Welcome to another school year.

We are off to a flying start.

A busy week to follow....JV Football Night..Farm Progress Show on Weds...Varisty football on Friday night...

A couple things for the FFA Calendar:

SEPT. 6th is the Ice Cream Social....all 8th-12th graders are invited to attend...hoping to serve over 6 gallons of ice cream...

It has been a whirlwind last couple of days.

Banquet is just around the corner and I want to make sure everyone is up to speed on what is going on:

Supper starts @ 6:00pm. Build your own burgers with cheesy potatoes and baked beans. Cupcakes for dessert.

Awards and Recognition program will start after supper is over.

All members are asked to attend. If you cannot be there please let me know so you can vote for officers and other awards.

Next Weds, May 16th we will be traveling to Hunt Elem in Sioux City for the day. FFA Members will be presenting different areas of agriculture. Those students who will be presenting will be given a permission slip so that they can drive up on their own.

Classroom

The Animal Science class is constructing children's books about "Bison". The books will be due WEDS MAY 10th.

Need a word to describe the Westwood Ag Dept right now?.....let's try "Busy".."Hectic"...."Go"....I think any of those words would be great to use....

To wrap up recent events.....

Ag Day was great. the weather cooperated very well and it sure looked like the kids had a great time. I was very pleased with the effort of the members. THANK YOU to all the people and businesses who helped make the day a success

We were able to wrap up the Survivor Final with a "Little Debbie" jigsaw puzzle. Congrats to Casey Kirkendall on the win

The Fun Police was a huge success at the 2nd School Carnival. Thank you to all the community members who spent your tickets to arrest a family member or friend. We were busy all night. I also need to thank John @ the Bomgaars in Onawa for allowing us to use some corral panels for the jail.

13 FFA members represented the chapter very well at the beginning of the week. Five members served as Courtesy Corps, helping with the contests and other events during the two days. Two members served as delegates at the business session Monday morning. 2 members took the Greenhand test, 2 members entered a "Chapter Exhibit"... The "ETA" team received a SILVER award and placed in the top 10 of the STATE...not too shabby...CONGRATS you guys...you did great. The chapter was able to walk across the stage twice being recoginzed for our contributions to the Iowa FFA Foundation and received a SILVER rating on the "Supreme National Chapter" Award.

There will be an FFA meeting Tuesday May 1st to discuss banquet and Officer elections

Banquet is MAY 11th @ 6:00pm

Ag Day @ Hunt Elem will be May 15th

COLT for the new officers will be May 30th-June1st

Spooky..spooky...it is a Friday the 13th....I think there are 3 of them this year...

There will be an FFA meeting on MONDAY @3:00pm. We will be discussing the possibility of having the Glow in the Dark Dance, The School Carnival, and State FFA Convention.

April 12th..

First track meet of the year...let the season begin..The kids seem excited

There have been 10 officer applications turned in. We will be setting up an interview committee and interviews soon

We moved the FFA meeting scheduled for Tuesday...we hope to have it during 8th period either Friday or next Monday. We will be discussing the "Glow in the Dark Dance"..if we are still going to have it...etc...

State Convention is right around the corner....I am super excited.....The "ETA" team will be practicing next week during the day and I am hoping to have a "Parents Night" Next Friday....I will be checking with the team and making sure it works with their schedules

I think Mr. Mozer got the "posting" problem figured out for class and I hope to continue using it as a reaction place for the kids...please let me know if it doesn't work.

Back in the swing of things.....

The break was nice..spent some time winding down after a busy couple of FFA weeks and prepping for the last couple of school monthes......

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-We have filled the barn with pigs..should be a busy summer...looking at 11 kids working with close to 45 pigs...29 on property right now and another 15 or 16 coming next weekend. If you of anyone who would be interested in purchasing a butcher pig ( ready in July) let me know. Home grown, great tasting. Support the kids

-Ag Day was a huge success. THANK YOU TO ALL THE PARENTS, STAFF, STUDENTS and COMMUNITY MEMBERS for making it happen. We will try to get pictures posted at some point

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SURVIVOR NOTES:

- We will finish the competition on Friday of this week

t's Finally Friday........

Has been a busy week around the Ag Dept...

The field trips to Kent Feeds and Pioneer seeds were great. I think the students enjoyed themselves. Thanks to Rich Uhl and Barry Worrell for serving as chaperones. Thanks to Dave and John @ Kent for the tour and Corey @ Pioneer for being our tourguide.

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Survivor has been in full swing and it seems like the kids, both committee and contestants have been enjoying it. From the gross food challenge ( could you eat 14oz of cold refried beans? maybe a can of mackerel?) at lunch, to the Potato Toss and Semi Truck run last night. We will be down to our final 8 contestants after this morning and we will conclude the challenges NEXT TUESDAY during AG DAY. I have attached a couple of pictures if you are interested.

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Some FFA members and I will be working at the Sloan gold course putting in some community service hours.

Sunday FFA members and I will be in Denison at the Iowa Berkshire Associations show Pig Sale. Some of the kids are really looking forward to purchasing some pigs for the summer

Has been a great morning for the Westwood Ag Dept. We have had the pleasure of having Steven, the NW District FFA Vice President here chatting with the classes about FFA and agriculture. I attached a picture from on of the classes

Volleyball was great last night. We took 12 kids and had 2 teams participate in Sub-district Volleyball in Kingsley.

Looking forward to the field trip with classes tomorrow.

For our first discussion I would like your opinion on "Pink Slime" or "LFBT".

Would you eat it? Why or why not?

Provide us with your opinion and some discussion points.

Make sure you give us your educated ideas and be ready to provide reaction to another student's post.

Your post will be due Monday APRIL 2nd by 8:30am. Your reaction to someone's opinion will be due by Tuesday April 10th

I have listed some possible resources you may want to use for research:

http://jeralynstephens.weebly.com/2/category/red%20meat/1.html

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/03/in-defense-of-food-safety-leadership/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=120317

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/03/23/how-abc-news-smeared-stellar-company-with-pink-slime/

http://beefisbeef.com/2012/03/15/top-7-myths-of-pink-slime/

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2012/03/27/beef-industry-braces-for-loss-of-pink-slime-filler/

I will be posting a question for students to answer about a current "issue" in the world of Animal Science or agriculture. Students in class will be expected to read the article and write their reactions/thoughts for discussion to earn points. For each article I will include a due date for all discussions and reactions.

Grading:

Post your thoughts in an organized and informed manner. Provide evidence that you understand what the topic is about (Did you research or read any material about the topic?) - 2 pts.

React to another class members points - 2 pts.

Busy week for the Westwood Ag Dept...

We have "Survivor" qualifying the 1st two days of the week and we hope to start start challenges by Weds...stay tuned for details.

There is Sub-district volleyball In Kingsley tonight...It is always lots of fun

Three of the ag classes will be going on a field trip on Weds....

Community Service on Saturday

Show Pig sale on Sunday

Ag Day next Tuesday....

Then we can all relax with Spring Break...OH YEA

Rain Rain....we need some rain......nice little showers have been nice...

Animal Science started their digestive system presentations..The pics below are the 2 that were presented today.

The typical ruminant system and an avian system

Survivor will start on Monday with qualifying in the morning, at lunch and in the early evening. Should be a fun slate of events. I will try to post pictures.

The FFA Meeting went very well and I was pleased with the attendance. I have attached the minutes of the meeting

Tuesday..

Excited for tonight's FFA meeting. We will have lots to discuss.

The sun is out and the weather is great.

Busy day in class.

Animal Science was given their "Digestive System Design" project today. Sounds like there are some good ideas coming together. REMEMBER..they are due next Tuesday. I have attached the grade sheet in case you need it

Feb and March have been busy FFA monthes. May and April will keep us busy as well.

The March newsletter and TheAET.com has these same updates included. PLEASE LOOK THROUGH THE NEWSLETTER

I have attached 2 documents:

The 2012 Officer application for any membere interested in applying. They are due April 3rd

The Degree Applications. There are 3 of them included. See Mr. Witten if you have questions.

If you are interested in going to State Convention let me know ASAP.