by Nick McCollister
I just wanted to share a picture with everyone from yesterday. This was right after school. I have not seen such a great turn out all at once unless it is a stock show. This is a great thing to see and these students should be congratulated for committing to a project that takes time and work. I was very excited to see that many students and parents there at the barn. It is going to be a great year. We have some great exhibitors and great animal.
I left a couple items out yesterday. We had 9 students participate in a Leadership Summit held at WTAMU in Canyon Saturday, Sept 21, 2013. This was a cool event. Our students were able to participate in activities alongside college students and college professors. They were able to see college classes and how they work. Furthermore, they also got to listen to Keynote – Dr. Price Pritchett who is an expert on mergers and business for the top 1000 largest companies.
Also, we are starting Leadership Development Contest. We have students that have expressed interest in Parliamentary Procedure, Quiz, and Radio. These are all great contests and will provide the students with valuable speaking skills for the future.
We had a teacher appreciation breakfast sponsored by Matt Hamel’s Ag Products. This was just to say thank-you to all our staff for the hard work they do during the year and supporting our FFA members. Thank you again Matt and his employee’s for cooking and taking care of the breakfast. I also had some great students helping serve. These four students, Bryce, Kaylie, Kristen, and Daniela made the extra effort to be there early that morning to help setup and clean-up. Very proud of these students.
Just a reminder that the FFA dues are due this FRIDAY, October 4. To participate in chapter activities the student will need to pay the dues. The cost is $25.00 for 9th grade and up and $15.00 for JR. FFA. Please come talk to me if there are any issues and we will get it taken care of.
Several people have asked me where we are on the tractor drive and if we are winning. I am trying to find out where some of the other chapters stand. The folks in charge said maybe Wed they could find out who is in the lead. Sounds like Idalou is getting up there. I have not heard much on the larger schools in the area. I think to win the tractor we are going to have to be around $150 to $200.00 per student. They said the total will be based on last year’s FFA roster and we were about 32 students. Idalou was at about 246 students or higher. If we were at $150 that would be about $4800.00. They would have to be at $36,000.
We are starting the meat sale Friday so be ready to be asked by members if you would like to buy meat products. Our goal is to sell $8,000.00 this year. This will be needed to help in travel and other activities the students participate in. We have changed Meat companies this year and I think that it will be a good step.
The last thing I would like to inform you about is a couple of the class projects going on. The 7th grade have three types of compost systems they are working on, vericompost, tumbler composting, and bin/pile composting. What is vericompost? It is composting using worms. We have 1,000 red wigglers in the shop contained in a cattle watering tank donated by Mr. Hamilton. They are doing great and we are seeing great results. These works double in population every three months. There are eggs everywhere in the bin The 9th grade class are working on raising fish in the shop. This has proven to be a very large challenge. We have not had great luck so far, but with the help of the Science teacher, Ms. Quissenberry, and several others we are pointed in the right direction.
You are welcome to stop by and see these projects yourself. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. Have a great rest of the week.
Nick McCollister
Agriculture Science Teacher
806-787-4464
190 8th Street
Southland, TX. 79364
