Wreaths Across America: On December 14th we had 6 members from our chapter come out to the Santa Rosa Memorial Park to support the 4th annual Wreaths Across America Community Service Event. It was a wonderful event to participate in and give back to those who fought in various wars so we can continue to have a free country. Thank you to various Santa Rosa Clubs for putting on this event, and thank you to all the other helpers who made this event possible, our chapter can’t wait to bring more people to help next year!
Speaking Contests Results: Our members have been working hard to study, practice presentations, answer questions, and think on the spot, and it all paid off! We have 6 students advancing to the regional level this spring. Our advisors are so proud of everyone for going above and beyond to try something new, work hard, and make great strides – regardless of the outcome. A big thank you to St. Helena High School for hosting our section, and thank you to all of the advisors and judges for organizing such great contests and providing valuable feedback, Congratulations to all! Here are the official results from all contests.
Creed Speaking: Harlyn Menendez – 1st place, Sophie Marincik – 2nd place, Tyler Orlandi-4th place. Spanish Creed Speaking: Eleanor Sardoch – 2nd place. Job Interview: Shellie Hance – 1st place, Devin Gall – 5th place, Rebecca Ficco. Extemporaneous Public Speaking: Bailey Cassady – 2nd place. Best Informed Greenhand: 1st Overall Team, Harlyn Menendez – 2nd place, Clare Maloney – 3rd place, Ryan Saldana – 4th place, Tyler Orlandi. Cooperative Marking Team: 3rd Overall Team, Landon Avila, Georgia Miller, Alyx Dobbelman. Impromptu: Hollie Hemphill, Angelo Escutia, Gracie Ascoop.
Member of the Month: As you might know, every month there is an opportunity to vote on someone that you think should be recognized for Member of the Month, in December our categories were: Who makes the biggest difference in our chapter, Who do you think will be a Future Farmer of America, Class Clown, Best Duo, and Outstanding Freshman. This month was unfortunately cut short because of Winter Break and no Chapter Meeting at lunch, replaced with our Banquet, so our February Member of the Month is back up and rolling! We wanted to switch it up this month and stick to the holiday theme, for Valentine’s, our category for the month is: Most Dynamic Duo, and the winners were: Tiana Stowie and Stevie Marchant.
FFA Sock Drive: From January 1st to the 31st we held a wonderful community service event, our Sock Drive. This is a very special event we offer for community service points that our members must obtain, as well as FFA points. Students have the opportunity to bring in socks that will eventually be donated to various organizations helping people in need, especially with our freezing cold weather, a warm pair of socks would be cherished by all.
State Conference Applications: April is approaching quick! April 3rd to the 6th, marks the date of our 98th National FFA Convention (State Conference), this event is a 4-day conference up in Sacramento, CA. State Conference is one that definitely will stay with you forever, there are endless opportunities to meet new people, learn new skills, develop understandings, and learn where you stand in FFA, and where FFA stands in you. During your time in Sacramento, you will be staying at the Ambassadors Hotel, a beautiful hotel that serves breakfast bright and early in the morning to start your day. Some days are different than others, once you receive your schedule you will know if you will be attending the Golden 1 Center for a conference, going to an EXPO Fair, going to dinner, or having a block party! Every year they switch up the activities, so it’s a surprise for everyone. We wish luck to everyone who applied, since we only have 15 spots available this year, but don’t stress if you were not able to attend this year, there is always next year. Unfortunately, this year is the last year State Conference will be held in Sacramento, next year they are moving it to Indianapolis, so there will be extended cost fees. Check our Instagram for the list of people going to the State Conference this year!
MFE/ALA Conference: On January 19th and 20th, Double Tree Hotel in Rohnert Park held this year’s MFE (Made For Excellence) / ALA (Advanced Leadership Academy) Conference, run by our 2024-2025 State Officers. This 2-day conference allows students to discover different leadership skills, who they are as a person, and where they stand in the world. Not only were there cherishable learning experiences, members were also able to meet new friends from various chapters all over the State! Of course, a memory that won’t be forgotten, the incredible dinner served, followed by a dance party at the end of the night. We had 11 Sophomores attending MFE and 6 Juniors attending ALA, here are this year’s attendees: ALA Conference – Bailey Cassady, Elaina Moran, Owen Lessard, Lauren Brady, Carlee Maddocks, and Zoe Anderson. MFE Conference – Angelo Escutia, Gracie Ascoop, Kasie Coupe, Sienna Ficher, Ian Huffaker, Jack Postel, Alyx Bobbelmann, Gabe Klein, Nova Sousa, and Addison Johnson.
Speaking of attendees, Angelo Esutia will write about his own experience at the MFE Conference: I was one of the few members who attended the MFE. The best part of MFE is that everyone is a sophomore so everyone is around your age. The FFA program has always felt like a family, and I’ve never felt more like a family than here. Everyone was so kind and cool. I made a lot of new friends from schools all around the North Coast Region. My favorite part of the event was by far the dance. I love to dance and it was fun to have a good time with friends. I also participated in a Karaoke Battle with 2 other people from Sonoma. We performed Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus and we won! My goal is to encourage as many freshmen now to get interested in MFE and so they sign up. This was one of my favorite FFA events by far and I can’t wait to participate in ALA as a junior!
We can’t forget our ALA attendees, Lauren Brady will be writing about her experience at the ALA Conference: ALA is an FFA conference that provides skills you can bring back to your chapter such as leadership, communication, planning, and collaboration skills. Our chapter created an incoming 9th grader shadow day. We used our planning and collaboration skills we practiced to work together and create the event. ALA is a conference that gives opportunities unlike any other!
Overall, every member who attended MFE or ALA came back at the end of the day with a smile on their face and a positive review, if you are a current freshman, you have MFE waiting for you next year! If you are a current sophomore who was not able to attend MFE, it’s never too late to attend ALA your junior year! If you are a current sophomore who did attend MFE, ALA is waiting for you next year! We would like to make a big thanks to all the people involved who made this happen, we could not have done it without you.
Grapevine Pruning Team Recap: Our Grapevine Pruning CDE Team is the 2025 California FFA State Champions! Our team went undefeated all season long, we are so proud of the entire team for their hard work, dedication, and resilience. Thank you to Fresno State for hosting this state finals contest and congratulations to St. Helena FFA for being the State Reserve Champion! Here are the team and individual results: 1st High Team Overall, 1st Cordon Table, 1st Cordon Wine, 3rd Exam, 3rd Cane Raisin. Lauren Brady – 3rd High Individual Overall, 2nd Cane Rasin, 6th Cordon Wine. Jesus Martinez-Diaz – 6th High Individual Overall, 2nd Exam, 5th Cordon Table, 9th Cordon Wine. Shellie Hance – 8th Individual Overall, 10th Exam, 10th Cordon Wine. Iyla Kjaer – 17th Individual Overall, 3rd Cordon Wine.
We cannot wait for another amazing season next year, congratulations to all!
Winter Awards Banquet: On January 15th, we held our annual Winter Awards Banquet! Our Officers and advisors were able to recognize students for their outstanding performances in different things they have participated in, such as any speaking contests (Opening/Closing, Creed, Spanish Creed, Extemporaneous, Job Interview, Impromptu), GLC Attendee’s, FFA Degrees (Greenhand Degree and Chapter Degree), etc. It was wonderful seeing our chapter come together to congratulate all the hard work our members have been putting in. Alongside our banquet, we also held a dessert auction at the end of the night. There was an outstanding outcome with almost 24 deserts being sold. Thank you to all the families who purchased a desert, the money that was used to buy your dessert goes straight back to our chapter in order to pay for new jackets, the ability to send students to State Conference, pay for hotels/reservation fees, help out all our CDE/LDE teams, and more! We can’t wait to see you at our Spring Banquet.
On January 23rd we had a community service opportunity, blanket making! We provided warm, fluffy fabric that our members then cut and tied into 2 sided blankets, this was a very successful event. All the blankets made will be donated to shelters and organizations to help people in need; as mentioned with the socks, those who need it will be delighted with a warm, cozy blanket!
FFA Week: Have you heard? Our chapter is throwing on a spirit week! Every year we plan our FFA Week, and this year it was from February 18th to the 21st! FFA week includes spirit days, games at lunch, and after-school activities. This week allows inclusiveness within everyone and pulls our chapter together, here is the spirit week dress-up days, alongside an activity at lunch or after school activity: Monday (No School), Tuesday – PJ Day (With free hot chocolate and cookies at lunch) Wednesday – Camo Day (A game of Chuck the Chicken at lunch), Thursday – Blue and Gold FFA Day (FFAmily night after school at Balletto Vineyards, 5:30pm-7pm), Friday – American Flag Day (AG Olympics at lunch)
It was incredible seeing everyone dressed up and being involved with our lunchtime activities!
