Updated: Saturday, April 07, 2012 4:49 PM
Written by: David Thomas, Henley FFA Co-Reporter
National FFA week is February 18th through the 25th designated by the National Board of Directors in 1947. They chose this week because it encompasses George Washington’s birthday. This week is where every FFA chapter focuses on educating the public about the National FFA Organization as well as celebrating with the members. The Henley FFA chapter did many activities to celebrate this week.
Tuesday the twenty-first, we held the ever popular donkey basketball game. This year the Henley golf team was invited to challenge our FFA members. The FFA team showed their teamwork and pulled off a 6 point lead at the conclusion of the game for a victory. Halftime was no break in the action; FFA members volunteered eight hours of their time to work for the highest bidder. The teams of two to four members were auctioned off, and earned the chapter money for future activities. Dressing as cowboys during school was an easy way to recognize the FFA members to show our devotion and advertise National FFA week.
Wednesday was “camo” day, and there was no shortage of members who had some camouflage to wear to school. Karaoke and a pizza dinner with cupcakes for desert were the enticing activities at our February chapter meeting. A large number of members attended this meeting because of the spirit of FFA week, and the natural attraction to free food held by teenagers.
The officer team, being aware of this, handed out pieces of candy at the front door of the high school and middle school. The buckets the students were so impatient to reach into flaunted a clever agriculture related quote. One of these were “We aren’t just a bunch of jolly ranchers” was on the front of the bucket containing the candy Jolly Ranchers. This was to raise awareness school wide. Using food to get people’s attention was capitalized on with the teachers as well as the chapter provided doughnuts in the teacher’s lounge. They were very appreciative of this gesture and recognized the occasion.
The Thursday of National FFA week was celebrated with a chapter game night. The members had the chance to bond with each other and the officers while enjoying games. Leftover pizza was another aspect that made the experience more fun. Earlier in the day, the chapter also sent a number of members to lend a helping hand at the farm expo. The chapter sported blue and gold to represent the official colors of the National FFA Organization.
Friday, the last school day of this special week was spent ice skating at Collier Rink at the Running Y. All the members in attendance had a great time at this activity and really appreciated their FFA membership. The Oregon State University College of Agriculture visited all of the Ag classes and to show our gratitude, the members dressed in OSU attire.
As a whole chapter, we would like to thank the individuals that contributed to the Farm Hand Auction. We also would like to thank the Klamath Basin FFA Alumni for their support and all administrators, teachers, and staff that made this week possible and so successful. Everyone that has supported and helped us throughout the year, we greatly appreciate your time and effort and hope that you’ll continue offering your aide.
There is one more activity our chapter started and is continuing. We are collecting food items for the statewide canned food drive, which we will be continuing through March 20th. If you would like to donate food, contact Henley High School.
The National FFA Week was a very busy time for our chapter and all chapters around the nation. Giving back and raising awareness of the National FFA Organization was very successful and all who participated had a blast along the way.