The month of April started out with a special meeting. Approximately 100 members attended the Pitman FFA Easter Extravaganza meeting on April 16. Students were able to have an easter egg hunt, potato sack race, musical chairs, and hot potato with an egg pillow. This was our last monthly meeting of the school year, as May is our Spring Banquet, so we are excited to cap off this year’s meetings and can’t wait to see what members get awarded in May.
Our community service activity for this month was conducted on April 16 at the TUSD Farm. During the event, members were divided into teams and were assigned specific areas to clean. Some of the areas we focused on included the animal barns and the orchards. The event lasted about one hour, and a significant number of FFA members participated in the cleanup efforts, engaging in conversations, socializing, and contributing to the overall cleanliness of the farm. At the TUSD farm, individuals were engaged in cleaning up in the designated area they chose and were a great help to the farm coordinator, Ms. Hallock, to help get the farm ready for the first-grade tours she was hosting the following week!
Ten students at Pitman have earned their state degree at the Turlock Community Theater on Wednesday the twenty-second. Students received this award for the immaculate work they did with over 500 hours into their SAE (Supervised Agriculture Experience) projects where students had livestock projects, gardens, welding projects, and more. Some of the other requirements are having invested or earned one hundred dollars with their SAE projects, attended chapter events, events higher than the chapter and sectional levels, and had numerous community service activities. This is the highest FFA degree you can receive in high school your junior and senior year, or your first year out of high school. Overall, we can say the eleven students who were awarded this brought great pride to our community!
All students have been busy in their classrooms this month! In Engineering, they are in the middle of their woodworking unit, where they are building duck boxes after they concluded their derby cars based on their own blueprints unit. While engineering has been working on wood, our welding and fabrication classes had the opportunity to take a field trip to FishBio where they experienced hands-on learning with a wide range of potential career opportunities and a unique perspective on trade skills used in building and maintaining equipment used in this field. Alongside this tour, all students have been at work on their fair projects, such as their welded tractors, stoves, dice, and firepits. These students are working hard to earn some ribbons for Pitman FFA at the county fair in July! Biology has been learning about natural selection and artificial selection. Students were able to work through simulations to understand natural selection through survival of the fittest and how organisms adapt over time. Chemistry has been learning about what an Ion is, how to read them off of a picture, and how to figure out how many protons and electrons there are. They have also been learning the opposite way to solve for an Ion based on how many protons and neutrons they are given. Some topics they are learning about are borrowing ions from one element to share them with another. The advanced science class has been busy at work with their food systems unit, where they are finding and identifying foodborne illnesses, bacteria, and viruses that can be found in food. This unit is teaching them about food safety, and they were even able to get FoodSafe Certified to work in food-based facilities. Vet Medicine has been learning about the respiratory system and has finished learning about system issues such as wheezing, crackling, and stridor. After learning about these issues, students will be able to learn an applicable skill of CPR and checking vitals. Vet Science is currently learning about livestock, which includes their anatomy, breeds, selection methods, and how to properly care for them. To round out the unit, all students completed the YQCA certification to demonstrate their knowledge of nutrition and animal welfare.
Horticulture was focused on getting the greenhouse ready for their plant sale that took place on the 24th and 25th, which was a huge success, and they had a lot of community members' support. Lastly, our floral classes have been busy creating easter basket arrangements, bouquets that they got to wrap with floral paper, creating and delivering their monthly subscription arrangements, and painting a terracotta pot while using their knowledge of floral foam and stem placement to make Cinco de Mayo arrangements. These students love making pops of color come to life!
The spring banquet is almost here. Pitman FFA is holding its annual spring banquet on Thursday in the gym from 6-7 pm, and doors open at 5:30 pm, with a social hour from 5- 6 pm with food trucks and Pitman FFA merchandise for sale. During the banquet, members will be getting awards for LDE (Leadership Development Event) and CDE (Career Development Event) teams, being top overall students in AG, and having a deep involvement in the community. They will also receive awards for outstanding SAE projects and so much more!
— Article written by: Emmie Dominguez, Hunter Bertolotti, Khloe Hernandez, Valerie Vasquez, Alan Rivera, Dominick Lopez, Clara Fey, Ruby Picazo, Anahi Padilla, Kinsley Latter, Andrea Arias, Megan Ellis, Rafael Barrera, Salvador Lopez Alvarez, and Brianna Olson.
