EDITOR’S NOTE: This Ashland FFA story was submitted by 8th graders Paelyn Wilson and Sydney Spellman.
ASHLAND — The annual Ashland FFA Banquet celebrated all of the success that the middle and high school club members earned at the chapter, state, and national levels.
The night started with the opening ceremonies, welcomed all of the guests and introduced present Alumni. The Ashland High School Administrator, ACWH Career Center Administrators, any members of the ACS Board of Education and AHS Staff; and many more special members were recognized for their support of the FFA program.
Many members of the Ashland FFA program attend the Ashland County Fair. They participated in Ear Corn, Hay, and Soybean Selections, Educational Posters, and a variety of livestock and animal projects.
In the livestock projects, Logan Fulk received Grand Champion with his Dairy Market Steer and his brother, Tanner Fulk, followed behind with getting Reserve Grand Champion with his Dairy Market Steer.
Two members ran for the Jr. Fair Royalty; Sage Runion received Fair Princess and Alexus Evans received Fair Ambassador.
This year 48 members traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana for the 96 National FFA Convention and Expo.
The members got to tour the Louisville Slugger Museum and Churchill Downs. They attended three general sessions and watched Mrs. Cathy Bishop receive her Honorary Degree. A special thanks to the FFA Alumni and the numerous business sponsors who helped make the trip possible.
During this year the students were able to participate in 22 different CDE (career development events) competitions. One of the most popular CDEs is General Livestock, which had 16 High school members and 13 middle school members participate. In Wildlife Management there were 11 High school members and five middle school members.
The middle school team placed 1st for state and was recognized at the State FFA Convention on May 3. In Nursery Landscape CDE, there were 24 members and 4 of them went to state and placed 6th overall. In Floriculture, 9 members competed and the team placed 2nd in state and qualified to compete at The Big E in September.
Three members competed in the Job Interview CDE.
In Division 2, Haley McNaull placed 1st in district and 6th in state. The Advanced Parliamentary Procedure team and Novice Parliamentary Procedure team both participated in the sub-district contest, they both advanced onto District.
In Milk Quality and Products CDE 8 middle members and two high members participated. The middle school team placed first in state and was recognized at the Ohio FFA Convention on May 3rd.
Eleven middle school members competed in the Middle School Career Day CDEs, which included many contests that challenged their ability to prepare presentations and present about agricultural topics.
In addition to the degrees awarded at the degree ceremony, the Ashland FFA presented Discovery, Greenhand, and Chapter Degrees during the banquet.
In addition to those honored during the degree ceremony, 10 members received their Discovery Degree, one member received the Greenhand Degree, and 8 members received their Chapter Degree.
This year the Ashland Chapter had two individuals earn the golden charm of the Ohio FFA Degree. Ashland’s very own, Tanner Harpster and Ava Mahoney walked across the stage on May 3rd at the Ohio FFA State Convention to receive their degrees.
Ashland 2023-2024 reporter Haley McNaull has earned a gold rating on her Reporter’s Book. She was recognized on May 3 at the Ohio FFA Convention.
The Golden Owl Award is presented by Nationwide, the Ohio FFA, Ohio Farm Bureau, Farm Credit Mid-America, and AgCredit. Ashland’s own wise owl Mr. Tod Fox was nominated for this award. Mr. Fox has grown the Ashland FFA chapter in many ways.
The Milk Products & Quality and Wildlife Middle school teams both got first in state in addition to the Floriculture team getting 2nd in state.
Additionally, the chapter has grown from 30 members to over 250 members during Mr. Fox’s time with the program. Mr. Fox was recognized at the Ohio FFA Convention on May 2.
Nine leadership awards were presented to the following:
Star Discovery~ Hannah McNaull
Top Eighth Grader~ Oliver Harpster
Star Greenhand~ Emily Coffman
Top Freshman~ Emma Martin
Star Chapter~ Haley McNaull
Top Sophomore~ Nick Cartwright
Star Farmer~ Ava Mahoney
Top Junior~ Sage Runion
Top Senior~ Tanner Harpster
The Dekalb Award is a national award-sponsored by Monsanto for over 70 years. This year, the award went to the Ashland FFA’s 2023-2024 President, Tanner Harpster.
The Ashland FFA honored the following supporters with Honorary Degrees: Mrs. Mary Cox, Mr. Mike Shuck, Mrs. Emily Harding and Mr. Greg McNaull. Each individual has contributed countless hours to the development of the program, the members, and the FFA as a whole.
The Chapter had 12 seniors this year. Over the past few years they have had many accomplishments in the FFA and have made it better than they found it.
Then, the chapter played the Year-In Review which highlighted the year through photos and music. Following the Year-In Review Presention, Tanner Harpster installed the 2024-2025 officers as slated:
President- Ava Mahoney
Vise President- Haley McNaull
Secretary- Emily Coffman
Treasurer- Allie Heckman
Reporter- Paelyn Wilson
Sentinel- Nick Cartwright
Student Adviser- Sage Runion
Chaplin- Noah Sobish
Historian- Wyatt Carter
Parliamentarian- Hanna McNaull
Assistant Treasurer- Oliver Harpster
Assistant Reporter- Sydney Spellman
Following installation, the new president Ava Mahoney gave a speech to the members and incoming officers. As a president her expectation is that when any member has an Ashland FFA Jacket on, member’s behavior is to be at it’s best.
Following Ava’s speech the chapter gifted Tanner Harpster with an engraved gavel, commemorating his retirement as President.
The evening finished with a dessert reception hosted by the chapter members.
Thank you to all of the sponsors and supporters, and to the advisors and parents, your support is growing the next generation of leaders who will change the world.