These dates will be updated as new events are scheduled or changes to the calendar occur.
These dates will be updated as new events are scheduled or changes to the calendar occur.
State winning teams in the FFA Career and Leadership Development Events (CDE/LDE) earn a berth in the national competition. Through Career and Leadership Development Events, participating FFA members in grades 9 to 12 are challenged to develop critical thinking skills and effective decision-making skills, foster teamwork and promote communication while recognizing the value of ethical competition and individual achievement. CDE and LDE events occur at the local, state, and national levels.
Participants in the Agricultural Communications Career Development Event (CDE) work as a team of communication consultants to develop a written media plan, present the plan to a panel of judges, and, as individuals, apply what they have learned during practicums, a quiz, and editing exercise.
This team CDE challenges students to communicate effectively while advocating to consumers about agriculture and telling the FFA story. Students will use a variety of media in their plans—social media, broadcast and print advertising, press releases, fliers, brochures, blogging, displays, and more.
Communication, collaboration, creativity, and presentation skills are important to event success. Students also learn a variety of technical skills such as journalistic and opinion writing, website design, video production, social media and more.
West Central’s Ag Communications Team consists of Ali Zacharias, Maddie Leasure, Josslin Jarding, and Grace Harden The team won their state-level event in January. The national event will be Hybrid this year with a 15-minute video of their Media Plan Pitch being presented to judges in early August and individual practicum activities, editing test, and communications quiz being completed in mid-August. After Hybrid events, the top 16 teams will advance to face-to-face competition in Indianapolis, IN.
The Environmental and Natural Resources Career Development Event (CDE) provides competing students an opportunity to gain awareness and demonstrate knowledge in areas that affect our air, soil and water. Competitors interpret data, use measuring devices in the field and work through real-life scenarios involving environmental threats in pursuit of scoring the highest as a team and individual.
Each team consisting of four FFA members competes in all types of weather conditions – just like professionals working the environmental and natural resource industry – in pursuit of recognition for demonstrating skills relevant to GPS navigation, soil science, water management and wildlife conservation. The competitors produce written statements and an oral presentation, and must exhibit competency via writing and identification activities.
Through these challenges, students develop interest and knowledge in sustainable management of our environment and will become the future stewards of resources critical to the future of agriculture.
West Central FFA members Andrew Rick, Jack Linneman, Bennett Sebert, and Connor Siemonsma won the state-level contest in April by placing 1st, 3rd, 11th, and 15th respectively as individuals and defeating their closest competitors by more than 130 points. This event will also be in a Hybrid format with written exams, practicum events and a team activity taking place in mid-September. The top 50% of teams will advance to face-to-face competition during the National FFA Convention in October in Indianapolis, IN.
Natural Resources Team Photo l to r – Linda Petersen, Connor Siemonsma, Jack Linneman, Bennett Sebert, Andrew Rick
The FFA Agriscience Fair recognizes students who gain real-world, hands-on experiences in agricultural enterprises. Students use scientific principles and emerging technologies to solve complex problems related to agriculture, food, and natural resources. The agriscience fair is for middle and high school students. Participation begins at the local level and progresses to state and national levels. 24 of the projects conducted by West Central FFA Members were named state-level finalists, placing in the top three projects in their category and division. Official results of the State level competition were announced during the State FFA Convention in April held in Rapid City.
State winning AgriScience Fair Projects are as follows:
Animal Systems Division 4 – Dalton Mulder and Chase Olson
Animal Systems Division 6 – Emma Kuhlman and Madison DeMent
Environmental Systems Division 3 – Jude Jarding
Environmental Systems Division 6 – Andrew Rick and Jack Linneman
Food Systems Division 6 – Josslin Jarding and McKenna Sichmeller
Plant Systems Division 5 – Faith Hallem
Social Systems Division 3 – Jazelle Jarding
All State Level Finalists earned cash awards made possible through the South Dakota FFA Foundation.
All First place projects will advance to the national-level competition. National Finalists will be named in early August with finalists presenting their research to a panel of judges over Zoom. Results will be announced during the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN October 27-30, 2021
48 West Central FFA members traveled to Chamberlain to present 34 projects for the State FFA AgriScience Fair. Members had been working on background research, project selection, experiment design, data collection, and analysis since mid-September. Final abstracts were due to the state on March 15th. Members could choose to conduct their research in the following categories: Animal Systems, Environmental and Natural Resources Systems, Food Products and Processing Systems, Plant Systems, Power Structural and Technical Systems, and Social Systems. Members compete individually or in pairs against members in their similar age group. Divisions 1 and 2 are for students in 7th and 8th grade. Divisions 3 and 4 are for 9th and 10th graders and Divisions 5 and 6 are for students in 11th and 12 grades. The State AgriScience Fair included 130+ projects this year.
The FFA Agriscience Fair recognizes students who gain real-world, hands-on experiences in agricultural enterprises. Students use scientific principles and emerging technologies to solve complex problems related to agriculture, food, and natural resources. The agriscience fair is for middle and high school students. Participation begins at the local level and progresses to state and national levels.
After the completion of scoring both the written abstract and the face-to-face defense of the project, scores are tallied and the top three in each division are announced as state finalists. The following 23 projects have been named state finalists.
Animal Systems
Ali Zacharias – Division 3
Chase Olson and Dalton Mulder – Division 4
Chandler Carda and Fisher Flanagan – Division 4
Maddie Leasure – Division 5
Emma Kuhlman and Madison DeMent – Division 6
Keighlor Nolz and Maia Kennedy – Division 6
Environmental Natural Resource Systems
Jude Jarding – Division 3
Andrew Rick and Bennett Sebert – Division 6
Jack Linneman and Zach Madsen – Division 6
Food Products and Processing Systems
Lexi Nichols and Kelsey Vockrodt – Division 4
Grace Harden – Division 5
Emma Grocott – Division 5
Sammie Malinger and Hannah Davis – Division 6
McKenna Sichmeller and Josslin Jarding – Division 6
Plant Systems
Connor Siemonsma and Dylan Stromer – Division 4
Faith Hallem – Division 5
Connor Person – Division 5
Clayton Starnes and Micah Mellema- Division 6
Power Structural Technical Systems
Cian McMillin – Division 5
Hanna Lee and Jesse Kline – Division 6
Noah Pressler and Luke Nichols – Division 6
Social Systems
Jazelle Jarding – Division 3
Kiara Ebbinga – Division 5
Members will learn their final placings and receive their plaques and cash awards of $100, $50, and $25 for first through third places sponsored by the South Dakota FFA Foundation on Tuesday, April 13 at the State FFA Convention. State winners in each category and division advance to the national level competition.
Members of the West Central FFA Chapter competed at two preliminary qualifying events during March. Members competed at Lennox on March 22 and in the Tai-Valley CDEs (Career Development Events) held at the Sioux Empire Fairgrounds on March 29th. Members needed to place within the top five teams in an 11 chapter District on March 29 in order to capture their berth to the state CDEs held in April during the State FFA Convention in Rapid City, SD. All eight of West Central’s CDE teams qualified to compete at and attend the State CDEs.
Teams and members advancing to the state level are:
Ag Mechanics – Noah Pressler, Luke Nichols, Cian McMillin, and Kenny Vockrodt
Agronomy – Jude Jarding, Chandler Carda, Fisher Flanagan, and Shayne Luzmoor
Equine Evaluation – Jami Bergeson, Chase Olson, Ali Zacharias, and Maddie Leasure
Food Science – Josslin Jarding, Grace Harden, McKenna Sichmeller, and Grace Harden
Livestock Evaluation – Kody Goehring, Kiara Ebbinga, Emma Kuhlman, and Madison DeMent
Natural Resources – Andrew Rick, Jack Linneman, Bennett Sebert, and Connor Siemonsma
Nursery Landscape – Lexi Nichols, Hanna Lee, Jazelle Jarding, and Addi Bahrenfuss
Vet Science – Jesse Kline, Kelsey Vockrodt, Dalton Mulder, and Samantha Jungwirth
Through Career Development Events, participating FFA members in grades 7 to 12 are challenged to develop critical thinking skills and effective decision-making skills, foster teamwork, and promote communication while recognizing the value of ethical competition and individual achievement. CDEs occur at the local, state, and national levels.
Congratulations to the West Central FFA members who competed at the District VII FFA Leadership Development Events (LDE) held virtually in November 2020. Our members competed against 11 area FFA Chapters for the chance to advance in their respective LDE to the state competition. The top three individuals and top two teams earn a berth in the State LDEs which are normally held in Pierre. State LDEs took place virtually spread out over a six-week time period.
Placings in the State FFA Leadership Development Events are as follows:
Ag Communications – the team of Faith Hallem, Elli Otheim, Maddie Leasure, and Ali Zacharias – 1st place – this team will advance to the national LDEs held in conjunction with the National FFA Convention in October in Indianapolis. This is West Central’s 8th win in Ag Communications in the last 12 years!
Members of the Ag Communications Team left to right: Maddie Leasure, Ali Zacharias, Faith Hallem, Elli Otheim
Ag Issues – the team of Jami Bergeson, Emma Grocott, Grace Harden, Josslin Jarding, Maia Kennedy, Keighlor Nolz, and McKenna Sichmeller placed 3rd.
Members of the Ag Issues Team left to right: Josslin Jarding, McKenna Sichmeller, Emma Grocott, Jami Bergeson, Keighlor Nolz, Maia Kennedy, and Grace Harden
Ag Sales – the team of Cian McMillin, Luke Nichols, Noah Pressler, and Andrew Rick placed 6th
Market Plan team of Hannah Davis, Emma Husman, and Sammie Mallinger placed 6th
Creed Speaking – Lexi Nichols placed 7th
In Employment Skills – Jami Bergeson placed 9th
Others competing included – Jesse Holdahl in Ag Broadcasting, Kiara Ebbinga in Extemporaneous Speaking, and Andrew Rick in Employment Skills.
The 92nd South Dakota State FFA Convention was held virtually May 12-14, 2020. Sessions were streamed live on the association’s Youtube channel.
Agricultural Proficiency Awards honor FFA members who, through supervised agricultural experiences, have developed specialized skills that they can apply toward their future careers.
Students can compete for awards in nearly 50 areas ranging from agricultural communications to wildlife management. Members who are named State winners in their respective area will advance to national competition. Each finalist receives a cash award. Zach Brown placed second in Dairy Production Placement. Ethan Kueter is the state winner in Agricultural Services.
Zach Brown was awarded the $750 Mary Hansen Scholarship.
Twelve members were awarded the State FFA Degree. The State FFA Degree is the highest degree of membership conferred by the South Dakota FFA Association. The requirements for this degree include:
West Central FFA members earning the degree include: Zach Brown, Isak Edwards, Caden Farmer, Zachariah Fieber, Caden Hanisch, Lindsey Kapperman, Ethan Kueter, Alisha McMartin, Jersie Reese, Brayden Scott, Brayden Siemonsma, and Dylan Waxdahl.
The State FFA Agriscience Fair recognizes students who gain real-world, hands-on experiences in agricultural enterprises. Students use scientific principles and emerging technologies to solve complex problems related to agriculture, food, and natural resources. The agriscience fair is for middle and high school students. Members who win their respective division advance to the national level of competition. The top three projects in each division are named as finalists. Results for West Central FFA members are as follows.
Animal Systems
Division 3 – Ali Zacharias – State Winner
Division 4 Emma Kuhlman and Hailey Overby – State Winner
Karlye Maras and Maddie Leasure – 2nd Place
Keighlor Nolz and Maia Kennedy – 3rd Place
Division 6 – Maria Schaefer and Zach Brown – State Winner
Ethan Kueter and Isak Edwards – 3rd Place
Environmental Systems
Division 3 – Jack Linneman – 3rd Place
Division 4 – Andrew Rick and Bennett Sebert – 2nd Place
Food Products and Processing Systems
Division 3 – Grace Harden – State Winner
Division 4 -Chase Olson and Connor Siemonsma – 2nd Place
McKenna Sichmeller and Josslin Jarding – 3rd Place
Division 5 – Mackenzie Grauel – 3rd place
Plant Systems
Division 3 – Emma Husman – State Winner
Hannah Davis – 2nd Place
Sammie Mallinger – 3rd Place
Division 4 – Chelsea Shumaker and Melissa Anderson- 3rd Place
Division 5 – Alisha McMartin – 2nd Place
Division 6 -Epiphany Hammer and Bre Bossman – 2nd Place
Micah Mellema and Clayton Starnes – 3rd Place
Power, Structural and Technical Systems
Division 5 – Jesse Holdahl – 3rd Place
Division 6 – Noah Pressler and Luke Nichols – State Winner
Social Systems
Division 5 – Kiara Ebbinga – 2nd Place
Emma Grocott – 3rd Place
Career Development Events (CDEs) test skills and knowledge in a host of topics related to food, agriculture and natural resources. Career Development Events develop college and career readiness skills. The competitive events serve as an outgrowth of instruction in the agricultural education classroom for FFA members in grades 7 to 12. Through CDEs, participating FFA members are challenged to develop critical thinking skills and effective decision-making skills, foster teamwork and promote communication while recognizing the value of ethical competition and individual achievement. CDE events occur at the local, state and national level. They are are designed and regularly evaluated to meet AFNR Career Cluster Content Standards.
West Central CDE results are as follows:
Dairy Cattle Evaluation team of Noah Pressler, Cian McMillin, and Kenny Vockrodt placed 6th
Food Science team of Josslin Jarding, McKenna Sichmeller, Maia Kennedy, and Keighlor Nolz placed 9th.
Natural Resources team of Andrew Rick, Bennett Sebert and Jack Linneman placed 4th. Andrew Rick placed 2nd individually.
Nursery Landscape team of Brayden Scott, Andrew Rick and Hanna Lee placed 4th. Brayden placed 9th and Andrew was 11th individually.
Floriculture team of Jersie Reese, Hannah Davis, Emma Husman and Sammie Mallinger placed 11th.
Horse Evaluation team of Maddie Leasure, Ali Zacharias, and Karlye Maras placed 12th. Maddie was 16th place individually.
West Central FFA members are all enrolled in an agricultural education class at West Central High School, they are advised by Linda Petersen.
State AgriScience Finalists!
Animal Systems
Division 3 – Ali Zacharias
Division 4 -Emma Kuhlman and Hailey Overby
Maddie Leasure and Karlye Maras
Keighlor Nolz and Maia Kennedy
Division 6 – Zach Brown and Maria Schaefer
Ethan Kueter and Isak Edwards
Environmental Systems
Division 3 – Jack Linneman
Division 4 – Andrew Rick and Bennett Sebert
Food Products
Division 3 – Grace Harden
Division 4 – Chase Olson and Connor Siemonsma
McKenna Sichmeller and Josslin Jarding
Division 5 – Mackenzie Grauel
Plant Systems
Division 3 – Emma Husman
Hannah Davis
Sammie Mallinger
Division 4 – Chelsea Shumaker and Melissa Anderson
Division 5 – Alisha McMartin
Division 6 – Epiphany Hammer and Bre Bossman
Micah Mellema and Clayton Starnes
Power, Structural Technical
Division 5 – Jesse Holdahl
Division 6 – Luke Nichols and Noah Pressler
Social Systems
Division 5 -Kiara Ebbinga
Emma Grocott
23 finalists out of 35 submitted projects! Great work Gang! We’ll hear results during the virtual state convention. I believe these will be announced during the May 14th session at 7 p.m. First place projects will re-write and submit for national consideration.
More info here as it becomes available:https://www.sdaged.org/virtual-state-convention
Congratulations to the West Central FFA members who competed at the District VII FFA Leadership Development Events (LDE) held at West Central on November 11, 2019. Our members competed against 11 area FFA Chapters for the chance to advance in their respective LDE to the state competition. The top three individuals and top two teams earn a berth in the State LDEs to be held in December in Pierre.
Placing first in Ag Issues, the team of Jersie Reese, Maria Schaefer, Jami Bergeson, Lack row Maia Kennedy, Emma Grocott, Elli Otheim and McKenna Sichmeller.
The Ag Communications team of Bennett Sebert, Grace Harden, Josslin Jarding and Epiphany Hammer placed first.Zach Brown placed first in Employment Skills.
Zach Brown placed first in Employment Skills.
Other competitors were:
Andrew Rick placed 3rd in Employment Skills.
The Ag Sales team of Zach Brown, Cian McMillin, Noah Pressler and Andrew Rick placed 2nd.
The Market Plan team of Hannah Davis, Emma Husman and Said Malinger placed 2nd.
Kiara Ebbinga placed 2nd in Extemporaneous Speaking.
In Creed Speaking Ali Zacharias placed 2nd and Shayne Luzmoor placed 3rd.
Isak Edwards placed 3rd in Ag Broadcasting.
The winning team and individual in each LDE at the state level will represent South Dakota in October in Indianapolis during the 93rd National FFA Convention. West Central FFA members are students enrolled in Agricultural Education classes. They are advised and coached by Linda Petersen.