The Arcanum MVCTC FFA held its annual banquet on Sunday, April 7th, 2024. The banquet celebrated the accomplishments of the FFA members over the past year.
To begin the ceremony, Ethan Hartman, Sentinel, introduced and thanked all Arcanum MVCTC FFA guests. The guests included teachers, staff members, board members, and administration from Arcanum and MVCTC. Members were recognized for participating in various chapter activities and attaining new levels of degree membership.
The Officer team presented the CDE plaques and pins for the 2023-2024 School Year. The first CDE of the school year was Rural Soil Judging, with the team consisting of Charlie Weiss, Shyanna Cunningham, Lance Brinksneader, Cheyenne Swisher, Bohdan Menzie, Robby Dnniston, and Kenadie Hensley. The Agricultural Technology and Mechanical Systems Team members were Ayden Hess, Charlie Weiss, Noah Egnor, Jackson Weaver, Landon Miller, Seth Fearon, Lance Brinksneader, Dane Byers, Jacob Flayler, Weston Stephens, Landon Subler, Garrett Rose, Wyatt Schwartz, Matthew Denlinger, Levi Hatfield, Danicka Michael, and Cameron LeVeck. Ayden, Charlie, Noah, and Jackson qualified for the Ohio FFA State Finals and placed 5th in the State.
The Food Science Contest allowed members to complete product development, taste testing, and food safety. Mahayla Locke, Katelynne Michael, Payten Parks, Kamryn Beisner, Mackenzie Byrne, Emilie Fout, Jordan Nottingham, Mora Menzie, Kenadie Hensley, Sara Netzley, Sophia Drew, Marli Morris, Cheyenne Swisher, Alaina Brown, and Liela Fugate took the Food Science online test.
The Officer Team highlighted the CDEs as life skills for everyone. The Job Interview Contest requires members to complete a resume and an in-person mock interview. The Job Interview participants were Emilie Fout, Katelynne Michael, Kamryn Beisner, and Danicka Michael. The public speakers for Arcanum were Seth Fearon and Katelynne Michael in Extemporaneous Speaking, Cheyenne Swisher in Beginning Prepared, and Emilie Fout in Advanced Prepared.
Mora Menzie, Landon Miller, Garrett Rose, Katelynne Michael, Cheyenne Swisher, Lance Brinksneader, and Jacob Flayler participated in the Ag Biotechnology Contest.
The 2024 Grain Merchandising Team members were Charlie Weiss, Seth Fearon, Brooke Anderson, Carrie Denlinger, Lance Brinksneader, Katelynne Michael, Landon Miller, Jacob Flayler, Matthew Denlinger, Ethan Hartman, Colton Pool, Ben Hartman and Garrett Rose. The Grain Merchandising Team qualified for the State Finals. Charlie, Brooke, Carrie, and Lance traveled to Wilmington College to test their grain marketing skills in the finals, where they finished 2nd in the State.
The Farm Business Management Team excelled at the State Level, finishing 2nd in the Ohio FFA. Team members were Katelynne Michael, Braylen Etherington, Landon Miller, Ethan Hartman, Carrie Denlinger, Brook Anderson, Jacob Flayler, Seth Fearon, Luke Henninger, Truman Knaus, Lulus Midlam, Lance Brinksneader, Charlie Weiss, Haley Smith, Ava Gilbert, Mora Menzie, Brady Lock, Blake Weaver, Austin Carlisle, Katie Sharp, Cheyenne Swisher, Nathan Koller, Emilie Fout, Tristan Keckler, Dylan Dillman, and Travis Landis.
Even though the Spring Judging Contests didn’t feel like Spring weather, members were excited to evaluate livestock animals. Lance Brinksneader, Seth Fearon, Charlie Weiss, Katelynne Michael, Robby Denniston, Cheyenne Swisher, and Carrie Denlinger were the general livestock team members. The Dairy Judging Team Members were Charlie Weiss, Katelynne Michael, Carrie Denlinger, Henry Weiss, Mora Menzie, Lance Brinksneader, Robby Denniston, and Bohdan Menzie.
During the second half of the school year, they offered multiple members the opportunity to compete in agriculture mechanics contests. The first was the Ag Power and Industrial Diagnostics contest with team members Weston Stephens, Matthew Dennlinger, Landon Subler, and Cameron LeVeck troubleshooting farm equipment. The Ag Mechanics Skills contests test members on various activities, including welding, soldering, and tool ID. Team members were Noah Egnor, Landon Subler, and Jackson Weaver. The Ag Mechanics team placed 3rd in the district. Finally, the Outdoor Power Contest involved everything small engine-related. Members competing were Noah Egnor, Brendan Goewert, and Matthew Denlinger.
The Chapter recognized members for earning membership degrees within the organization. After the Greenhand and Chapter Degree recipients were recognized, the officer team handed out plaques to this year’s four State FFA Degree Recipients: Brooke Anderson, Jacob Flayler, Katelynne Michael, and Seth Fearon. The Chapter also has four graduates on track to earn the American FFA Degree this coming Fall: Caron Tegtmeyer, Landon Haney, Nick Sharritts, and Tyler Huber. Landon Haney was also recognized as Ohio’s Candidate for the Star American in Agri-Business.
Special Awards were also given to members who excelled throughout the past year. Top fruit salesperson awards were presented to Caleb Burke, 3rd, Cheyenne Swisher, 2nd, and Katelynne and Danicka Michael, 1st. Top strawberry salespersons were presented to Katelynne and Danicka Michael, 3rd, Emilie Fout, 2nd, and Cheyenne Swisher, 1st.
Mr. Brian Pohlman then addressed the crowd and expressed appreciation to the Arcanum – Butler Local School and Miami Valley CTC Administration and Boards of Education. The Chapter Advisor then presented the top awards for the evening. FFA Members are tasked with taking on various organizational roles and leading numerous events and activities.
Members recognized with the Leadership Award were Jacob Flayler, Mora Menzie, Ethan Hartman, and Carrie Denlinger. The top members in each grade were presented with the Outstanding Member Awards. Chapter Advisor Mr. Brian Pohlman talked about each member’s involvement and then presented him or her with a plaque commemorating his or her hard work. They were: Freshman-Matthew Denlinger, Sophomore-Cheyenne Swisher, Lance Brinksneader and Charlie Weiss, Junior-Katelynne Michael, and Senior-Emilie Fout.
Star Awards recognize member’s accomplishments. The Star Greenhand Awards winners were Danicka Michael, Bohdan Menzie, and Weston Stephens. The Star Chapter Farmer award is given to the member who has excelled in an SAE related directly to the Farm; this year’s recipient was Landon Subler. The Star Chapter Ag Placement award is given to the member who works in a placement Ag area; this year’s recipient was Brooke Anderson. The Star in Agri-Business award is given to members who have successfully run their own business. This year’s recipient is Seth Fearon. The Ag Accomplishment Award is awarded to members who have excelled in Ag and FFA. This year’s Ag Accomplishment Award winner was Ayden Hess.
Senior chapter Officers were recognized for their years of service. The officers were Ayden Hess, historian, Jacob Flayle, Chapin, and Emilie Fout, president.
During the banquet, the Chapter was honored to have the Overholser Family present the Ben Overholser Memorial Scholarship to 2 graduating seniors - Katie Sharp and Emilie Fout.
The final award of the night was the Honorary Chapter Degrees. This honor is bestowed on members of the school or community for their contributions to the chapter's success. This year’s Honorary Chapter Degree was presented to the High School Principal, Mr. Ty Cates.
The ceremony concluded with the Inductions of the 2024-2025 Arcanum MVCTC Officer Team: President Brooke Anderson, Vice-President Seth Fearon, Secretary Katelynne Michael, Treasurer Carrie Denlinger, Reporter Mora Menzie, Sentinel Lance Brinksneader, Student Advisor Charlie Weiss, Chaplin Ethan Hartman, and Historian Cheyenne Swisher. The Arcanum MVCTC FFA would like to thank everyone for supporting the Chapter.
Arcanum MVCTC FFA members recently competed in the Ohio FFA Farm and Agribusiness Management Contest. The team from Arcanum placed 2nd overall in the State out of 105 schools. The top-scoring members were Katelynne Michael (4th Overall), Braylen Etherington, Landon Miller, Ethan Hartman, Carrie Denlinger, and Brooke Anderson. The Farm Business Management Contest aims to provide students with the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills learned in the production agriculture curriculum to solve typical farm management problems. The online written test is designed to test the team members’ understanding of economic principles in farm business management. The problem-solving portion of the CDE is designed to determine the team members’ ability to apply economic principles of farm business management to actual problems and to define the decisions that need to be made.
Arcanum MVCTC FFA Members Compete In Mechanics Contests
On March 5th, members competed in the District 5 Ag Mechanics Skills Contest hosted at Arcanum High School. The team members were Landon Subler, Noah Egnor, and Jackson Weaver. The Ag Mechanics Skills Contest aims to assess the student’s skills in agricultural mechanics that occur in maintenance and repair. Students demonstrated the proper use of tools and applied tool use and knowledge to daily situations in agricultural mechanical environments. Some of the activities students completed were Welding, Electrical Soldering, Pipe Flaring, and Fuel Identification. The team finished 3rd in the district.
Another hands-on mechanical contest was the Outdoor Power Contest on April 9th at the Preble County Fairgrounds. The Outdoor Power Team members were Matthew Denlinger, Noah Egnor, and Brenden Goewert. The Outdoor Power Equipment Career Development Event (CDE) extends the Agricultural Education classroom and laboratory. Additionally, this CDE is an authentic assessment designed to evaluate students’ knowledge in recognizing and repairing malfunctions in outdoor power equipment. The skills Agricultural Education students employ in this CDE are the same skills outdoor power equipment technicians require. The team finished 4th in the district.
Arcanum MVCTC FFA Banners in Grain Merchandising
Arcanum MVCTC FFA members recently competed in the Ohio FFA Grain Merchandising Contest. The purpose of the Grain Merchandising Contest is to stimulate interest in the area of grain merchandising and to make students aware of the complex decision-making process associated with merchandising agricultural products. Arcanum MVCTC FFA members Charlie Weiss, Seth Fearon, Brooke Anderson, Carrie Denlinger, Lance Brinkseader, Katelynne Michael, Landon Miller, Jacob Flayler, Matthew Denlinger, Ethan Hartman, Colton Pool, Ben Hartman, Garrett Rose completed the online test portion of the contest on January 23rd. During the online test, students were given 50 general knowledge questions about Grain Merchandising and five problem-solving questions. The questions included puts, calls, basis, and hedging. The team finished in the top 10 in the State and qualified for the State Finals on April 9th. Charlie, Brooke, Carrie, and Lance traveled to Wilmington College, where they completed a simulation where they were tasked with marketing 20,000 bushels of grain across a calendar year using different grain marketing contracts. At the end of the contest, the team from Arcanum was 2nd in the State. The team members would like to thank Janelle Bell for coaching the team.
Arcanum MVCTC FFA Members do well at State Judging Contests.
Members of the Arcanum MVCTC FFA competed in the Ohio FFA Spring Judging Contest on March 23rd and 28th in Columbus. Members competed in General Livestock Judging and Dairy Judging. Members evaluated Beef Cattle, Sheep, Goats, and Swine in the General Livestock contest. They placed classes and completed market grids and production charts. The Team members were Lance Brinksneader, Charlie Weiss, Seth Fearon, Katelynne Michael, Cheyenne Swisher, Robby Denniston, and Carrie Denlinger. The team placed 20th in the State out of 192 teams. The Arcanum MVCTC FFA Dairy Judging Team Members were Charlie Weiss, Katelynne Michael, Mora Menzie, Henry Weiss, Lance Brinksneader, Carrie Denlinger, Robby Denniston, Bohdan Menzie. During that contest, the members completed the live evaluation of six classes of dairy cattle, answered objective questions about the classes, and completed a pedigree evaluation class and a sire selection class. The team placed 7th in the State and qualified for the State Finals.