Written By Taylor Houser. Thirteen Central DeWitt FFA members traveled to Muscatine High School on Monday, February 16th to compete at the Sub-District Convention. Students participated in the Leadership Development Events of Prepared Public Speaking, Ag Broadcasting, Ag Sales, FFA Knowledge Tests, Job Interview, Creed Speaking, Conduct of Meetings, and Chapter Website. Freshman Ruth Whitman, who competed for the very first time, said “I will never forget the experience, even

Written By Taylor Houser. On Friday, February 27th, middle and high school students were invited to wear blue to show their support for the Central DeWitt FFA Chapter! Ag Leadership hosted an assembly for the middle school, where they put on an educational skit and played fun and engaging games for prizes! Towards the end, the students were asked to sit down on the bleachers. Secretary Carlee Garrity listed off different categories of agriculture, and asked the students to st

Written By Adam Wilke. On Thursday, February 19th, FFA members Taylor Houser, Kamryn Keester, and Adam Wilke joined Mrs. Grantz and FCCLA members as they went to the capitol for CTE (Career Technical Education) Day on the Hill. At the capitol, they had the opportunity to be introduced by Senator Mike Zimmer during a senate session. Following this, they were able to meet with Representative Tom Determann and learn more about his time serving in the state legislature. FFA and F

Written By Gavin Walker. National FFA Week has been really fun and a great way to celebrate everything FFA stands for. On Thursday morning, we had a breakfast for members that included breakfast pizza, donuts, and drinks. The breakfast was donated to us that morning by Megan Fuglsang of Farm Bureau. It was a good way to start the day and hang out with everyone before classes started. Later that night, we had a share night at Culver's in Clinton. Most of the FFA members showed

Written By Lucas Burken. FFA Officers and Ag Leadership class organized “Memory Monday” on Monday, February 23, featuring a social media challenge and school-wide activities. The event included posting photos of teachers who were previously involved in FFA and having students guess who they are, locker signs, and free energy drinks in the morning. The purpose of Memory Monday was to celebrate FFA history, recognize staff who were part of this awesome organization, and increas

Written By Carlee Garrity. In the midst of FFA week, the Agricultural Leadership class had something big planned for Wednesday, February 25th. To start the morning off right, the students set up a coffee bar and donuts in the teachers' lounge at Ekstrand to show our appreciation to them. Then, the students dressed up as various farm animals, a fair princess, a farmer, and an FFA member in official dress and read to kindergarten to third-grade students. The books taught the ki

Written By Avery Mommsen. During the booster meeting on February 16th, the Central DeWitt FFA boosters came together to discuss some of the most important updates and activities that are to come. They discussed and reviewed ideas for future events, such as running concession stands at the regional basketball games to help raise money for the chapter. They also reviewed the current account balance, showing how the money they raised has been used to support activities, travel,

Written By Emily Sutton. Tuesday of National FFA week started with a full breakfast bar for all high school staff in the teacher’s lounge to show our appreciation, along with a letter for each of them signed by the Ag Leadership class thanking them for their commitment to our education. The social media challenge for the day was guess the throwback picture of teachers in their official dress. Congratulations to the winner who was gifted a $20 Smilee’s gift card! To show our a

Written By Cooper Barber. The Central DeWitt FFA chapter held its monthly meeting on Monday, February 9th, at 6:00 PM. The event kicked off with guest speakers: Dr. Michelle Hohrman and Carson Deppe. Dr. Hohrman was a 2022 University of Illinois graduate and gave us the scoop on her life as a vet. Carson Deppe shared his experience working as a Real Estate Associate and also discussed his work at Martin, Goodrich & Waddell in ag real estate. Members snacked on various charcut

Written By Carlee Garrity. FFA week is quickly approaching (Feburary 22-28), and our chapter has a fun packed week planned for members and the community!! Each day of the week will be titled something special because we will have social media challenges throughout the week related to the title. Stay tuned to find out what the challenges may be. Members - keep and eye out on https://www.instagram.com/dewitt_ffa/?hl=en for challenges posted daily, one member will receive a pri

Written By Caden Bernauer. On January 5th-11th, a group of DeWitt Central FFA Members earned the opportunity to travel and compete in the National Western Stock Show in Denver Colorado. The group included Senior Caden Bernauer, Senior Kyle Deppe, Senior Ty Henningsen, and Sophomore Audrina Gordon. They were coached and chaperoned by Douglas and Kim Deppe, and they received this opportunity from placing second at the FFA State Livestock Judging Contest. Following this on Tuesd

Written By Macy Poll. A lot has been going on in the eighth-grade class. They just finished their ag technology. These eighth graders created their own Ag technology innovation. Now these eight graders are working on international food truck projects. This is where they get to pick a country and research that country, and then make a menu and food truck to represent that countrys food. These eighth graders have done a tremendous job in this class so far this year.

Written By Klaire Gruntorad. The January FFA Chapter meeting was held on Monday, January 12th. The night started off with some pickleball fun at 6 pm, which was followed by the meeting at 7 pm. The meeting was very successful, with pizza and drinks provided. Mrs. Grantz talked about some opportunities coming up, which you can find out more about in the email she sent out.

Written By Molly Burken. In the FFA Greenhouse, there’s a myriad of succulents that are cared for by some ag classes and FFA members. There are fully grown plants, as well as some less-matured plants that were propagated by the Plant Science and Horticulture classes. This was accomplished by taking portions of matured plants, putting them in soil, and watering them regularly. There are various types of succulents, and they will be available to purchase in the Spring.

Written By Gavin Walker. This January and December, Mrs. Grantz’s Ag Leadership class participated in a unique assignment in which each student was responsible for teaching an important life skill. The class experienced several outstanding lessons, including how to hang a tree stand, jump a car battery, and evaluate livestock. Through this project, students learned practical skills that can be applied to everyday life, making each lesson both engaging and highly valuable. Tho

Written By Adam Wilke. Our member of the month for January is freshman Ashton Leibold! Ashton has been super involved in our chapter since entering high school, participating in a multitude of different activities. He has signed up for many shifts at the booster concession stand, which has been a big help. During fruit sales, he played a big role in organizing the fruit in the shop, which saved lots of time. Ashton recently signed up to participate in the conduct of meetings

Written By Carlee Garrity. On Monday, January 19th, the DeWitt Central FFA Boosters held their monthly meeting in the ag room at 7 pm. The boosters discussed topics such as the FFA’s fishing derby coming up, concession rewards party, updating the Facebook page, a recap of the livestock judging team, putting money into a CD to fund materials to build a storage shed, scholarships, and more. The two biggest takeaways from the meeting were that they still need members to help out

Written By Coy Krukow. On Sunday, January 18, 2026, members of the Central DeWitt FFA attended the Clinton County Cattlemen’s Banquet. The evening began with a meal that brought together local cattle producers, supporters, and community members. Following the meal, the Clinton County Cattlemen’s Association presented awards recognizing outstanding contributions to the cattle industry, along with scholarships and Cattlemen’s royalty. The awards highlighted the dedication and h

Written By Avery Mommsen. Our November member of the month is Cooper Barber! Cooper is a sophomore, third-year FFA member, who continues to exemplify an outstanding dedication to our chapter. Cooper recently attended the Global Youth Institute (GYI) from October 21-23. At this conference, students, teachers, and community leaders from around the world gathered to share ideas and develop solutions for ending world hunger and poverty. In addition to his involvement with GYI, Co

Written By Coy Krukow. The Central DeWitt FFA Chapter held its monthly meeting on November 10th, where officers shared updates on finances, communication efforts, and recent chapter activities. Members heard recaps of IAT Leadership Conference participation, the National FFA Convention trip, and Greenhand Night, along with a report on the chapter test plot and its sponsorship from LiqiGrow. New business included planning for fruit sales pickup, voting to officially change the

Written By Caden Bernauer. Moving into our winter season, one additional opportunity available to our chapter member, especially upperclassmen are State Proficiencies and Degrees. Proficiencies - Iowa FFA Proficiency Awards recognize the real-world skills and growth students gain through their SAEs. With dozens of categories from livestock and mechanics to agribusiness, research, and communications there's a proficiency area for whatever your SAE is. These awards give members

Written By Emily Sutton. This year, our Central DeWitt chapter set a fundraising goal of $35,000 for fruit sales, our largest fundraiser of the year. Each student was given a personal goal of $500 to qualify for our rewards party. This year we are going Snow Tubing! This fundraiser helps cover the cost of conventions, contests, and tours, allowing our FFA members to participate at no cost. Although we didnt meet our goal, we came close to a total of around $29,648 in sales. W

Written By Kamryn Keester. Our members spent their Monday evening learning from FFA Coach Skylar Bator about applying for scholarships and doing so effectively. When Skylar was a senior, she dedicated countless hours into applying for scholarships. She was successful in doing so and received over 40. Through this hours, she learned many tips and tricks. On Monday, November 24th, she held a workshop to help FFA members be successful as well. She encouraged members to keep a ru

Written By Claire McGarry. There has been a new addition to the Ag room. In the Ag hallway and at the back of Mrs.Grantz' classroom, TVs have been installed. The classroom TV will feature upcoming FFA events, meetings, and other things happening in the chapter. The TV in the hallway will feature Hall of Fame members who will be inducted into our Central DeWitt Hall of Fame, as well as past FFA members and their successes. If you have anything you think should be featured on t

Written By Adam Wilke and Carlee Garrity. To help 9th grade members learn more about FFA and degrees, Greenhand Night was held on November 6th in the ag room. After eating dinner and connecting with each other, the officer team began with a presentation. They hit topics such as earning degrees, Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAEs), and involvement in FFA. Chapter officers gave personal example from their time in FFA to show how involvement and dedication made a big diff

Written By Molly Burken. The November Boosters meeting was held on November 17th in the ag room. The boosters discussed the concession stands, toy show, and Roots to Riches event. They made a list of what needed to be purchased for the for the concessions, as well as what new items they may offer at the stands. There was discussion of advertising methods for the Toy Show, as well as other logistics of the event, such as cost per table. Mrs.Grantz shared in her Advisor update

Written By Taylor Houser. Five of our FFA members traveled to the DMACC FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeny, IA for the IAT Conference on November 8th. The Ignite, Amplify, and Transform conferences are intended to teach FFA Members valuable leadership skills they can apply to their future careers. The Ignite Conference for 8th and 9th grade members focuses on teamwork and collaboration, encouraging students to get out of their comfort zones and interact with people they may not

Written By Lucas Burken. Ten FFA members who attended the National Convention Board meeting on Monday, November 17th, talking about what they learned and experienced during the trip. They described the sessions and industry tours they too part in, all of which helped them grow their agricultural knowledge and career skills. This presentation was important because it gave the school board a clear look at how valuable the convention is in providing real-world learning opportuni

Written By Amy Grantz. Middle School: 8th grade middle school students have been such a joy this semester! They have been learning about the history of agriculture, FFA basics, livestock and poultry production, companion animals and are just wrapping up their dairy unit by making ice cream this week. They have completed many hands-on activities in the classroom! Animal Science: High school students in animal science have completed their beef unit and are just starting to wrap

Written By Caden Bernauer. On October 10th, we had 9 Central DeWitt Members attend the Kirkwood Livestock Judging Contest. There members judged 6 classes of cattle, swine, sheep, and goats, with a set of questions on cattle. One major highlight of the evening was Audrina Gordon being the champion individual out of almost 350 kids. A big thank you to the West Branch FFA and Chapter President Caden Bernauer for helping put on the contest and Kirkwood Community College for hosti

Written By Gavin Walker. Adam Wilke and Cole Nieman qualified for state cross country on Wednesday, October 22 and are number one in 3A and it happened in Williamsburg, IA. It is big for our school so that people know us and know we are capable of running at state. They were also able to run in the top 5 at the district race for cross country. Emily Sutton won Miss Clinton County Teen, it happened on October 18, 2025, at Camanche High School, this was good because it gives he

Written By Carson Tobey. The National FFA Organization allows their members to apply for SAE grants to support their Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) Projects. Projects can be from raising livestock to starting your own small business. These grants support members with extra cash to kickstart their project. Members 7th-12th grade that are starting or expanding their SAE can apply from November 15th-December 15th on the National FFA website. Central DeWitt graduate Kai

Written By Molly Burken. The Gift of Blue is a National FFA Program that helps provide members with FFA Official Dress components. Normally, the FFA jackets are $60.00, and the official ties or scarves are around $13.00-$15.00. For some students, this cost may be a barrier to getting their own offical apparel. The goal of the Gift of Blue is to help students be able to receive their own jacket, even if they can't afford it themselves. To help some receive the Gift of Blue, yo

Written By Klaire Gruntorad. The FFA Boosters business meeting was on October 20th, with the discussion of upcoming events, such as the Greenhand Fireup on November 6th, the Tour Show on Saturday, March 14th at the Fairgrounds, and our chapter activity and Boosters meeting, and Roots to Riches on December 15th at the Fairgrounds. The chapter is taking the chance to make a change to the name of our chapter from DeWitt Central to Central DeWitt to match our schools title. The n

Written By Adam Wilke. Sophomore Cooper Barber had the opportunity to attend the Global Youth Institute (GYI) from October 21-23. GYI is a small part of the World Food Prize organization that brings together students, teachers and leaders from around the world to discuss solutions to hunger and poverty. To be invited to GYI, Cooper first had to write a research paper about food insecurity around the world and attend the Iowa Youth Institute. This is an opportunity available t

Written By Carlee Garrity. On October 29th, the Central DeWitt FFA chapter took 10 kids to Indianapolis, Indiana for National Convention. 70,000 total members all over the country came to attend this convention. Our chapter took multiple tours, such as the Louisville Slugger Bat Factory, the Kentucky Derby Museum, and Bradley's Orchard. At the convention, three members got the chance to be interviewed by Pete Simmons about events in our chapter. In session, we heard retiremen

Written By Dalani Beuthien. On Monday, October 13th, we held our monthly chapter meeting in the ag room. Our activity for the meeting was painting pumpkins! The pumpkins were donated by Sweely Farms. Members were able to express their creativity through their pumpkins and had tons of fun. After our activity, we enjoyed a delicious meal of ribeye steak sandwhiches, chips and cookies. This month we welcomed a special guest to our meeting. Mary is from Brazil and graciously dona

Written By Kamryn Keester. An all-girls team, including Avery Heilig, Dalani Beuthien, Emily Sutton, and Kamryn Keester, won the Southeast District Soils Judging contest. Last year, the team placed 8th at the district contest, and through many hours of preperation, they won the contest this year. Dalani took home the second-place individual banner, and Kamryn took home fourth. This qualified the team for the state contest. The team, along with the other qualifying teams from

Written By Lucas Burken. On October 9th, the Central DeWitt FFA helped River Valley with their Feed the Farmers event. This was an event sponsored by River Valley, and 15 of our members were asked to help run the event. The members assisted in the whole lunch, from cooking, packing orders, running orders, and taking orders. This was a free lunch for the farmers to help us show them how appreciative we are of them. The truckers were really appreciative of them, one even said:

Written By Macy Poll. Do you wonder what Fruit Sales are and why the chapter does them? Every year, the Central DeWitt FFA Chapter sells fruit. This is where all members sell fruit from October 1st to November 3rd. This is important because it helps us raise money to support our chapter. This money will then fo to our chapter for upcoming events. Fruit will be delivered in the beginning of December.

Written By Coy Krukow. The Central DeWitt FFA Chapter wrapped up its annual test plot harvest on October 16,2025. This years test plot compared different tillage methods to see how they affect the corn yield. With this data, members and local agronomists, Jim LaFrenz and Jason Spain, have analyzed yields to identify which vertical tillage is the best option for our test plot. "The test plot gives our members real-world experience and shows how small changes can impact product

Written By Emily Sutton Our October Member of the Month is Dalani Beauthien! Dalani has excelled in soil judging and has become one of our chapters most active members. Here's what Dalani has to say about her favorite part of FFA: "My favorite part of FFA is going to contests and conventions, getting to meet new people, and being able to see those people at different events." This really describes Dalani as a person, making connections and taking advantage of everything FFA h

Written By Claire McGarry. There are three Next Gen Conferences available to FFA members, each focused on a different AFNR career pathway. Power, Structure, and Technical Systems will be held in Raleigh, North Carolina on March 3-7 2026, Agribusiness Systems will take place June 23-27 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Animal Systems will be held September 15-19 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri. To attend, members must complete an application and pay a $200 registration fee plus travel

Written By Taylor Houser. On October 2nd, FFA Students were treated to a fun and engaging chapter visit by Iowa FFA State Officers Laura Steinkamp and Jagger Ferrie during their ag classes. In the Agricultural Leadership class, the officers led students in various group activities that helped them build skills in areas such as teamwork, time management, and organizing priorities. FFA students enjoyed the visit and were grateful for the opportunity to sharpen their leadership

Written By Klaire Gruntorad. The FFA Fruit Sales items were delivered to the ag shop on December 3rd. Members and their parents were allowed to pick up their orders between 10:00 am and 5:30 pm. In the morning, Mrs. Grantz had a middle school class that helped unload the pallets and organize the items. Then, later in the day, there were some very helpful high school students who took time out of their classes to help sort the items into individual orders. Members sold $29,468

Written By Adam Wilke Poinsettia sales for the Central DeWitt FFA chapter were held on Wednesday, December 3rd in the greenhouse. There were a variety of different selections, including red, white, pink, and jingle bell (a red and white marble). These were sold for $15, and sold out on Wednesday. The chapter donated 12 flowers to 6 of our sponsors in the community, and finished selling the flowers at the chapter’s annual Roots to Riches event held on December 15th. Poinsettia

Written By Molly Burken. DeWitt’s Hometown Christmas featured a lighted parade, live nativity, caroling singers, and many businesses were open to spread Christmas cheer and hand out treats and refreshments. There was also a horse-drawn carriage ride up and down the street for everyone to enjoy. FFA members Avery Heilig, Ashton Leibold, and Sam Hootman helped clean up horse manure after the horses during the parade. Inside DeWitt Bank & Trust, there was a gingerbread house con

Written By Gavin Walker A tremendous amount of classroom activities have taken place this December. In the agricultural leadership class, students have stayed busy doing there “Leadership activities”. These activities are an outstanding way to teach, and let the class demonstrate leadership with a hands on activity. A new assignment the Teach Me Something activity, is an opportunity for class members to teach an important life skill, that they consider themselves highly knowl

Written By Kamryn Keester. Everyone knows college is expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Many scholarships are available to seniors. If you attended Skylar’s scholarship workshop, she gave you a spreadsheet with some information. There are many more not on this list as well. Iowa FFA, National FFA, and our Boosters all give out scholarships for various amounts. If you are involved in other things, there are many outside of FFA! Be on the lookout for deadlines, they are fast

Written By Avery Mommsen. The FFA American Degree is the highest degree achievable in the FFA organization. It embodies leadership, community service and accomplishments in your SAE. Earning this degree reflects your commitment and hard work put into FFA. The American Degree requires students to earn and invest at least $10,500 into their SAE. Additionally, you must show strong leadership, participate in community service, maintain complete agricultural records, and be an FFA