth organizations in Bollinger County," according to Meadow Heights FFA advisor Sarah Yamnitz.
The U.S. Congress passed the Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education Act of 1917, Yamnitz said, which allows for intracurricular instruction of FFA within the public school classroom.
"This is why it is required to be in an agriculture class to be a part of FFA," she said.
The Meadow Heights FFA Chapter is involved in a variety of learning activities both inside and outside of the classroom -- from community service and speaking competitions to livestock judging contests and conventions.
The classroom provides a variety of learning opportunities, Yamnitz said, ranging from welding, ag mechanics, woodworking, livestock science, vet tech, floriculture, soil science, plant science, entomology, food science, and leadership.
"We have had 18 students be awarded the American FFA degree, 44 awarded their state FFA degree, and hundreds have received their chapter and greenhand degrees," she said. "Our first star greenhand (exemplary first-year student) was Dennis Mouser in 1981, and the most recent was John Bollinger in 2023. We have had two students as state star farmers: Tate Kiefer and Lydia Whaley.
Current Meadow Heights FFA officers are senior Rylee Shelton, president; senior Madisen Denman, vice president; junior Leah Carlson, secretary; junior Trae Yamnitz, treasurer; senior Rachael Hellebusch, chaplain; junior Lauren Strong, historian; junior Andrea Welker, reporter; and sophomore John Bollinger, sentinel.
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