Almost forty Sutherlin FFA members planted two-hundred forty trees in record time at Ford's Pond. This was a continuation of reestablishing the Oak Tree Savanah on the park's west side. This multi-year project started five years ago when the acorns were collected and planted in the greenhouse and then planted three years later. In 2021 more acorns were collected and are now in the ground ready to grow! A great crew worked on this project and it went very smoothly!

On January 29th, 40 students participated in our annual chapter speaking night. All of the competitions available to members were Creed speaking, Job interview, Beginning, Sophomore, Advanced, and Extemporaneous speaking. We had many members competing in each of these! Brooklyn Baker, Reece Sandberg, and Addi Cross will be representing Sutherlin in Creed! Lane Gomes, Khloe Grotting, Travis Ragon, Bree Sulffridge, and Ryder Murphy will be moving on for beginning and advanced job interviews. Moving on to public speaking will be Lane Gomes, Khloe Grotting, Raylan Kimbrel, Camila Castillon-Gordian, Jada Gary, and Lainey Sherman. Lastly, Ashley Palm and Makenna Cantwell will represent us in extemporaneous speaking. Each member represented their chapter very well! Thank you to everyone who helped judge and score these members!

Our chapter started this year with a bang! The very first week back from break, all juniors and seniors taking a plant science or animal science class risked boldly and prepared a 6 to 8-minute speech to share in front of their classmates. With the only requirement being to create a speech about agriculture, the amount of different topics presented was amazing. From hearing about invasive species, and precision agriculture, to carbon emissions, the diversity of information provided was endless. Great work was put in by all!

On January 31st, our chapter held our mini-district convention where many events occurred. Co-op Quiz, Beginning rituals, district officer nominating committee, and the first round of proficiencies, were all going simultaneously. Members placing in the Co-op quiz will advance and compete at the state convention in March! Hayleigh Mock placed third! Our beginning ritual competitors are our 2023-24 Jr. Officers who placed first! Ashley Palm is slated for district president and Camilla Castillon-Gordian is slated at Sentinel. We are so proud of them and will be rooting for them as they continue this process! On February 7th the new district officer team will be announced. Members who advance in proficiencies will be recognized at the state convention for their outstanding SAEs. Addison Roberts and Olivia Campbell are moving on to compete at state!

The January Chapter meeting was a great one! For the past couple of years there has not been a chapter meeting in January so having one this year was awesome! At this meeting, our members spent time creating a sheet with some personal goals for the upcoming year as well as started planning events for our upcoming FFA Week. Our committees started the brainstorming process to ensure that our FFA Week is the best one yet!

This year we had 10 members apply for their state degree. At this point, they have filled out their digital application explaining their SAE and progress in FFA. They will then move on to an in-person presentation in front of a panel of judges, where they will find out if they will qualify for their degree. If they qualify they will get the opportunity to walk across the stage at the State Convention that is held in March.

During Christmas Break the chapter officers spent an afternoon reviewing the first semester and planning out upcoming events. The chapter and committee goals were checked up on to make sure we are on track to meet those by the end of the year. It was a fun and productive afternoon planning and hanging out with each other.

January Editors: Gabrielle Cook, Ashely Palm, and Marley Griggs

Sutherlin AST Agricultural Communications