Manor FFA to award members’ dedication

The 2012-2013 Manor FFA officers will hand over the reins to the new officer team at tonight's banquet.
The 2012-2013 Manor FFA officers will hand over the reins to the new officer team at tonight’s banquet. Photo provided.

By Danielle Johnson

Manor FFA will hold its annual awards banquet tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the high school cafeteria.

The main event of the banquet is the new officer installation. On February 25, FFA members interviewed for a chance to hold an office for the 2013-2014 school year. The new officer team was selected by a group of alumni and three FFA seniors.

The old officers will swear the 13 members of the new officer team into their positions. The president will be junior Kayla Major and her vice presidents will be juniors Katie Hess and Jesse Burkholder. Junior Victoria Herr and freshman Nathan Phan will be the secretaries and junior Aaron Breneman the advisor. The treasurers will be freshmen Katey Bleacher and Justin High. Freshman Brooke Pannell will be the reporter. Freshman Cheyanne Ditzler will be sentinel and freshman Sammy Bleacher will be chaplain. Freshman Brooke Riffert will be the historian, and Parliamentarian went to sophomore Wayne Rineer.

When the new officers were announced, Major said she was excited and hoped to involve new people in the organization.

“I’m looking forward to making the entire chapter feel even more like a family. I want to get our members more involved and excited about FFA and agriculture,” said Major. “I don’t come from a direct ag background so I want to make more people aware that you don’t need to live on a farm of come from a farm background to be in FFA.”

The new officer team will be in charge of the FFA members and activities for the next school year. Current president Katrina Reiff, a senior, said that the banquet is a great example of the leadership by the officer team. The banquet is a great time to portray the responsibility the new officers will be taking on.

Another important part of the banquet is the awards ceremony.

Members interviewed at awards interview night on February 11. All members going out for an award are interviewed about their FFA involvement by a panel of alumni.

The panel then decides who will receive each award. For those members who interview for a specialty award, the panel elects them to receive awards based on their FFA involvement and record books.

Many members just go out for their degrees. These are the awards that you earn for each year of involvement in FFA. There will be 35 first-year members receiving Greenhand Degree, five second-year members receiving Chapter Degrees, 12 third-year members receiving Red Rose Degrees, six seniors receiving Keystone Degrees, and one graduate receiving an American Degree.

Graduating seniors have the opportunity to give a speech, which allows them time to reflect on their growth and thank everyone who has helped them along the way.