News
Bottineau's FFA takes part in FFA state convention at Fargo
Heather Milbrath
06/18/2013
Another North Dakota State FFA Convention has come to a close, with 14 members from the Bottineau chapter coming home with many awards.
These members, along with advisor Jerry Wettlaufer, traveled to the campus of North Dakota State University in Fargo for a week long convention from June 3-7.
The state convention is the time when these hardworking students put their knowledge to the test in many different competitions, ranging from job interviews to agricultural mechanics. The Bottineau students were competing with 1,714 students from across North Dakota.
The Bottineau students brought home awards in team and individual events, as well as having five members receive their state degrees. Whitney Brandvold, Ty Domben, Joey Hackman, Jesse Klebe and Trevor Wettlaufer earned the State FFA Degree, which is the highest degree that a state can award a member.
Larry Neubauer was submitted by the Bottineau Chapter to receive the Honorary State FFA Degree and was selected. The chapter feels very appreciative of all the support and time Neubauer has given over the past years.
The highest scoring team from the Bottineau Chapter was the Small Animal Care Team, which received a Gold award and were named state champions overall. The team consisted of Laura Ellen Brandjord, Whitney Brandvold, Amanda Monson, and Jared Munson. All received gold awards individually as well. Because of their hard work, they are eligible to compete at the National FFA Convention held in Louisville, Ky. in October.
The contestants will have much more learning to do to prepare for this competition because at nationals it is called Veterinary Science, and is quite different from Small Animal Care.
Also placing gold was the Advanced Ag Mechanics Team, who received third place over all. Jesse Klebe, Joey Hackman, Philip Neubauer and Trevor Wettlaufer were the members of this team, and all received gold awards individually in the Advanced Ag Mechanics contest.
Hunter Wall received a gold, placing second overall, and was awarded a cordless drill in the Basic Ag Mechanics contest. Braden Pewe received the highest silver award in the Intermediate Ag Mechanics contest. In the Ag Mechanics Sweepstakes division (the total accumulation of all mechanics events) the team placed third overall and received a gold rating.
In team and individual competition, Jared Munson, Amanda Monson and Braden Pewe participated and received gold awards in Courtesy Corps. Seena Hagen received a bronze award in the Job Interview event. Hunter Wall received a silver in the FFA Creed contest. A third place gold award was received by Laura Ellen Brandjord in the Demonstration contest.
The Food Science team received the highest silver team rating. Individually, Joey Hackman and Seena Hagen received gold awards. Andrew Hill and Kaytlyn Aufforth received silver awards and Trevor Wettlaufer received a bronze award.
The Dairy Foods team received a silver team award. Receiving a gold award was Jesse Klebe and Joey Hackman. Silver awards were awarded to Whitney Brandvold and Levi Indvik. Philip Neubauer received a bronze award.
In the record book competition, Philip Neubauer received a gold Reporter’s Book award, Jesse Klebe received a gold award with his Treasurer’s book and Secretary Seena Hagen received a silver for her book.
Several members received plaques for being named the winner in either the district or state proficiency award program. The qualifiers for being in the top four in the state were Trevor Wettlaufer in Turfgrass Management, Jesse Klebe in Forage Production, Philip Neubauer and Paxton Engelhard in Grain Production, and Seena Hagen in Equine Science. Jesse and Trevor were both named state winners and their applications will be forwarded on to the national competition. They were also presented with a $250 check and a plaque for being named the state winner.
The Bottineau FFA Chapter was also named as a Gold Superior Chapter for the past year.
The Bottineau FFA Chapter had a very successful week in Fargo, but a busy summer is ahead of them. The chapter will be exhibiting many projects at the county and state fairs, tractor driving will take place in July and land judging will take place on Aug. 1. Officers will be attending the Chapter Presidents conference in Carrington on July 8-9 to help prepare them for their year as Chapter Officers.