Chapter Activity

By: Audrina Gordon The Central DeWitt FFA Chapter hosted Farm Safety Day on September 25th. Members within the chapter taught 88 4th graders about Large Animal, Chemical, Outdoor, ATV, PTO & Equipment, Water, Hunting, First Aid, Grain Bin and Fire, and Lawn Care Safety. Students participated in hands-on activities where they got to see things like a fire truck, farm animals, tractors, and all other sorts of equipment. A total of 36 FFA members participated, whether as group l

By: Owen Garrity On September 29th, 2026, the Central DeWitt FFA partook in District Soils Judging. The team included; Colton Clayes, Owen Garrity, Porter Votepak, and Zach Yuestler. The alternate team included Chritebel Mensah, and Marthe Vincent. The team scored 22nd bronze overall. The teammate to score the highest was Porter Votepak. The teams were sent out to the Eastern Iowa Center in Muscatine Iowa. They took a 40 question test about soils judging, then were sent out t

By: Ashton Leibold Eleven FFA members attended the Career Ag Adventure Day in Maquoketa at the Together We Build Center. This event was put on by the Iowa State University Extension for FFA members to learn more about all of the opportunities in agriculture. The members got to discover more about how technology is improving agriculture every single day. The members traveled between six different stations. They learned about drone applications, farming profitability, forestry,

By: Claire McGarry On Monday, September 21, 2026, many FFA members traveled to Pioneer Village for our chapter picture. The picture and officer headshots were taken by Ella Krukow. This year's chapter picture has a “wanted” theme, and the poster, along with the officer headshots, will have an old-time feel. Thank you to Ella Krukow for taking the time to take the pictures, and to all the members who came out to have their picture taken!

By: Owen Garrity Our member of the month for September was chosen by a fellow member for a few reasons. They believe Porter Vopatek has been very consistent in showing up and showing interest in meetings, events, and activities within our chapter. They believe he sets the bar high and is a great role model to younger members. I could not agree more and think that Porter is a perfect choice to choose as an outstanding member who goes above and beyond. Congratulations Porter!

By: Carlee Garrity On September 3rd, seven of our members attended the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa. Kids walked around the booths and learned about new farm technology and techniques, businesses and their goals, and innovations in agriculture. Sophomore Porter Vopatek says, "I had fun walking around with other students and getting to see the different kinds of vehicles used in Agriculture. My favorite display was the Chevy truck demo." Also, we would like to give a huge

By: Amy Grantz On Wednesday, September 30th, Central DeWitt agricultural education students welcomed Iowa FFA State Secretary Erica Driscoll and SE NE VP Gracyn Koehler from North Scott FFA to the ag education classroom for an engaging day focused on leadership and teamwork. Students participated in a variety of hands-on activities designed to strengthen communication, trust, cooperation, and problem-solving skills. Through interactive challenges, students worked together to

By: Avery Mommsen During the booster meeting on September 22nd, the Central DeWitt FFA boosters came together to discuss some of the most important updates and activities that are to come. Those include special features for sponsors of our farm toy show who have sponsored for 10 years. Not only that, but they discussed and reviewed ideas for future events, such as running concessions to help raise money for the chapter, and many more topics. They also covered the topic of mon

By: Owen Garrity On Thursday, September 17th, the Central DeWitt FFA Chapter had a float in the Central DeWitt Homecoming Parade. They had FFA members in the chapter in the parade to influence the idea for people to join FFA. Lots of people attended the parade, so this was a great opportunity for the chapter to represent themselves. We had a total of 13 people help out and/or attend the float. The members that did so included; Carlee Garrity, Audrina Gordon, Kinzie Gordon, Ka

By: Katie Grantz On September 14, our FFA members attended their first FFA meeting of the year! Thank you for joining us as we kicked off the year with an ice cream social. Smiley's Ice Cream kindly donated three flavors. Members could then choose different toppings to add on top! We had lots of fun before the meeting, playing various yard games and enjoying some friendly competition. During the meeting, we discussed many upcoming events for the next month! Hope to see all of

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 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 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 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. 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 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