On November 11th, the Strathmore FFA chapter participated in the Veteran’s Day Parade. We met up by the Ford Dealership at 6:30am and worked hard to decorate a float which the Strathmore FFA and EAT Pathway participated in. Since the theme was building America’s future, we had some students dress up in firefighter uniforms and in navy uniforms raising the American Flags in order to emphasize the importance of the September 11th event. We ended up winning the first place trophy for the best float. This was a great accomplishment because the students worked hard putting the float together. Not only was this a fun community service experience for the students, but it was a great way to show our veterans how much we appreciate them and what they do for our country.
On Novemeber 9th-13th was the week of our annual greenhand week. We had different activities every day; such as pie eating contest, musical chairs, and other fun activities. Our main activity for the week is having all greenhand members paint their hands green and stamp it on a paper with their name below their hand print to show everyone they are greenhands and are trying to earn their greenhand degree. Being a greenhand is the first step of membership in FFA. All the members enjoy this week and can’t wait to see the greenhand’s for next year. On October 26th we had our October FFA Meeting. For our game we had a cake walk. Officers and our ag divisors brought cookies, cakes cupcakes, and candy as prizes. After we worked up an appetite playing the cake walk we had ice cream sundae bar. It was a sweet and successful meeting. Make sure you come and join the fun at our next meeting!
-Brittany Saunders On October 23rd, the senior EAT Pathway put on our first annual Career Day at Strathmore High School. This event was designed for eight grade students in order to help them learn more about the variety of different careers available in the agriculture industry. There were different sessions and booths that the students were able to attend that were all put on by various agriculture companies and careers from around the Central Valley. A few of the different topics covered included Ag business, animal science, plant science, Ag transport, Ag marketing, forestry, and Ag crime. Six schools attended with about 500 students from various middle schools around and in Porterville Unified. This event was also a great way to promote our pathway and give the students more information about the different opportunities available at Strathmore High School. The senior pathway planned and organized this event very successfully, and we are looking forward to another great Career Day next year!
-Rosario Guttierez On Wednesday, October 21st, the Strathmore FFA Chapter, along with other chapters in the Sequoia Section, all gathered for a day of fun at Visalia Adventure Park. FFA members from all over the section were able to meet and play fun games such as laser tag and mini-golf. It was a great opportunity to meet new people and have a good time with your friends. All in all, it was a fun night and I loved meeting new people from different chapters.
-Leann Dunn The weekend of the 17th and 18th Hayley Tharp and Tyson Bream exhibited animals at The Grand National Cow Palace Livestock Show. Brem brought 1 Wether, 5 Does, and a cross bred market hog. Tharp brought 1 Angus Heifer and a Main Tainer Heifer. Both did excellent with their projects. Strathmore was well represented.
-Hayley Tharp On October 16, 2015, the EAT students were given the opportunity to attend and preset at the Butterfield Stage Days. This was an event put together to share information with 4th graders. The pathway students put together two booths at the event; a roping and milking booth. The students were divided into two groups and each group shared different information to the students. At the roping station the 4th graders were shown the unique ways to rope and the history of roping. All the 4th graders also received an opportunity to rope as well. Our second station shared information to the students about milking cows. The fourth graders received information on two breeds of dairy cattle, Jersey and a Holstein. We also shared the dairy products each breed produces. In addition, we were able to give them the opportunity to show them the way it would feel to milk a cow and the exact steps it takes. This was a great experience for the fourth graders, and for us!
-Denise Valle On October 6th 20 freshman went to the Tulare AgriCenter for the Greenhand Leadership Conference. Freshman students and agriculture teachers attended this conference. There were eight other schools besides Strathmore who also attended. We went there to learn more about agriculture, FFA, and to meet new people. We learned about experience, leadership, competition, travel, personal growth, and learning. Each row of tables was a team, the team I was in was the tributes. There were also flags for the teams, ours was the green flag. In some of the activities we had to just sit and listen but in some there were games. It was a really fun conference, that really opened our eyes to the opportunities that we had in agriculture education and the different ways that we could get involved. -Jesus Vazquez On Tuesday, September 29, 2015 the Strathmore FFA Open and Officer teams went to Mount-Whitney High School to compete in the opening and closing ceremonies speaking contest. Different high schools within the region came to this event to compete against other novice, open, and officer teams. At the end of the speaking competition awards were handed out to the highest individual office on each team and awards for high teams, 1st through 3rd place. Denise Valle from Strathmore’s Open Team 1 was awarded high individual secretary and Jade Church from Strathmore’s Open Team 1 was awarded highest individual reporter. Everyone did well, and are well prepared for our next competition!
-Jade Church On Monday the 28th of September Strathmore FFA hosted the second meeting of the year at 6:15pm. After the business was over the food relay began. Two teams battled in a relay of pie eating, donut eating, apple bobbing, and marshmallow stuffing. It was a great evening filled with good laughs and great memories.
-Hayley Tharp |