Glenwood City FFA honors members at annual awards banquet
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SPECIAL HONOR AND AWARD — Chuck Draxler served as the keynote speaker at this year’s Glenwood City FFA Awards Banquet held April 14. It was also announced that former agricultural teacher and FFA advisor Tom Knox will be receiving an Honorary State Degree at this year’s state FFA convention in June. Pictured from left to right are: Maddie Klatt (chapter president), Chuck Draxler, Tom Knox and Kirsten Konder (FFA advisor). —photo by Shawn DeWitt
GLENWOOD CITY – The Glenwood City Future Farmers of America (FFA) held its annual chapter awards banquet in the high school commons on Sunday April 14, 2024.
FFA members, parents, and guests enjoyed a meal and good conversation but the highlight of the afternoon was the many awards given to Glenwood City FFA members, alumni, and community members at the annual banquet.
The local chapter currently has 107 members up from just 28 active members two years ago.
Degree Awards
Greenhand Degree recipients are first or second year high school members who have been involved in a minimum of two FFA events at the High School level and have extended their learning by starting their own supervised agricultural experience or SAE.
The 2023-24 Greenhand recipients were Zach Bacon, Abe Draxler, William Dreyling, Logan Hillman, Levi McVeigh, William Obermueller, Max Peterson, Grant Rock-Buechner and Waylon Wagner.
Each Greenhand Award recipient received a certificate and bronze pin.
THE GLENWOOD CITY FFA presented a pair of Honorary Chapter Degrees at its 2024 awards banquet held April 14. Receiving the awards were Kraig Konder and the Klatt Family. Pictured from left to right are: Kraig Konder, Maddie Klatt (chapter president and Klatt Family member), Eric Klatt, Rick Klatt and Ben Klatt (newly elected FFA officer and Klatt Family member). —photo by Shawn DeWitt
Chapter Degrees were conferred upon 28 members who have received their Greenhand Degree, have completed over 10 hours of community service and lead by example for the underclassmen with strong leadership skills and work ethic. Receiving the award were Carson Anderson, Callie Augusen, Zachary Bakken, Katelynn Bazille, Morgan Blaser, Amara Booth, Madison Caress, Kyra Dahl, Kayley Dickmann, Morgen Eggert, Anaka Eliason, Page Evans, Kyra Flick, Jacob Hager, Zebediah Holden, Ben Klatt, Logan Klatt, Riley Krueger, Alayna LaValley, Jasmine Lawson, Natelle McCarthy, Lillie McGee, Paige McNamara, Peyton Rassbach, Lexi Rutske, Sadie Stansbury, Emily Tews and Tessa Wagner.
MS Members Recognized
TOP AWARD WINNERS — These five individuals were awarded top honors at the 2024 Glenwood City FFA Awards Banquet held Sunday afternoon, April 14. Pictured from left to right are: Lila White, Star Discovery Degree; Grant Rock-Buechner, Star Greenhand Degree; Tessa Wagner and Kate Bazille, Star Chapter Degree; and Maddie Klatt, DeKalb Agricultural Accomplishment Award. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
The Discovery Degree is awarded to members who are just beginning their involvement in FFA. Students are able to begin participating as an FFA member in 6th grade and these students have taken advantage of many opportunities in their 1st and 2nd years of FFA. 49 Glenwood City Middle School members earned their Discovery Degrees after each had participated in at least one activity at the chapter level, are enrolled in an agriculture class and have knowledge of the agriculture industry.
Discovery Degree were awarded to Tyler Alleman, Ella Anderson, Jenna Bacon, Isabelle Blaser, Rayna Brahmer, Austin Clemens, Miranda Cormican, Haylee Deiss, Zach DeWitt, Graysen Engle, Sophia Giammattei, Emma Goossen, Annabelle Gross, Mychaeila Heller, Asher Hoffman, Emilyn Hoffman, Avery Holden, Mikayla Hubbell, Harper Hughes, Reeyce Jeske, Raylynn Jorgenson, Aiden Lagerstrom, Addyson Lee, Carter Loida, Bailey Lyons, Kylee Lyons, Easton McNamara, Mason McQuiston, Aletta Meijer, Abby Mewis, Dylan Miller, Brynley Moreno, Dylan Moreno, Cooper Nauer, Lexie Oehlke, Logan Oehlke, Lili Olivares, Aubrie Petersen, Philip Shepard, Kaitylynn Slayton, Arianny Steies, Ava Swenby, Ayla Voeltz, Roslyn Webb, Holly Wheeler, Lila White, Blake Wink and Eve Wood.
NEW OFFICERS ELECTED — The Glenwood City FFA seated its new officer team at the annual awards banquet held April 14. The new leadership team is pictured above. Front row (L to R): Ben Klatt, vice president-chapter development; Elsja Meijer, president; Sam Cassellius, vice president-community development; and Kate Bazille, vice president-leadership development. Back row (L to R): Opal Voeltz, treasurer; Jacob Hager, sentinel; and Carson Anderson, student advisor. Not pictured are Tessa Wagner, secretary; Emily Tews, reporter; and Logan Klatt, parliamentarian. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
Top Award Winners
Nine of this year’s members were honored with the chapter’s top awards – Star Discovery Award, Star Greenhand Award, Star Chapter Farmer Award and the DeKalb Agricultural Accomplishment Award.
Rayna Brahmer, Lila White, Mason McQuiston, Kaitlynn Slayton and Harper Hughes were the recipients of the Star Discovery Degree which goes to the top middle school members. All five honorees were very involved with community service events and could be counted on to attend monthly meetings.
The Star Greenhand was awarded to a freshman who has gone above and beyond during his or her first year of FFA in high school. This year’s recipient of the Star Greenhand Degree went to Grant Rock-Buechner who was there to help with almost every local activity the chapter participated in and also took the time to fill out a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) Grant.
GREENHAND AND CHAPTER Degrees were presented to several members during the annual Glenwood City FFA Awards Banquet held Sunday, April 14. Front row (L to R): Zach Bacon, Max Peterson, Logan Hillman, Grant Rock-Buechner, Ben Klatt, Alayna LaValley, and Paige McNamara. Back row (L to R): Sadie Stansbury, Opal Voeltz, Jacob Hager, Carson Anderson, Zach Bakken, and Kate Bazille. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
Tessa Wagner and Kate Bazille were named Star Chapter Farmer. Both young ladies filled out SAE Grants this past fall, have had countless hours in fillng out the diversified livestock proficiency and are leaders in the shool and community.
Maddie Klatt, this year’s Glenwood City FFA Chapter president, was named the DeKalb Agricultural Accomplishment Award winner. Chapter advisor Kirsten Konder presented Klatt with the award.
The DeKalb Agricultural Accomplishment Award is given to one senior FFA student per chapter who exemplifies scholarship, commitment, work ethic and passion for pursuing a career in agriculture.
Honorary Chapter Degrees
At this year’s awards banquet, the Glenwood City FFA bestowed a pair of Honorary Chapter Degrees.
The Klatt Family, owners and operaters of Double E Valley Maples, was the first Honorary Chapter Award recipient. The Klatt Family has deep roots in the the Glenwood City Comunity many of who have been members of the Glenwood City FFA chapter including current members Maddie and Ben Klatt. In recent years, the Klatts have helped the Glenwood City FFA with its sapping and Maple syrup production. Eric, Rick and Eugene Klatt were honored with the award.
The second Honorary Chapter Degree was presented to Kraig Konder. Konder, a former Glenwood City FFA member, has spent much time the past two years helping with the local chapters sapping operations, the football concession stand and many other jobs and tasks that have arisen.
SEVERAL MIDDLE SCHOOL students were awarded their Discovery Degrees at the 2024 Glenwood City FFA Awards Banquet held April 14. Front row (L to R): Alletta Meijer, Lila White, Jenna Bacon, and Graysen Engle. Back row (L to R): Zach DeWitt, Avery Holden, Mychaela Heller, Jaiden Verjeda, and Tyler Alleman. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
Honorary State FFA Degree
Former Glenwood City Agricultural instructor and FFA advisor Tom Knox been nominated by the local FFA officer team for an honorary state FFA degree. Knox will be receiving the degree at this year’s Wisconsin State FFA Convention in June.
Sales Awards
This year’s top sellers during the annual fruit sale were: 1st place-Carson Anderson, 2nd place-Rayna Brahmer and 3rd place-Maddie Klatt.
Contests
Nine chapter members took the opportunity to improve upon their public speaking skills by participating in a couple leadership competitions.
Kyra Dahl and Tessa Wagner participated in the Prepared Public Speaking Leadership Development Event. The contest has students write and deliver a six to eight-minute speech about a current agriculture-related topic.
Elsja Meijer and Kyra Dahl participated in the Extemporaneous Public Speaking Leadership Development Event which participants draw from 18 agricultural topics then select three of interest. From those three, a student selects the topic of their speech and has 30 minutes to prepare using five resources. Participants then present a four to six-minute speech on their topic to a panel of judges. After their speech, students answer five minutes worth of questions on the topic they just presented. Elsja Meijer placed first at districts and first at sectionals and will be representing Glenwood City and Section 2 at the State FFA Convention in June.
Meijer along with Emily Twes competed in the Discussion Meet Leadership Development Event which is designed for FFA members to demonstrate their problem solving and speaking skills on agricultural-related topics within a timely manner. Meijer took second place at the district competition and won at Sectionals and will be advancing to the State Convention.
The Glenwood City FFA parliamentary procedure team received second place at districts and moved onto the sectional speaking contest. The students that competed at sectionals were Elsja Meijer, Emily Tews, Kyra Dahl, Kyra Flick, Kayley Dickmann, Lillie McGee, Callie Augusen and Kate Bazille.
Retiring Officers
The 2023-24 retiring FFA officers were also recognized. Outgoing officers were: Maddie Klatt, president; Nikki Multhauf, Michaela Blaser and Brett Peterson, vice presidents; Elsja Meijer, secretary; Jackson Halbach, treasurer; Sadie Stansbury, reporter; Sam Cassellius, sentinel; and Eli Nerby, parliamentarian; and Opal Voeltz, student advisor. Ms. Kirsten Konder made the presentations.
New Officers
The installation of the new officers for the upcoming year was one of the last items of business at the annual banquet. The 2024-25 officers are: Elsja Meijer, president; Sam Cassellius, vice president of Community Development; Kate Bazille, vice president of Leadership Development; Ben Klatt, vice president of Chapter Development; Tessa Wagner, secretary; Opal Voeltz, treasurer; Emily Tews, reporter; Logan Klatt, parliamentarian; Jacob Hager, sentinel; and Carson Anderson, student advisor.