West County FFA has had a great year. We brought the heat and made history. This was obvious at the California FFA State Conference. West County FFA showed California FFA what we are made of at State Conference. We had Matthew Hagemann compete in the State Finals in the  Creed Speaking Contest, Analise Scholten competed in the State Finals Prepared Speaking Contest and Emily Maners competed in the State Finals Job interview Contest. Competing at the state level made us the top twenty-four speakers in our respective contests in the whole state of California. Emily Maners received a California Almond Board scholarship and was the sub-committee chair for Forever Blue and Career Connections. We had 4 state proficiency finalists, Colten Shaw-  Landscape Management, Alonso Vera- Forest Management and Products, and Tristan Wilkes- Forage Production. Analise Scholten was the State Proficiency Winner for Nursery Operations. Kiley Anderson won the State Champion Star Ag Placement. Alonso Vera was also a State Star Reporter Finalist. Stacy Fortin was a State Star Supporting Staff Finalist. Our two voting delegates were Colton Shaw and Kaylynn Tesselaar. West County FFA was also recognized as a new chapter charter. 

The Easter egg hunt on April 16th was a huge success. We had over fifty kids from the community attend. Matthew Hagemann dressed up as the Easter bunny and we hid 8 prize eggs. We divided the kids into four age divisions, hiding a total of 1,700 plastic eggs. The rain held out for us and it was a great community service opportunity for members as well as a fun event for the kids. Students donated filled eggs and bagged candy.

Our Drive Thru Fundraiser on March 16th was another huge success! We sold over 200 tri-tips in total and all proceeds went towards helping send kids to the State Conference in Sacramento from March 26th-29th. Thank you to everyone who helped make this event as successful as it was.

West County FFA isn’t done yet. The end of the year banquet is on May 19th in the quad. We will have tri-tip sandwiches as well as beans and dessert. We will honor degree recipients and outstanding members who shined throughout the year. Another upcoming event is the West County FFA plant sale on May 14th and 15th from 9am-3pm. Every half hour worked is one FFA point. We have ten officer candidates for the 2022-2023 FFA year. The members were given the opportunity to meet at our last FFA chapter meeting. Next year’s officer candidates are Hannah Campanile, Rebecca Ficco, Matthew Hagemann, Payton King, Bradie McCallum, Tucker Pacatte, Analise Scholten, Colton Shaw, Kaylynn Tesselaar, and Alonso Vera. They recently recorded their one minute answer to a question about their qualifications as an officer candidate that will be played in agriculture classes to vote on our next year´s officer team. The candidates will also go through interviews with one staff member and two senior FFA members. This summer, members will have a full Sonoma County Fair. We will have many members in each barn. Make sure to stop by from August 2nd-6th to support our livestock Exhibitors.