Chapter Activity

Written By Amy Grantz. On Tuesday, May 12 , seven FFA members planted our FFA Learning Lab with soybeans for the year. This year, they will be altering the population on different varieties of soybeans to see how that affects plant growth, pod size and overall yield. A huge thanks to Ryan Krukow for planting this year. Another thank you to Jason Spain of SpainAg Services and Jim LaFrenz of Pioneer for all of their education and assistance with planting our 17 acre field. Coy

Written By Cooper Barber. On Friday, May 8th, 4 FFA members participated in the Dairy Cattle Evaluation CDE. They traveled to NICC in Calmer Iowa. The team started the morning off by evaluating 6 live classes of dairy cattle and then gave a set of oral reasons. Followed by the written portion of the competition where they had to answer various dairy production management questions. The team of Kamryn Keester, Ethan Hoeft, Kalli Barber, and Cooper Barber received 5th overall t

Written By Carlee Garrity. The Central DeWitt FFA chapter spent the day out in Cedar Rapids on May 12th, learning about what Kirkwood Community College has to offer in agricultural-related fields. The students were first split into groups, then toured the horticulture building, vet tech building, and Washington building. Groups explored fields such as diesel mechanics, veterinary, aquaponics, turf management, horticulture, natural resources, and more. It was a great experienc

Written By Lucas Burken. Our member of the month for May is Owen Garrity! Owen has been an involved member all year. He spent a lot of time practicing for Conduct of Meetings, where Owen and his team received a silver. He also attended the middle school conference at state convention this year. And to top it all off, Owen is your 2026-2027 Chapter Reporter! Congratulations Owen!

Written By Taylor Houser. Central Dewitt FFA hosted approximately 46 children and their families at Lake Killdeer on May 2nd for our very first lil’ angler’s fishing derby. Kids aged 0-15 competed to catch fish and win prizes in the areas of most fish, largest fish, smallest fish, and first fish. In addition to the fishing fun, families also enjoyed minnow racing, a casting contest, face painting and a free lunch donated by our FFA boosters. After the event, all kids were giv

Written By Avery Mommsen. On May 6th, the FFA chapter visited a plethora of local businesses and establishments to complete service projects. A few examples included mulching at the DeWitt Historic Society, washing chairs and tables at the fairgrounds, and many more! Afterwards, the chapter met at Lincoln Park to mulch and take care of overgrown landscaping. Then, everyone met at Mezcal to enjoy the fruits of our labor, with lunch fully covered by the FFA chapter. Lastly, we

Written By Emily Sutton. For the final meeting of the year, the retiring officer team planned a scavenger hunt game for our members called Goose Chase. Members completed challenges like running a relay race on the track, finding the asparagus plot and posing with a piece of asparagus in their mouth, or finding a hidden officer and taking a picture with them. For dinner, former Sentinel Lucas Burken grilled hot dogs and brats for after the meeting and the Goose Chase. Thank yo

Written By Adam Wilke. The end of the school year is drawing near, but ag classes are still hard at work. The Ag Leadership class has been busy preparing for the final FFA chapter events. They helped run the Lil’ Anglers Fishing Derby and planned the May chapter meeting. They and the new officer team will be preparing for the club fair on May 19th to cap off the year. The floral design class recently created one sided asymmetrical flower arrangements for mothers day. Flowers

Written By Gavin Walker. FFA members Avery Heilig, Adi Schroeder, Sam Hootman, Will Vickers at Central DeWitt are excited to kick off another asparagus sale season! Fresh asparagus is available at the local farmers markets on Thursdays. Members have been working hard to take care and pick produce from our Asparagus plots at the school. Be sure to stop by the farmers market to support our FFA members, and enjoy some fresh local asparagus this spring!

Written By Lucas Burken. Floral Design: Students in Floral Design are just beginning to work with real flowers. They create bouquets, mug arrangements, and bud vases. The students also created centerpieces and two large potted arrangements for the FFA banquet. Agriculture Business: The class is working on learning about assets in a business and how to maintain a healthy business environment in the short term and in the long run. Horticulture: Students just finished preparing

Written By Adam Wilke. On Saturday, April 25th, over 100 members, parents, and guests congregated into the high school auditorium to see the Central DeWitt FFA chapter’s members be recognized for their hard work throughout the year. Chapter officers kicked off the awards by highlighting ways the chapter has demonstrated growth throughout the previous year. Following this was the degree ceremony, a perfect example of members who have grown throughout the year. Degrees recogniz

Written By Gavin Walker. The grand opening for the FFA Boosters plant sale is this week. We will be selling Hanging Baskets, Annuals, geraniums, veggies, succulents, etc. Location for this will be at the FFA Greenhouse behind the football bleachers. Times that you are able to buy plants: May 5th, 3:00- 5:00 PM May 9th, 9:00-11:00 AM May 11th, 3:00-5:00 PM

Written By Cooper Barber. On April 8th, five Central Dewitt FFA members attended the 15th annual Iowa Youth Institute (IYI) hosted by Iowa State University. Audrina Gordon, Kaite Grantz, Kalli Barber, Ethan Hoeft, and Cooper Barber all presented research papers on an agricultural issue affecting various countries around the world. The students also listened to talks given by former Governor and current CEO of the World Food Prize, Thomas Vilsack, and new Iowa State University

Written By Avery Mommsen. April's member of the month is Austin Nolin. Austin is an eighth-grade FFA member who's dove right into our program this year! Austin displayed terrific leadership skills and participation recently in FFA. He attended sub-districts and districts where he took the Discovery test and has advanced to take it at the state convention! Austin was also chosen to attend the middle school conference coming up! Austin's display of FFA knowledge and commitment

Written By Emily Sutton. This year prom was held at Tycoga Winery, where members Emily Sutton, Carlee Garrity, and Dalani Beuthien are pictured outside on this exceptionally chilly day while the dance was getting set up after the dinner, hosted by Cornerstop from Preston IA. Former President Emily Sutton was on prom court, prom king and queen were Kerrigan Jefford and Noah Ericksen. After Prom is hosted from 11 PM to 3 AM where many prizes were awarded including for the 14th

Written By Carlee Garrity. After a long season of contests, our members' hard work finally paid off. On Sunday, April 19th, the Central DeWitt FFA chapter left for Ames, ready to compete. That night, the group also took time to give to those in need and packaged meal packets at Iowa State University. The next day, Adam Wilke (competed in ag broadcasting), Taylor Houser (competed in prepared public speaking), Carlee Garrity (competed in chapter website), and Kamryn Keester (co

Written By Taylor Houser. On April 13th, FFA members attended the monthly meeting of the Central DeWitt FFA Chapter. Before the meeting, interviews were conducted in order to choose next year’s officer team! Once the meeting kicked off, members enjoyed a build-your-own sandwich bar and participated in a fun game of Mat Ball! The business meeting took place promptly at 7 PM, where members learned about upcoming volunteer opportunities, such as the fishing derby and setting up

Written By Avery Mommsen Mrs. Grantz's floral design class has been staying busy this March! Their most recent class materials are about the 8 principles of floral design. They've been working on slideshows to demonstrate their understanding of the topic. After spring break, they plan to start working with actual flowers to design beautiful arrangements this spring! A part of this class is FFA Vice President Emily Sutton. She gave her opinion on the class, “Floral design is j

Written By Lucas Burken. The DeWitt Central FFA chapter held its monthly meeting on Monday, March 9th. The evening began at 6:00 PM in the auxiliary gym, where members participated in archery tag, brought in by the Army National Guard. Before Archery tag started, the National Guard recruiter spoke to students about the benefits of joining and the opportunities the National Guard offers. Students had the chance to compete in friendly matches and enjoy the activity together. At

Written By Taylor Houser. Our March Member of the Month is Freshman Ruth Whitman! Ruth has been very active in FFA for being a first year member. She competed in the Creed Speaking LDE, where she received a bronze rating. She was one of 3 freshman members to compete in a contest this year. Ruth also served as a delegate at District Convention, where she voted for the FFA members who will represent the Southeast District on the 2026-2027 District Officer Team! She attended Nat

Written By Amy Grantz. On Saturday, March 14th, the FFA Boosters held their annual Farm Toy Show at the Clinton County Fairgrounds from 9am-2pm. Booster members showed up the night before with a handful of FFA students to get everything set up. The toy show drew in a large steady crowd all day long. Boosters had concessions on site as well as a handful of donated items for their raffle drawings. Each year farm toy vendors come from all over the county and surrounding counties

Written By Carlee Garrity. As spring approaches, the Horticulture class is busy planting flowers and vegetables to sell later next month at the FFA’s Annual Plant Sale, opening in April. Six kids in the Horticulture class plant every day, and the Floral Design class helps when needed. Most of the flower orders have come in, so the class hit the ground running to plant! Some flowers include Supertenuias, Calderas, Marigolds, and more. While a few examples of vegetables planted

Written By Gavin Walker. Caden and Avery have earned State Proficiency Awards, it shows their hard work, dedication, and excellence in what they do. Caden Bernauer has achieved 1st gold in Agricultural Education, and Avery Heilig achieved 3rd Gold in Vegetable Production at the state level. Their achievement shows their countless hours of effort and strong commitment that they have had. We’re incredibly proud of them and excited to see what they accomplish next. They definite

Written By Emily Sutton. Any FFA members who are looking to pursue an entrepreneurship SAE or otherwise have anything they would like to sell should take advantage of this opportunity this summer. The FFA will pay for a Farmers Market booth, which would give access to a space at every farmer’s market this summer. Farmer’s markets are on Thursday afternoons, and any FFA member who wants a booth must be committed to being there for most, if not all, of the markets. Please talk