Archived News

Wacky Wednesday Results

(04/18/2013)

Congratulations to the new Section 9 President from Heyworth, Emily Bloemer. Elizabeth Brown also ran for office. Serving as delagates for Heyworth was Emily Hanlin and Samantha Klein. Heyworth''''s Drake Gardner is the Runner Up for Section 9 Star Greenhand. Both of Heyworth''''s Varsity Quiz Bowl teams received a red rating at the contest and the Greenhand team won the JV contest! Heyworth placed second in both Horticulture and Agribusiness CDE''''s with several students placing in the top ten.

Chapter Visits with Tyson Schulte

(10/13/2012)

FFA members received a visit from Section 9 FFA President-Sam Detwiler (center left), State FFA Treasurer-Tyson Schulte (center), and Section 9 Vice President-Mitch Miller (center right). Tyson talked to the students about the National FFA Organization, opportunities available to FFA members, and the importance of setting goals.

Past Year at a Glance

(08/09/2012)

The Heyworth FFA Program has had another successful year winning awards at the local, state, and national levels. For the second year in a row, Heyworth has won the Blue and Gold award. The Blue and Gold award is based on a point system that rewards chapters for the active participation and overall success of the chapter. A FFA chapter gets points for everything they participate in from, public speaking contest to an ag expo. Basically, out of the 12 schools in Section 9, Heyworth is the most successful. Heyworth beat Pontiac, second place, by almost 3,000 points. Our chapter participated in 164 activities in 2012.

Super Wednesday

(04/30/2012)

Many students competed at the Super Wednesday CDEs this year at Prairie Central. Nathan Kindred and Tanner Stout showed off their mad skills during the Ag Mechanics CDE. Nathan took part in the ag power portion of the contest and placed fourth. Tanner placed second out of twelve in the welding department. The students who competed at the Horticulture Contest brought home a win for Heyworth. Individually, Megan Bloemer placed second, Evan Patrick placed fifth, Jessica Bristow placed, sixth, Bart Goodrich placed eighth, and AJ Hamand place ninth. Four students from the Ag Business class, along with Emily Hanlin, competed in the Ag Business CDE. Zach Ferrie placed fifth, Sam Klein placed seventh, Kristina Peters tied for eighth, and Tyler Quinton placed ninth individually. This year, Heyworth brought three teams to the Quiz Bowl Contest. the greenhand team dominated the competition and won the greenhand bracket. Heyworth varsity team one placed first and team two placed second in the varsity competition. Emily Hanlin took her treasurer book and won first place with 984/1000 points. Sam Klein also placed first with her secretary book. Shirley Estes and Chelsea Ferrie interviewed for Section 9 star greenhand. Chelsea received first place with Shirley being a close second. To end the night, Emily Bloemer, Elizabeth Brown, and Sam Klein ran for section officer. They all gave wonderful speeches. Emily Hanlin and Evan Patrick represented Heyworth as delegates. Congratulations to the 2012-2013 Section 9 Reporter, Emily Bloemer!

Meats CDE

(03/30/2012)

On February 29, Sam Berry, Tyler Quinton, Page Powers, Gavin Young, Trevor Frost, Chris Massman, and Nathan Kindred traveled to the Chenoa meat locker to compete in the Section 9 Meats CDE. The Meats contest consists of the evaluation of beef and pork carcasses, judging ribeye beef cuts, judging hog loins, as well as the identification of retail meat cuts. After ranking fourth at the section contest, the team attended the State Meats CDE in Urbana, IL on March 3. The Meats Team received a white rating at the State competition.

Proficiency Interviews 2012

(03/21/2012)

Congratulations to all of the Heyworth FFA members who participated in proficiency interviews. After chapter interviews on February 2, the top recordbook in each proficiency area moved on to the Section 9 Proficiency Interviews on February 16. Heyworth had 12 students participate in the section contest. Out of these students, 8 of them won their SAE area and advanced to district. The District 2 competition was held on March 14, at Joliet Junior College. Emily Bloemer-Wildlife Management Placement, Sam Klein-Agriculture Communications, and Zach Ferrie-Emerging Agriculture Technology won district and will be competing at the state contest on April 14, at the University of Illinois.

Click more to view the youtube video of the Section 9 Proficiency Interviews!
more

National FFA Week 2012

(02/16/2012)

Monday

No School-President's Day
We will decorate the school starting at 8:00am. All students are invited!

Tuesday

Theme: Ag Apparel/Official Dress Day
Class Activity: Team Building Activities
Lunch Activity: Limbo Contest
Other: Petting Zoo Set up (after school)

Wednesday

Theme: Ugly Sweater Day
Class Activity: Petting Zoo
Lunch Activity: Name That Song
Other: Petting Zoo Clean up (after school)

Thursday

Theme: Western Day
Class Activity: Ag Olympics
Lunch Activity: Redneck Horse Shoes
Other: Community Dinner, Teacher Appreciation Dinner

Friday

Theme: Blue and Gold Day
Class Activity: Pedal Tractor / Toy Tractor Race
Lunch Activity: Tug-of-War
Other: Kiss-a-Piglet Assembly, Eighth Grade Ag Day, FFA Week Clean up (after school)

1950 Allis Chalmers C

(01/12/2012)
AFTER

Heyworth ag students have finished restoring this year''''''''s tractor to raffle off. It is a 1950 Allis Chalmers C. Tickets are 1 for $5 or 5 for $20. The funds collected are used to give students scholarships, send them to leadership conferences, and restore the next tractor. If you would like to buy a ticket, students will be selling them all year long. We will raffle it off at the community dinner on November 7, 2012.

BEFORE

Section 9 Parli Pro CDE

(01/11/2012)

Heyworth Greenhand Team: Top left-Dalton Williamson, Nick Roysdon, Austin Graf, second row-Shirley Estes, Brianna Stengel, Chelsea Ferrie

On January 11, the Greenhand and Varsity Parli Pro teams traveled to Flanagan-Cornell to compete. Both teams did very well. The Greenhand Parli Pro team placed first out of the Greenhand teams. The Varsity placed third. Brianna Stengel, the Greenhand president, received a nearly impossible score: 99/100! The Greenhand team will represent Section 9 at the District Parli Pro CDE in Joliet on March 21.

Out of the Greenhands from Section 9

Briana Stengel is the first place president
Chelsea Ferrie is the third place secretary
Nick Roysdon is the second place floor person
Dalton Williamson is the third place floor person
Austin Graf is the seventh place floor person
Shirley Estes is the eighth place floor person

Out of the Varsity teams from Section 9

Jeff Bryan is the third place president
Samantha Klein is the fourth place secretary
Emily Bloemer is the sixth place floor person
Elizabeth Brown is the seventh place floor person

Third Grade Ag Day

(01/10/2012)

Where does a Christmas tree come from? Ask a third grader at Heyworth Elementary School. On Wednessday, December 14, students from the Heyworth FFA Chapter visited the third grade classrooms and taught them about Christmas trees. The third graders enjoyed making a Christmas tree craft and talking to the high school students. Kristina Peters, Zach Ferrie, and Elizabeth Brown worked on enhancing thier communication skills while talking to the younger students.

Agronomy/Dairy Foods CDE

(12/12/2011)

On November 30, 2011, Heyworth FFA sent teams to Prairie Central High School to compete in the Section 9 Agronomy/Dairy Foods CDE. At the Section 9 contest, Heyworth placed fourth in Agronomy and third in Dairy Foods with Kyle Schultz placing 8th overall individually in Dairy Foods. The top four or five team members from each participating school advanced to the State Agronomy/Dairy Foods CDE on December 10th in Urbana. Students are still waiting to hear how they did.

Section 9 Blue and Gold Point Standings

(12/11/2011)

This chart shows Blue and Gold points as of December 7, 2011.

Heyworth FFA is currently in the lead in the Section 9 competition for Blue and Gold points. All 12 schools in Section 9 are ranked throughout the year on how active the Ag Program is and how well they do competing against other schools. Blue and Gold points are earned for participation and success at the section level thru national levels in CDE’s; attendance at workshops, conferences and conventions; and many more activities. There are 34 Career
Development Events (CDE) each year targeted for specific groups of students such as: freshmen, horticulture students, ag business students, ect. Food Science, Trap Shoot, Forestry and Agronomy are some of the CDE’s that Heyworth’s FFA members have already competed in this year. Heyworth FFA members have also earned Blue and Gold points by attending the FFA National Convention in Indianapolis, IN, Illinois State Convention in Springfield, Illinois Ag
Expo’s, Greenhand Conference and workshops, LTS workshop at U of I, WLC, FFA Leadership Camp, and much more.

Last year’s Blue and Gold Points Winners for Section 9 were #1-Heyworth FFA, #2- Pontiac FFA, and #3- Prairie Central FFA. Support Heyworth FFA as they work to win top ranking in Section 9 Blue and Gold points once again.

Heyworth FFA Community Service

(12/09/2011)

On November 22, seven members of the officer team rang bells for Salvation Army outside of Macy's at Eastland Mall. The students had a great time ringing bells, collecting money, and telling people about this great organization. The Heyworth FFA Chapter is planning on doing a community service each month. On December 21, several officers will be sorting food at the Midwest Food Bank. Happy Holidays!

National Winners

(11/11/2011)

Results are in! Our State FFA winners Megan Bloemer, Kelsey Davis, and Olivia Harris competed on the national level this October. Megan Bloemer received a gold rating for her recordbook in wildlife management. She was ranked in the top 10 in the nation! Kelsey Davis received a bronze rating with her equine science recordbook as did Olivia Harris with her agriculture communications recordbook. Olivia Harris presented her prepared public speech to a panel of judges at National FFA Convention. She received a silver rating, her personal goal. She is ranked in the top 16 in the in the nation! Excellent job ladies!

Tractor Giveaway/Community Dinner

(11/06/2011)

Megan Bloemer and Roy Blade with Roy's 1948 8N Ford tractor, newly refurbished by the Heyworth FFA Chapter.

On November 2, the Heyworth FFA held it's annual Tractor Giveaway/Community Dinner. The winning ticket was drawn by District 4 Superintendent, Randy Merker. The winner of our restored 1948 8N Ford is Roy Blade from Greenup, Illinois. Congratulations Roy and thanks to everyone who bought tickets and came to the community dinner!

National FFA Convention

(10/25/2011)

The twelve most active FFA members from Heyworth received the opportunity to attend National Convention. Though the weather was gloomy, the 52,000 FFA members from all over the nation gathered in Indianapolis, Indiana to have an excellent time. Students walked through Indy to attend leadership sessions, explore the career fair, and enjoy various other activities. During the sessions students heard inspiring words from keynote speakers, saw award ceremonies, listened to the retiring addresses of 2010-2011 national officers, and met the 2011-2012 national officers. Several businesses and colleges set up booths to talk to students about the future at the convention career show. Heyworth members also attended a hypnotist show, rodeo, and concert put on by Steel Magnolia, Little Big Town, and Blake Shelton. All students can agree that National Convention is the experience of a lifetime.

Soils CDE

(10/18/2011)
The BSAA class started the year with the study of soil science. Their studying paid off because the Heyworth Soils team placed third at section against twelve other schools. Chris Massman place seventh individual and Page Powers placed tenth. Our top four individuals moved onto state. This team received a white rating. Good job Heyworth!

FFA Chapter Community Service

(09/25/2011)

Heyworth FFA Bobby Rewerts, Emily Hanlin, Emily Bloemer, Megan Bloemer, Elizabeth Brown, Tyler Quinton, and Evan Patrick pose with the winner of the coloring contest and her dad.

This year Heyworth FFA is doing monthly community service. for the September community service we worked at the Pheasants Forever Banquet. We helped with the children's stations. There was a coloring contest, snow cones, and various opportunities for the kids to win prizes. Heyworth FFA also led The Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of the banquet.
more

Section 9 Forestry CDE

(09/18/2011)

Team 1-Third Place- Left to Right: Emily Hanlin, Alan Dilks, Roland Hammond, Emily Bloemer, Elizabeth Brown(Tenth Place Individual)

On September 14, seven students in the Ag Sciences class attended the Forestry CDE in Monticello, IL. Students were cold and wet, but they used the knowledge that they learned in class to identify chainsaw parts, forestry equipment, tree disorders, map symbols, trees, measure tree height, and take a written test. The team placed third in Section 9. Our top ranking individual, Elizabeth Brown, placed tenth in Section 9.
more

2011-2012 Officer Team

(09/01/2011)

Congratulations to our 2011-2012 officer team.

Megan Bloemer- President
Zach Ferrie- Vice President
Kristina Peters-Reporter
Samantha Klein-Secretary
Emily Hanlin- Treasurer
Carley Cotner- Sentinel
Evan Patrick- Chaplin
Elizabeth Brown- Parliamentarian
Emily Bloemer- Historian

Miss Watson

(07/22/2011)

The 2011-12 Heyworth FFA student teacher is currently a student at Illinois State University majoring in Agriculture Education. Kara Watson graduated Rantoul High School. When she was in FFA, she did her recordbook on Diversified Crop Production with her strawberry plants. Her favorite part of FFA was the conventions. She also enjoyed the Poultry and Dairy Foods CDE. She held the offices of Chapter Historian, Reporter, and President in Rantoul. In addition to being an active FFA member, Miss Watson was on the soccer team and student council. As a senior she was named student of the month. Kara now looks forward to working with Heyworth students on a personal level. Miss Watson already began working with the Heyworth FFA Chapter during her summer internship by attending farm shows, State Convention, and Officer Retreat.

2011 Officer Retreat

(07/18/2011)

July 13-15, the Heyworth Officer Team spent time planning the next year of activities. They also visited the St. Louis Arch, canoed twelve miles down the current river in Southern Missouri, and explored caves. Your 2011-12 President, Historian, and Adviser also crawled through a tiny cavern called Fat Man Squeeze. If you want to see more of what they did check out the heyworthffa youtube page.

I hope you have all had a great summer. Keep working on your recordbooks!
more

State Convention 2011

(06/18/2011)

Olivia Harris

On June 13-16, the Illinois Association FFA held its annual State Convention. On Monday, Heyworth FFA took part in Work Day and volunteered by shoveling mulch. Olivia Harris, Kelsey Davis, and Megan Bloemer received their State Proficiency Award. Megan Bloemer also received her State Degree and was named top 10 Reporter in the state of Illinois. Erica Navis was recognized as a top 10 President in Illinois. Olivia Harris got her award for State Prepared Public Speaking and gave her incredible speech on wind energy in front of over 3,000 people. Heyworth was also awarded many other chapter awards. At State Convention, the FFA Chorus, Band, and talent preformed and new State Officers and Section Presidents were installed. Below the convention center, was a career fair. Many colleges came to talk to students about their future. In addition, workshops were hosted by past State Officers and many students attended the dance on Tuesday night. Overall everybody had a good time.

Section 9 Banquet

(05/21/2011)

Left-Leon Peters, 2010-2011 Section President
Right-Megan Bloemer, 2011-2012 Section President

On May 12, four schools in Section 9 attended the Section 9 Banquet. Many students from Heyworth attended the banquet and received awards that they won. Heyworth was also awarded the Blue ans Gold award for most active and successful chapter. During the ceremony, former President, Leon Peters gave his retiring address and new officers were installed.
more

Olivia, a State Winner

(05/14/2011)

Olivia Harris-right

Once again, Olivia Harris has won State Pubic Speaking. This year, she wrote a prepared public speech. She had to write a speech that had something to do with agriculture, memorize it, and then give her speech to judges. Olivia Harris has won a different State CDE every year that she has been in FFA. She will be competing in the National Public Speaking Contest at National FFA Convention next October. Good Job Olivia!

State Proficiency Awards

(04/03/2011)

On April 2, three of our Heyworth FFA members won State Proficiency! These are the first State Proficiency winners in the history of our chapter. Megan Bloemer won Wildlife Management, Kelsey Davis won in Equine Science, and Olivia Harris in Ag Communications. Out of 1000 students from around the state they were narrowed down to five and then a state winner was selected. Finalists were interviewed about their record books to see whose is the best. Congratulations!

District 2 Proficiency

(03/18/2011)

On March 16, several Heyworth students attended the District 2 Proficiency Interviews in Joliet. Students competed against 50 other schools. Megan Bloemer won first place in Wildlife Management, Olivia Harris won first place in Ag Communications, and Kelsey Davis won first place in Equine Science. In second place were Zach Ferrie with his Emerging Ag Technology SAE, Kristina Peters with her Ag Education SAE, Travis Morr with his Home and Community Development SAE, and Austin Sinn with his Grain Production SAE. The first place individuals will compete against five other schools at State Proficiency on April 2, at the University of Illinois.

FFA Week Petting Zoo

(02/26/2011)

On Wednesday, February 23, the Heyworth FFA Chapter hosted its annual petting zoo. They had piglets, cattle, guinea pigs, lambs, goats, rabbits, a llama, and a pony. Many of the Elementary School students visited High School Ag Shop to see the animals. It was a great way to get the kids involved! The petting zoo was organized and run by the Ag students.

Section 9 Proficiency Awards

(02/23/2011)

On February 16, Heyworth Student Attended the Section 9 Proficiency Awards in Pontiac. The following students will be attending District Proficiency Awards in Joliet on March 16, against 56 other schools.

Austin Sinn- Grain Production Placement- 1st Place
Zach Ferrie- Emerging Ag Technology Placement- 1st Place
Megan Bloemer- Wildlife Management Placement- 1st Place
Olivia Harris- Ag Communications Placement- 1st Place
Kristina Peters- Ag Education Placement- 1st Place
Travis Morr- Home & Community Development Placement- 1st Place
Joe Altieri- Food Service Placement- 2nd Place
James Marr- Turf Grass Management Placement- 4th Place
Kelsey Davis- Equine Science Ownership- 1st Place
Erica Navis- Speciality Animal Production Ownership- 3rd Place

Section 9 Public Speaking

(02/23/2011)

On February 18, four Heyworth members attended the Section 9 Public Speaking CDE against 11 other schools. Heyworth did very well. Olivia Harris placed first in prepared public speaking. Her speech was on wind energy. Sam Klein placed first in extemporaneous public speaking, and in creed speaking, Jessica Bristow placed second and Emily Bloemer placed fourth. The first and second place speakers will attend District Public Speaking on April 6.

FFA Week Community Dinner

(02/22/2011)
On February 24, the Heyworth FFA chapter will be hosting a community dinner for all Ag students, families, and the community to celebrate FFA Week. It will begin at 6pm at the Heyworth High School Cafeteria. Enjoy a FREE dinner consisting of fried chicken, green beans, potato salad, and refreshments.

***All Ag students need to bring a pot luck dish!***

Heyworth FFA Week Schedule

(02/20/2011)

Monday

No School-President's Day

Tuesday

Theme: Camo Day
Class Activity: Minute to Win It Activities
Lunch Activity: How many Kernels are in the Jar?
Other: Money Wars Begin

Wednesday

Theme: Dress-Like-a-Farmer Day
Class Activity: Petting Zoo
Lunch Activity: Bags
Other: Money Wars Continue

Thursday

Theme: Flannel / Pajama Day
Class Activity: Ag Oylmpics
Lunch Activity: Don’t Forget the Lyrics Activity
Other: Last Day of Money Wars!

Friday

Theme: Blue and Gold Day
Class Activity: Pedal Tractor / Toy Tractor Race
Lunch Activity: Milk Mustache Contest
Other: Kiss-a-Goat Assembly, Junior High Scavenger Hunt

Proficiency Interviews

(02/02/2011)
Due to bad weather and school cancellation, the proficiency interviews that were scheduled for February 2, will take place during your Ag class.

Gordyville Ag Expo

(01/31/2011)

Kristina Peters, Carley Cotner, Megan Bloemer

On January 26 and 27, Heyworth Ag students took their restored 1948 8N Ford tractor to the Gordyville Ag Expo. They sold raffle tickets and talked to people about their tractor and about FFA. Students were also interviewed by the morning show on Channel 3 out of Champaign. On top of that Heyworth Ag students were interviewed by the radio about the importance of today's agriculture and about how Heyworth FFA is preserving agriculture through its tractor restoration. The students are still selling raffle tickets to the community. You can by one ticket for $5 or five tickets for $20 for a chance to win the tractor. Contact any Heyworth Ag student for more information.

2011 MFE Conference

(01/30/2011)

On Friday January 28, and Saturday January 29, six freshman and sophomore Ag students attended the 212° Made For Excellence Leadership Conference in Schaumburg, IL. While there, they attended six learning sessions. They learned about taking it to the next degree through their character, virtue, goals, and decisions. Heyworth senior Ag student Olivia Harris also attended the MFE Conference. She spoke to FFA advisers about the Job Interview CDE. "We had a lot of fun and learned many new things," said Greenhand, Elizabeth Brown.

Left to right: Illinois State President-John Edgar, Samantha Klein, Elizabeth Brown, Emily Bloemer, Konnor Hull, Gavin Young, Chris Massman