🏅💙💛 8TH IN THE NATION. GOLD RATING. RESERVE CHAMPION INDIVIDUAL.💛💙🏅 Congratulations to the A-P FFA Livestock Judging Team for representing Iowa FFA at the 99th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis and earning a GOLD rating and 8TH PLACE FINISH IN THE NATION! 🇺🇸 Results are finally in, and this team has plenty to be proud of! Competing against the best FFA members in the country, these four individuals showcased their livestock evaluation knowledge, communication through oral reasons, grit, and teamwork. Last Wednesday, they evaluated 12 classes of livestock, delivered four sets of oral reasons, and completed a team activity. TEAM RESULTS 🔸Out of 46 state winning teams: 2nd High Team - Beef 6th High Team - Reasons 10th High Team - Sheep/Goats 11th High Team - Group Questions 12th High Team - Swine INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 🔸Out of 182 top individuals: 🔹Caylee Harken - 66th Overall | Silver Rating 41st Reasons | 42nd Beef | 50th Sheep/Goats | 118th Swine 🔹Kamie Helmke - 59th Overall | Silver Rating 51st Swine | 63rd Reasons | 64th Beef | 79th Sheep/Goats 🔹Sam Janssen - RESERVE CHAMPION INDIVIDUAL | Gold Rating 3rd Beef | 7th Sheep/Goats | 25th Reasons | 37th Swine 🔹Owen Price - 58th Overall | Silver Rating 30th Reasons | 33rd Beef | 71st Sheep/Goats | 79th Swine A MESSAGE FROM THE TEAM “We GREATLY appreciate the support of our families, fellow FFA members and classmates, those who helped us in all of our workouts, and especially our community. We are certainly stoked with the results! As competitors, of course we wanted to win it all. However, we are very proud of what we accomplished on FFA’s grandest stage. It is not lost on us how prestigious this really is. But we are certainly hungry for more! We look forward to working harder and preparing more than ever as we head to the 4-H division to reach another national contest! We hope this success has established a foundation for future Aplington-Parkersburg FFA teams and individuals!” These four have proven they belong among the nations’ best. Congratulations, Kamie, Caylee, Sam, and Owen! Our FFA Chapter and the entire A-P community are proud of you! 💙💛 #WeAreAP #IowaFFA #FFA26

A-P Community, get excited - Fruit Sales is nearly here! Fruit Sales will begin next Monday (9/28) and runs until October 30th! Members will be selling fruit, meat & cheese, candy, and cookie dough! If you are interested, please send a message to our social media account(s) and we will send a member your way! An early thank you - this fundraiser helps our chapter operate on an annual basis. We cannot thank everyone enough for their support year in and year out of this fundraiser!

We are celebrating National #TeachAg Day! We have former students who have been called to become Ag Educators. For these individuals, they know they are Educators by Choice, and NOT by Chance! We would like to showcase Ms. Jodie Johnson, a 2014 graduate of A-P High School! Ms. Johnson now teaches at North Butler High School. As far as we know, she is the first ever student to graduate from A-P and become an FFA Advisor! We are proud to call Ms. Johnson an alumni of our program and celebrate her today on National Teach Ag Day! #WeAreAP #RedPride #FFA

We are celebrating National #TeachAg Day! We have former students who have been called to become Ag Educators. For these individuals, they know they are Educators by Choice, and NOT by Chance! We would like to showcase Mr. Collin Johnson, a 2018 graduate of A-P High School! Mr. Johnson now teaches at Newell-Fonda High School. We are proud to call Mr. Johnson an alumni of our program and celebrate him today on National Teach Ag Day! #WeAreAP #RedPride #FFA

We saved the most meaningful post of the 98th Iowa FFA State Leadership Convention for last! It is truly humbling to see the scope of what it all takes! Our record number of Iowa FFA Degree Recipients is something special for this small, rural FFA Chapter. Thirteen... Thirteen students worked tirelessly in their work-based learning programs, community service, leadership activities, and agricultural education coursework. The character of these 13 members is beyond understanding. Their drive, commitment, and effort will forever be earmarked in our history books. What they comprised as a small group from our total chapter is quite impressive. Collectively, they have earned over $103,000 through work-based learning projects (SAE’s), combined for over 1,000 hours of community service, completed thousands of hours of FFA activities and leadership commitments, and maintained stellar academic achievement. All of these are substantiated by accurate and detailed record keeping that started on their first day of agricultural education classes. What is the most remarkable? We hope it is obvious to see in the large group photo: More than 50 family members joined us for the 4th and final session of convention on Tuesday afternoon. It takes a mountain of support and VILLAGE of people to create such outstanding young professionals. Starting from the ground up: The parents and family members who raise these members. The community where they are from and the school district that guides them. The teachers, the coaches, the staff, the mentors, the spiritual counselors... *the everything*. It all is encapsulated (in small part) by the large group photo. The work of so many students paid off and we had one of the most special afternoons our chapter ever had. These 13 members have paved the way for the expectation of the future. They have set the bar high and are building a new standard. We could not be more happy for them on their achievements. We look forward to continuing that celebration as we arrive at the banquet this Sunday! Aplington-Parkersburg FFA is so PROUD of these members! #FFA #LivingToServe #WeAreAP #RedPride

📷 WE ARE FINALIST & NEED YOUR VOTE! 📷 We’re excited to share that Aplington-Parkersburg FFA is 1 of the 4 finalists in the "@IAS_Coop, FFA Community Impact Challenge"! Our "Elementary Ag in the Classroom" educational initiative builds awareness of Agriculture for our littles in 2nd grade. So far, our young agriculturalist have LOVED our visits. We are looking to purchase materials and equipment that can make this initiative a PERMANENT staple in our Program of Activities... BUT we need YOUR vote to bring home the prize! 📷 Vote for us here: innovativeag.com/customer/ff… With your vote, we can win the grand prize of $1,000 or runner up prize of $500! Please help us build an appreciation for agriculture for some of our youngest students at @APFalcons Aplington-Parkersburg Community School District! Please like, share, and vote! EVERY vote counts! 📷