FFA members with South Coast Regional Advisor Mr. Greg Beard and Mr. Ricards at the Ventura Sectional Competition.

The Made for Excellence (MFE) and Advanced Leadership Academy (ALA) conferences were held last week and hosted by the California State FFA Officers. Mr. Ricards and our chaperon Rose Martin hauled eight FFA members to Visalia for the night to have an amazing experience. The theme for both conferences was Knowledge is Power. Zahydie Martin, ’12, Jennifer Martin, ’13 and Anthony Perez, ’12 attended MFE which was led by State Officers Casey Erickson, Jacqueline Garcia and Lindsay Anderson. They were divided up into different groups and worked on various team activities, like an obstacle course in which the team was blind folded except for the captain who led them to safety. The members were encouraged to identify their strengths and interests so they could combine them to discover the goals they could achieve. Mean while, Ashley Jackson, ‘11, Candace Stines, ‘12, Alexus Galassi, ‘13, Brandon Pina, ‘12 and Brooke Aguirre, ’13, were busy attending ALA which was led by State Officers Ben Graham, Vince Pellegri and Jessica Vazquez. At the conference, the officers talked about problem solving. Students discovered three important needs our state has which included water, alternative resources and food safety. Then they gained knowledge on these issues and made plans of attacks to fix these problems. The room was energized to the extreme as members participated in team contests like game show quizzes and a dance competition. Everyone who attended MFE and ALA had an amazing time and can’t wait for the 2011 California State FFA Conference in April!

Last Wednesday the Fillmore Chapter attended the Ventura Section Public Speaking, Job Interview and Cooperative (Co-op) Quiz Competition at Camarillo High School. As a chapter, Fillmore placed 4th for the Co-op Quiz. Alexus Galassi, ’13, placed 3rd for Prepared Public Speaking, her speech was arguing the importance of Certified VS. Uncertified Farmer’s Markets. She also placed 1st in Job Interview. Brooke Aguirre, ’13, placed 2nd in Prepared Public Speaking, her speech was on Farm Theft and ways to prevent becoming a victim. Alexus and Brooke will be attending the South Coast Regional Meeting on March 8th to compete in Prepared Public Speaking against others in the region. Congratulations Fillmore FFA members!

After the heavy rains this past weekend, members took advantage of the sunshine Monday morning to clean the school farm in preparation for the Tractor Competition this Saturday. Wish us luck as we show off our tractor skills to other FFA Chapters!

Brooke Aguirre is the Fillmore FFA Chapter Reporter