By: Elizabeth Bok
The annual Fairview FFA Banquet was held on Saturday, April 9, in the Fairview Elementary Cafeteria. During the banquet, members’ accomplishments through the year are recognized, a farewell is said to members who have done so much to help the chapter, and new officers are installed. To get the banquet started there was a dinner, deserts, and refreshments for the attendants to enjoy. Kaitlyn Zeedyk then welcomed the guest to the 2022 Fairview FFA Banquet.
Participation Awards
Participation awards are given to the members who participated in CDE contests throughout the year. There are many varieties of contests available for members to participate in and showcase their skills.
Member Thank Yous
This award goes to members that work behind the scenes and put in a great amount of work to benefit the chapter. These members may not always get recognized but still help to plan, set up, and run events. The members that the chapter wanted to thank were: Aspen Brubaker, Emma Zeedyk, Brady Zeedyk, Dalton Haver, Dawson Sines, Andrew Timbrook, Summer Hiler, Kortney Grinnell, Logan Hardy, Brooke Pollard, Brendan Saylor, Carson Fadley, Elizabeth Bok, Brody Retcher, Carter Hill, Molly McGuire, Kaitlyn Zeedyk, Carrie Zeedyk, Blake Zeedyk, Evan Saylor, Dakota Shaffer, Kennedy Hill, Brooke Phillips, and Ashley Betz,
District Awards
Members or their teams are recognized for doing exceptionally well at their district-level competitions. This award went to District Public Speaking- Elizabeth Bok, District Job Interview- Carrie Zeedyk and Kaitlyn Zeedyk, District Agronomy- 4th place, Dalton Haver-7th place overall in Agronomy, District Nature Interpretation contest- Brooke Phillips (10th overall), Dairy Foods- 5th place, Miguel Garcia- 9th place dairy foods, and The General Livestock- 6th place.
Proficiency Awards
As an Agricultural Education student, it is required to plan a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE project). The members awarded with proficiency awards work very hard outside of class to gain new skills from their projects. Students are offered the opportunity to apply for chapter, state, and national proficiency awards. Many of the members were awarded chapter proficiency awards, and a few were awarded district and state proficiency awards. At the District level: Kaitlyn Zeedyk, 2nd Place Sheep Production, Blake Zeedyk, 1st Place Landscape Management, and Carrie Zeedyk, 1st Place entrepreneurship and placement for Diversified Crop Production. At the State level, Carrie Zeedyk placed top 4 for entrepreneurship.
Community Support Awards
The chapter gives community support awards to people in the community that help the chapter run and succeed. Recipients were: DJ and Mickey Zeedyk, Russell and Susan Zeedyk, Scott and, Jenny Mavis, Roger and Lois Zeedyk, Shannon Grinnell, Mike and Michele Zeedyk, Rheal Z Feeds, Hillandale Farms, Tim Breyman, Tractor Supply Company, United Oil Company, United Edge Real Estate, Jumpin Beanz, Defiance County 4-H, Innovative Ag, Defiance County Soil and Water Conservation, Kenn Feld Group, Big C Lumber, Edon Farmers Co-Op, Hall Crop Insurance, NAPA Auto Parts, JDS Auto Body, State Bank, Louie and Char Shininger, Jewell Grain Company, Logan Smith, Walmart, Jill Speiser, Tyler and Lauren Rosebrock, Nate Wonderly, and Chuck Wonderly.
Blue and Gold Awards
The Blue and Awards go to the top members in the chapter that have great attitudes, dedication, and commitment. These members sacrifice a lot of their time outside of school and are overall great role models for the chapter to look upon. The Blue and Gold award went to Aspen Brubaker, Brody Retcher, Kennedy Hill, Dakota Shaffer, Evan Saylor, Blake Zeedyk, Kortney Grinnell, and Summer Hiler.
Academic Awards
Academics play a big role in FFA and being good FFA members. Without good grades, members can’t show what they have learned in competitions and contests. This award goes to members who have kept As and Bs the whole year. This includes Addalyn Beardsley, Allison Beardsley, Elizabeth Bok, Caden Carpenter, Miguel Garcia, Kortney Grinnell, Dalton Haver, Summer Hiler, Kayla Mavis, Molly McGuire, Brooke Phillips, Brooke Pollard, Dakota Shaffer, Dawson Sines, Reed Singer, Andrew Timbrook, Breaven Williams, Gracie Willitzer, Blake Zeedyk, Carrie Zeedyk, Cheyenne Zeedyk, Emma Zeedyk, and Kaitlyn Zeedyk.
State and American Degrees
Only the top 2% of FFA members in the state of Ohio receive their State Degree, which will be awarded at the State Convention in May. Members must earn 2,500 dollars through their Supervised Agriculture Experience, as well as have outstanding leadership and participation in the FFA chapter. From the Fairview FFA Chapter, the recipients of this degree are Dakota Shaffer, Brooke Phillips, Evan Saylor, Molly McGuire, and Carrie Zeedyk. The American Degree is the highest in the FFA program and is given to less than 1% of all National FFA members. This degree requires, graduating high school, continuing their Supervised Agriculture Experience, and earning an excess of 10,000 dollars through their projects. The American Degree will be awarded to Cassie Mavis and Clair Shinninger this coming fall at the National FFA Convention.
AET Awards/Record Keeping
To succeed in FFA it is essential to have good record-keeping skills. AET is used as a computerized record-keeping system and tracks the quality of students’ books. AET rewards students, who have quality books, with Blue or Gold Badges. The Blue Badge recipients were: Robby Bennett, Elizabeth Bok, Dylan Froelich, Kortney Grinnell, Dalton Haver, Cassandra Mavis, Kayla Mavis, Molly McGuire, Madisyn Michael, Brooke Pollard, Evan Saylor, Dakota Shaffer, Clair Shininger, Reed Singer, Emilee Treace, Blake Zeedyk Brady Zeedyk, Carrie Zeedyk, and Kaitlyn Zeedyk. The Gold Badge recipients were: Evan Saylor, Dakota Saffer, Blake Zeedyk, Brady Zeedyk, Carrie Zeedyk, Kaitlyn Zeedyk, and Cassie Mavis.
Rising Star Award
The FFA Organization is about student leadership and developing those leadership qualities over a member’s time in FFA. The Rising Star Award is given to an individual who currently has great leadership qualities and will continue to be a great leader in the future. The Rising Star award was given to Summer Hiler.
Most Improved in FFA
Not everyone is as comfortable in FFA as others when they start as a freshman. Members soon grow into their place in FFA through their years though. The Most Improved in FFA award is given to the person who has gotten more active and shown the most growth in FFA. This year’s Most Improved in FFA went to Kennedy Hill.
Best Shop Skills
Although some may find working in the shop frightening, others excel and do very well. The shop is a place to learn and improve by doing. The award for Best Shop Skills went to Andrew Timbrook.
Dekalb Ag Accomplishment Award
The Dekalb Ag Accomplishment Award is given to outstanding agriculture students and rising stars of agriculture. Members can be nominated by their Advisor for this award. This award is given to one person per chapter, every year who exemplifies commitment, work ethic, and the other qualities that the FFA Organization promotes. These students are passionate about agriculture and plan on fulfilling a career in agriculture. Kaitlyn Zeedyk was this year’s Fairview FFA recipient.
Spirit of the FFA Award
The Spirit of FFA Award goes to a member that shows passion and dedication to the FFA Organization. This award-winner puts effort into spreading the word about FFA and promoting the organization. Blake Zeedyk was the recipient of this award.
Star Awards
The Star Greenhand Award is given to the top first-year member that is very involved from the start and exemplifies leadership. The Star Greenhand Award recipient was Elizabeth Bok. The Star Chapter Farmer Award is given to the member that has put time and effort into having the best production farming project. The Star Chapter Farmer Award was given to Brady Zeedyk. The Star Agribusiness Award is awarded to the member that has done exceptionally well and has the best job placement project that is agriculturally related. The Star Agribusiness Award went to Emilee Treace.
Senior Recognition
While the seniors got recognized, they got to share even more laughs and look back on memories. This year’s seniors include Kaitlyn Zeedyk, Blake Zeedyk, Dakota Shaffer, Evan Saylor, Brooke Phillips, Bryar Williams, Kennedy Hill, Ashley Betz, Devin Montez, and Reed Singer. Kaitlyn, Blake, Evan, Brooke, and Dakota were presented with their graduation cords for receiving their State Degree. All of the seniors got gifts from the chapter as a thank you for all of the work they have dedicated. Each senior also got a more specialized gift to show how they are known and what their personality is like. A senior video was then shown filled with pictures of the seniors over the years and many fond memories.
Retiring Speech
Kaitlyn Zeedyk has been a great leader and role model during her time in FFA. She has contributed an abundance of dedication and effort to the FFA Organization. Kaitlyn gave her retiring speech as her time in FFA comes to an end.
Honorary Degrees
The Honorary Degrees go to community members that are helping to advance agricultural education. The Honorary Degree is awarded to people whose efforts are to benefit the chapter and generously put their time into FFA. There is a majority vote by the members to elect Honorary Degree recipients. The recipients who had the honor to be awarded the Honorary Degree are DJ and Mickey Zeedyk, and Denver Zeedyk.
Officer Thank Yous
The outgoing 2021-2022 officer team gave a special thank you to their parents and family. Each officer individually gave a thank you to the people that have supported them the most thought their journey. Before the new officers were inducted, the outgoing officers got to end by showing how thankful they were to the people that have helped them.
New Officer Inductions
To bring the banquet ceremony to a close the 2022-2023 officer team was inducted into office. The new officer team includes President Carrie Zeedyk, Vice President Emma Zeedyk, Secretary Kayla Mavis, Treasurer Miguel Garcia, Reporter Elizabeth Bok, Sentinel Dalton Haver, Student Advisor Brady Zeedyk, and Historian Summer Hiler.
Conclusion
The Fairview FFA Chapter is glad to have another successful year and a banquet to commemorate that success. The chapter is very thankful for all of the hard work that the members have put into the events and tasks throughout the year to make them run smoothly. Everything the chapter has done wouldn’t have been possible without the added support from generous community members. Fairview FFA is happy to wrap up another memory and success-filled year and is excited to begin a new year with new possibilities.
