Program honored at state FFA convention

The Henning Farm Business Management team placed third in the regions. Team members include: Megan Shaw, Jazmine Saari, Ella Horn and Gretchen Mimbach.

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Less-than one year after being reorganized, the Henning FFA is making its presence felt on the state level. A total of 13 students competed in the state FFA contest in the Twin Cities this week. The group was also recognized on stage during the opening ceremonies of the state contest as one of the new FFA charters in the state. 

The Henning Livestock Evaluation Team placed first in the region. Team members include: Isabelle Godding, Breanna Bunkowski, Gabe Froslee and Caleb Watercott.

In addition to the food science and technology team, which qualified for state in February, two more Henning FFA teams qualified for state at the Stevens County Fairgrounds as part of the Region III Livestock Evaluation and Farm Business Management Career Development event. Monica Hansen also qualified for state individually after placing first in the regional speech meet. 

The livestock evaluation team placed first in the region and consists of Isabelle Godding who placed third in the region individually and Breanna Bunkowski who placed sixth individually in the region. The team also includes Caleb Watercott and Gabe Froslee. 

“You evaluate the livestock judge which one we think is the best,” said Godding. 

The farm business management team placed third in the region and also advanced to the state contest. Team members included Gretchen Mimbach who placed eighth individually in the region, as well as Ella Horn, Megan Shaw and Jazmine Saari.

  As part of the category, the team completes a test to basically run the business aspect of a farm. Horn said the team, which is made up of just eighth graders, was surprised they advanced to state since they were so much younger than many of their competitions in the region.

“We were really surprised because a lot of the people we were competing against were older kids,” she said. 

The oldest student who qualified for state at Henning School was a sophomore in high school, while most of the students who advanced to state are in seventh or eighth grade and in their first year of the FFA program. 

The food science and technology team also advanced to state after qualifying in the region contest in February. The team consisting of Kendall Koenen, who placed second individually; Haley Hansen, who placed fourth individually; Ivy Witt, who placed fifth individually and Emily Hansen, who placed ninth individually; were all part of the second place Henning team. 

Godding said she was looking forward to the opportunity to advance to state and experience something new this spring. 

As the team prepares for the state FFA contest, Megan Shaw said she was looking forward for the opportunity “to meet new people,” at the state competition. 

Henning School departed for state on Sunday morning and returned home on Tuesday. In addition to a number of competitions over the three days, students had the opportunity to participate in a career fair, attend educational sessions and meet FFA members from across the state.