Creek Valley FFA members left on October 23rd to attend the 80th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN. Current high school FFA members that attended were seniors Tim Kinoshita and Korry Kinnision, juniors Colt Alexander, JJ Byington, Marshall Everitt, Miranda Franken, Autumn Longo, Seth Oliverius, and sophomores Nels Anderson and Ashley Schievelbein. McKenzie Steger also attended and competed in the Job Interview Career Development Event.

While they were there, members attended sessions that included keynote speakers Dr. Rick Rigsby, the Texas A&M football chaplain, Chad Hymas, a motivational speaker, and Henry Winkler, actor. They also heard retiring addresses from many of the National Officers.

Some Members were even fortunate enough to attend some leadership workshops. These included “Mixing It Up,” “’Clique’ It Off,” and “Where in the World.”

The FFA Members really enjoyed the career show. At the career show the members were given the opportunity to visit with colleges from all over the United States as well as visiting with different livestock breed associations. Many pens and pencils were picked up and many contests were played. One Creek Valley FFA Member even won a pair of jeans from the Tractor Supply Booth!

Another highlight was the tour of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. During this tour they loaded members onto a bus so that they could take a lap around the speedway. They were able to stop at the stop/finish line and take a picture of us “kissing a brick” (a tradition shared with the winners of the Brickyard 400, a NASCAR race). We also toured the press boxes and rooms, and we were able to tour the infield. After the tour we were able to walk around the museum and the gift shop.

The overall highlight of the trip was McKenzie Steger winning first place in the Job Interview!!! During this contest she had a phone interview as well as face to face interviews, and her resume and cover letter were also critiqued. The judges were impressed with McKenzie’s down to earth attitude as well as her professionalism. We are so very proud of her. Way to go Kenzie, you rock!!!

The Creek Valley FFA would like to thank Barney Steger for being a sponsor. We also would like to thank the Creek Valley Schools for allowing us to attend and the Creek Valley FFA Alumni as well as the Storm Chasers for all of their support.

Placing first and receiving a Gold Emblem  in the National FFA Job Interview Career Development Event was McKenzie Steger, McKenzie is the daughter of Barney Steger and the late Connie Steger of Chappell.

The Job Interview Career Development Event is a competitive activity that tests student’s ability to perform effectively throughout the entire job application process. The participants prepare resumes, cover letters, and complete a written application. They also participate in phone, one-on-one and panel job interviews as part of the competition.

The Job Interview event was sponsored by Tractor Supply Company of Brentwood, TN as a special project of the National FFA Foundation.

On September 19th the Creek Valley FFA traveled to Scottsbluff for District Range Judging.  The first place senior team of Tim Kinoshita (1st), Miranda Franken (2nd), Marshall Everitt (7th) and Autumn Longo (10th) qualified for state. Other seniors placing were Korry Kinnision 11th, Sam Daily 12th, Jace Glanz 14th, Lori Barber 15th, Colt Alexander 16th, Hannah Fagler 17th, Mykey Witcher 18th, and Dillon Tagtmeyer 19th. 

The Third Place junior team of Nels Anderson (2nd), Ashely Schievelbein (8th), Garrett Vetter (13th) and Cody Meyer (20th) also qualified for State Range Judging!!!! Other Junior individuals placing were Kristine Bond (23rd), Aspen Abrams (24th), JJ Bond (27th), Justin Huff (28th), Aaron Ward ( 29th), Emily Johnson (30th) and Ann Ford (31st).

On October 2nd we traveled to Ainsworth for State Range Judging. This is one of the largest ranging judgings that the state has had. The Senior individual placings were Marshall Everitt placed 64th, Tim Kinoshita placed 70th, Autumn Longo placed 100th, and Korry Kinnison placed 112th.  The junior indivual placings were Nels Anderson placed 74th, Garrett Vetter placed 152nd, Ashley Schievelbien placed 170th and Cody Meyer placed 196th. A big thank you to Sharla Kinnision for coming along with us and helping to drive.