Chapter Activity

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

Written By Emily Sutton. On Monday, December 15th, Dewitt FFA held its second annual Roots to Riches event at the Clinton County Fairgrounds with over 90 FFA members and guests present. This event doubled as the December meeting and an opportunity for FFA members and their parents to learn more about FFA contests, as well as the benefits they provide to members throughout not just their FFA careers but also their future professional careers. At Roots to Riches three Hall of F

Written By Coy Krukow. Central DeWitt FFA members with market beef brought in their cattle to weigh-ins on Saturday, December 20, 2025, at the DeWitt Vet Clinic. The event gave FFA members the opportunity to officially record weights for their market projects. Members worked alongside advisors and local veterinarians to ensure accurate and efficient weights, DNA samples, and date of birth. These things help track animal growth and prepare for upcoming shows and record books.

Written By Taylor Houser An informal gathering of the Central Dewitt FFA Boosters was held on December 15th, 2025 in the Clinton County Fairgrounds auditorium. In collaboration with the Roots to Riches event, parents of FFA students attended a breakout session with the boosters. Approximately 57 guests were present at the meeting. Parents were invited to attend boosters meetings, which are held on the third Monday of each month in the high school ag room. The boosters informe

Written By Macy Poll. This month's member of the month is IzabellaMayer. Izabella is a Freshman, and this is her second year in FFA. Izabella’s favorite part about FFA is the experience and the people. She has already taken on a few leadership roles this year, including helping with concessions for the boosters and assisting with the Welton fire breakfast. Last year she participated in the give back kick back. Her SAE is asparagus plot. We would also like to recognize that sh

Written By Claire McGarry. The December SAE update on AET is due December 31. You will need to complete 10 entries that are mainly related to your SAE project. If you don’t have enough SAE activities to reach 10, you may include classroom activities to meet the requirement. Be sure to upload a picture of yourself working on your SAE or participating in an agriculture-related classroom activity if your SAE isn’t active right now. Also, make sure to update any new community ser

Written By Carlee Garrity. With competition season coming up, we ask all members to fill out the sign-ups our FFA coach Skylar Bator sent out in an email a while ago. I also created a document with the title of each event, a small description, and a link to the rules and regulations of each specific event. Mrs.Grantz and Skylar will look over the survey and assign students to each specific event. If you have an opinion on what contest you want to compete in, please fill out t

Written By Lucas Burken. On Monday, December 1st, from 8:30-12:15 several FFA members and NHS members helped decorate at Dewitt Fieldstone. Our group worked together to decorate trees, windows, and different areas around the facility, we also went around and caroled for the residents eating lunch and sitting in there rooms. There were about 40 people helping in total, including three FFA memb ers, which made the work go much faster. As one of the workers said “without all thi