Pitman FFA started the month of February by going to the Sectional Competition at Turlock High School, where they had 23 members participate in numerous public speaking events. Their BIG Team had five members who competed: Jazmine Wolfe-Hunnicutt, Evalyn Garcia-Arciga, Alexander Lopes, Kinsley Latter, and McKenzie Mutchler. BIG placed 3rd Overall. The Creed team had one member compete, Alexander Lopes, who took 5th Overall. El Credo Azul had one member compete, Anette Carrillo, who took 2nd Overall. The El Credo team had three members compete, Maritza Jimenez, Yosgart Toledo and Kiara Velazquez, with Kiara placing 2nd Overall. The Job Interview team had three members who competed, Madison Staley, Brianna Garcia and Carter Ippolito. Madison Staley placed 2nd Overall, and Carter Ippolito placed 4th Overall. In the Prepared Speech, Brianna Olson competed and placed 5th Overall. In Extemporaneous, Megan Ellis competed. Lastly, Water Issues had five members who competed, Avery Brasil, Samantha Macklin, Emma Hurt, Dania Ayala, and Elena Lopez, and this team placed 3rd overall. Overall, Pitman FFA did amazing in this sectional competition, and many are moving on to regionals and possibly the state competition as well. We are very proud of these members and their accomplishments.

Pitman FFA had 20 sophomores and juniors attend the MFE and ALA Leadership Conference in Modesto on Feb. 6 and 7. These members were able to join with other chapters, plan future events, meet with the California FFA State Officers, and learn new team bonding activities. The skills these members learned will better benefit their futures, as well as what they bring back to our own program to make it stronger and better.

Fifty members attended the World Ag Expo in Tulare on Feb. 10. The members gained valuable insights into the future of agriculture and networked with industry professionals from around the globe. The World Ag Expo is the largest annual agricultural show, featuring over 1,200 exhibitors and attracting an estimated 100,000 attendees from over 70 countries. Pitman FFA members had an unforgettable experience speaking with businesses and colleges about their products and services.

For the community service this month, Pitman FFA passed out the Valentine's cards that members made last month in January. Members met at the Cogir Living Home in Turlock and were able to pass out cards with flowers to the residents while getting the opportunity to talk with them about their day and family. The residents and home were very thankful for this act of kindness around the holiday.

Pitman FFA also celebrated National FFA Week from the 23rd to the 27th. Each day, students were able to dress up for a different theme. On Monday, the theme was Merica Monday, and students dressed up in red, white, and blue or their best USA outfits. On Tuesday, students dressed up with their friends for Twin Tuesday or could do a student-teacher swap with an advisor. Wednesday’s theme was country vs. country club; students could either wear their western best in plaids or their bright preppy golf and tennis attire. Thursday was hunter versus fisherman, where students got to choose which side they wanted to represent. For hunters, they wore camouflage outfits, and for fishermen, they wore bucket hats and overalls. For Friday’s dress up, the theme was farmer’s day off, students got to wear their comfiest PJs. Every day of FFA week, there were also different lunch activities where members could participate to earn prizes.

Students were able to participate in lunch activities throughout the week. On Monday, the lunch activity was The Amazing FFA Race, where members participated in a scavenger hunt around campus. Students got into teams of three, received an envelope that contained a clue for their starting point, and then they had to find all of the locations to reveal letters of a word. Once they found all of the letters, they had to unscramble the word to reveal the finish line destination. For Tuesday’s lunch activity, students got to see and learn more about all of the different ag pathways Pitman has to offer through an Ag Showcase activity with hands-on activities for the classes Pitman offers. Wednesday’s lunch activity was a Clash of Classes game where students could represent one of their teachers and play on their team through tournament-style games. These games consisted of tug-of-war, three-legged-race, and sack racing. Thursday's lunch activity was a Barnyard Bash and Field Day activity where students were able to run free and participate in any games they wanted, such as volleyball, cornhole, spike ball, and ladder golf. Friday's lunch activity was known as Kiss the Pork and Eat the Fork. Campus faculty were nominated and voted on to kiss a piglet brought to campus that day, while the entire officing team, along with advisors and campus faculty, were in the line to be pied by members in a fundraiser. The fundraiser consisted of members bringing in one dollar to pie anyone they wanted. Throughout the week, there were also three classroom activities on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Monday’s lesson was on the importance of official dress and the blue jacket, where members were able to make a flat FFA member of themselves through a flat Stanley idea, and then they presented on FFA topics through a shark tank idea, such as whether the FFA emblem or the FFA uniform is more important or is robot operated farmers versus human operated farms better. Wednesday’s classroom lesson was a presentation on FFA topics and facts, while members filled in their own bingo cards to play a game on the items presented. This day was also followed by a fun Kahoot based on the facts presented. Lastly, Friday’s lesson was a build your own sustainable farm activity where members were able to make a sweet treat while learning how to preserve farming land. Some of the items were sprinkling green sprinkles as grass, blue frosting as irrigation, and animal crackers as the livestock. In the end, Pitman FFA had an amazing week filled with fun memories and experiences!

— Recap written by: Anette Carillo, Aryanna Hernandez, Clara Fey, Kinsley Latter, and Brianna Olson