FFA members attend state convention

Thermopols HS FFA

Members of the Thermopolis FFA Chapter attended State Convention in Cheyenne last week and our local Hot Springs County High School chapter was named a Silver Emblem chapter. Chapters are ranked gold, silver or bronze, with gold being the highest ranking.

Senior Tucker Lake was named Regional Star Ag Business person.

Simon Ream, Chase Herring, Jayda Griffin, Tucker Lake, Porter McCumber, Kaitlin Barral and Kale Odell-Bloedel all earned their State FFA Degrees.

Senior Kaitlin Barral served on the state officer nominating committee.

The Conduct of Chapter Meeting team came in 5th with freshman Alec Martinez being named Champion Chair for the state. Other team members were Ella Slover, Chloee Owsley, Ava Dafoe, Summer Galovich, Morgan Jones and Layla Epperson.

Proficiency Award winners, with Gold applicants now being submitted to Nationals and considered for top 3, are Gold Simon Ream and Rylee Agar; Silver Taylor Agar, Kaycee Stothart, Simon Ream and Bronze Porter McCumber.

AgriScience Fair winners, whose gold level applications will be submitted to Nationals, where the top 10 in each category will be named. Those students who are selected will then attend the National FFA Convention in the fall to compete. For Thermopolis, Gold level winners are Maile McCumber, Social Systems-Division 3, Madi Shaffer, Food Systems-Division 3 and Kaycee Stothart, Animal Systems-Division 3; Silver Korbin Brill, Power, Structure and Technical Systems-Division 3 and Patrick Chapel, Animal Systems-Division 3; Bronze Nevaeh Brill, Food Systems-Division 5 and Hayden Overfield, Social Systems-Division 5.

Career Development Events (CDEs):

The Meats Evaluation team was 8th out of 29 teams with members Ryan Axtell, Camden Weyer, Alec Martinez and Tannen Birdsley. Ryan Axtell was 10th high individual.

In Livestock Judging, the team came in 3rd overall out of 47 teams with members Rylee Agar, Taylor Agar, Tymber Eckley and Hayden Overfield. As a team, they placed 1st in beef, 3rd in reasons, 4th in sheep, 2nd in swine and 2nd in placings. Individual placings included Rylee Agar 3rd and Tymber Eckley 10th in beef, Rylee Agar 4th in reasons, Rylee Agar 1st and Tymber Eckley 10th in sheep, Tymber Eckley 9th in swine, Rylee Agar 1st and Tymber Eckley 7th in placings and Rylee Agar 4th.

Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) team placed 10th out of 28 teams with members Porter McCumber, Bridger Peil, Jay Ritchey and Cody Bomengen.

The Marketing Plan team placed 5th out of 11 teams with members Hanna Hill, Hayden Overfield and Madi Shaffer.

Ag Sales, the team came in 22nd out of 29, with Kaycee Stothart tying for 3rd high individual. Other team members were Laine Boren, Camille Rodriguez and Mesa Longwell.

The Poultry team was 11th out of 33 with members Alec Martinez, Kaden Scheel, Jayda Griffin and Tucker Lake.

In Vet Science, Ty Mann, Tera Kraushaar, Neveah Brill and Natalie Keeney came in 30th out of 36 teams.,

The Horse Evaluation team came in 4th out of 48 teams with members Rylee Agar, Patrick Chapel, Maile McCumber and Kaycee Stothart. As a team, they were 4th in halter, 3rd in performance, 3rd in placings and 5th in reasons. Individual placing include, overall Maile McCumber was 3rd and Kaycee Stothart was 9th. Maile McCumber was 9th in halter, Kaycee Stothart was 1st in performance and 10th in placings, Maile McCumber was 10th in reasons.

The Ag Mechanics team was 8th out of 48 teams and they were 4th in ENR with members Kale Odell-Bloedel, Korbin Brill, Chase Herring and Simon Ream. Individual placings include, Electrical Chase Herring 1st and Simon Ream 3rd.

Leadership Development Events (LDEs):

Ag Issues came in 4th with members Hayden Overfield, Hanna Hill, Kaycee Stothart, Jayssie Owsley, Lance Axtell and Brooke Hubele.

Rylee Agar placed 6th in Extemporaneous Speaking, Taylor Agar was 7th in Prepared, and Alec Martinez was 7th in Creed.

Thermopolis FFA head advisor and coach is Britton Van Heule Head and Jessie Ream is the assistant.

TMS Big Springs FFA

Twelve members from the Big Springs FFA chapter went to State Convention this past week in Cheyenne. Some of their highlights include taking pictures and playing hide and seek with the State Officers, playing arcade games at Pizza Ranch, doing bumper cars and laser tag at the Cheyenne Ice Arena, and the dance State Convention held.

For the second year in a row, Big Springs was named a Gold chapter. In addition they were named one of the top 6 chapters in the state! They were the only middle school chapter to receive this honor. Their application will be sent on to compete at the national level against other middle school chapters around the nation.

The middle school chapter had 4 teams compete in Career Development Events (CDE). The meats team members were Mac McCumber, Baer McPhie, Tyler Morris, and Logan Johnson and earned the title of State Champions. In addition, Mac McCumber was the 2nd high individual in the contest, Baer McPhie was 5th, and Tyler Morris was 6th.

The poultry team members were Mac McCumber, Reagan Huckfeldt, Clint Kimes and Tyler Morris and were the highest scoring team in the contest. Mac McCumber was 2nd high individual and Reagan Huckfeldt was 3rd high individual.

The horse team placed 7th overall with team members Amelia Strickland, Ann Allen, Paige Jones, and Alayna Scheel. Amelia Strickland had the highest points on our team.

The livestock team had the most competition of the middle school CDEs. The Big Springs team earned 12th place with Trevin Shaffer leading the team in points.

We also had several members earn top honors with their Agriscience fair project. 

Animal Systems Division 1: Gold-Mac McCumber, Bronze-Clint Kimes

Plant Systems Division 2: Gold-Baer McPhie and Trevin Shaffer

Power Structural & Technical Division 2: Silver-Tyler Morris and Tanner Delay

Social Systems Division 2: Gold-Christian Eplin and Clay Hubele, Silver-Ann Allen and Amelia Strickland

"Overall, State Convention was a success with lots of fun. Kids went to leadership conferences, did Ag in the Classroom, and met national officers as well. A Career Fair was held where kids got many free souvenirs and got to learn about many colleges. State Convention was a blast for the kids and everyone had plenty of fun," said advisor Becky Martinez.