Adventure at Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted

On a fair Saturday afternoon, I traveled up to Howard Lake and met up with Justin. After visiting shortly and saying "Hi" to Gracy, Justin's dog, we made the amazingly short trek to the high school. The school happens to be in the middle of a field and next to a stunning FFA crop plot. Mr. Weninger greeted us with a joke and a smile.

The Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted Chapter Officer Team set up the event for the 8th grade students and asked us to co-present. To break the ice everyone took a random object from our "THE box" and attempted to relate it to themselves. The chapter officers also shared some more personal information including hobbies, CDE's, and SAE's. It was great to hear the diversity of the team and the experiences they had. We then shared some basic FFA information including opportunities in FFA, the structure, basic facts, and camps and conferences for all levels. We focused on the FFA brand for part of the presentation and played a short game. To get everyone thinking about brands we had a competition to write down as many brand slogans or catch phrases as possible. Once we were in the correct mindset, we honed in on what the FFA brand represents. The national FFA did a study and found the brand represents:


Hard work
Morality and Ethics
Trustworthy
Spirited and Enthusiastic

We as members of the FFA can be proud of this brand, but must also take responsibility to uphold the brand for future members.

After wrapping up our presentation, dinner was served by the officers. We had the chance to mingle and talk with perspective students and current members. After dinner and some stories from Winnie, we headed outdoors to play team building activities. Forming a circle we grasped a rope and leaned back supporting each other and showing that no matter what we do our actions affect others. Tug of war standing on raised blocks forces us to use strategy and think deeper about characteristics of good and bad teamwork. Lastly we played "Who's the Leader," which ended with us hopping around on one leg and rolling on the ground.


As a small token for coming Sarah Marketon gave everyone barnyard sillybands! While winding down and cleaning up we had FFA story time.



Thanks for inviting us, HLWW! It was a great day and we are excited to hear what you do this year!



Stationed by the Rising Sun shining through the Door,



Jason Troendle
Justin Crowley