The community service for April took place from the 4th to the 15th. There was good member support with the chapter donating a total of around 200 items to the Stanislaus County Animal Shelter. These items consisted of cat and dog toys, food, treats, leashes and so much more. We praise our members for a job well done with our final community service to end the school year!

Our Spring Banquet was on May 14. We were proud to recognize numerous members for their dedication and hard work in the program throughout the year, and couldn’t be prouder of their accomplishments. We were able to honor numerous different categories, and they are as follows:

- The first-ever Madelynn and Matthew Lourenco awards for charisma and kindness were presented and will continue to be presented for years to come. The charisma award was given to Mady’s best friend, Rylee Ramos, and the kindness award was given to their cousin, who truly shows kindness wherever she goes, Therese Crawford.

- We honored our hometown heroes, who are people who truly help our program be better and help make everything possible. These heroes were Lori Murphy, Luis Loza, Anthony Silva, Hali Hallock, Yesenia Flores, Fayiz Suliemen, Julie McBay, and Diana Chapman. Lori Murphy was also given the Honorary Chapter Degree for all her hard work in our program and classes.

- We then honored numerous scholarship recipients from Yosemite Farm Credit, California Women for Agriculture, Turlock Ag Scholarship Committee, and the Turlock Certified Farmers Market Board.

- We then recognized numerous members for their involvement in our public speaking teams, such as Creed, Spanish Creed, Job Interview, Impromptu, Extemporaneous, Prepared, BIG, and Water Issues. This was followed by recognizing our four career development teams of dairy judging, livestock judging, floriculture, and vet science. Members on these teams were able to get their specific pins to display them on their FFA jackets.

- We also like to recognize our overall top students in our agriculture classes, which are the students who go above and beyond, excelling in their work while also helping others when needed. The top students in every class also receive a gift alongside their certificates. The top students are as follows; Veterinary Science is Sergio Prieto Miguelez, Veterinary Medicine is Joseph Silveira, Biology is Roopneet Seerha, Chemistry for Ms. Gravatt is Leilanny Rameerez and for Ms. Salas is Therese Crawford, Advanced Interdisciplinary Science is Brianna Olson, Horticulture is Alexander Lopes, Floral is Isabella Ford, Engineering is Frank Pereira, Welding is Alberto Tovar, and lastly Welding and Fabrication is Aiden Benavides

- Then we honored our members of the month who go above and beyond in our chapter, showing their hard work and dedication to the program by giving them a gift bag. Our January members of the month were Victor Meraz and Paige Barnes. February was Kylie Deckard and Holly Beech. March was Aiden Benavides and Anette Carrillo. April was Aberdeen McLeod and Evalyn Garcia. And our May members of the month are Kinsley Latter and Gissele Alvarez.

- Next up, we recognized our state degree recipients and presented them with their block Ps and twisted cords to wear at graduation. Our state degree recipients were Tori White, Giselle Alvarez, Hayden Koenig, Brianna Olson, Joseph Silveria, Kiara Velasquez, Rylee Ramos, Carter Vannest, Sebastian Becerra, and Alexandria Pereira.

- Following this degree, we recognized a graduate member who earned her American degree this year, which is the highest degree you can ever earn in the FFA. Nevaeh Russo became a part of the one percent of FFA members who earned this degree and made our chapter proud.

- Another thing we like to do is honor top members from each grade level, recognizing how they go above and beyond in leading the chapter by obtaining a good scholastic record while inspiring others. This year, our star greenhand (freshman) recipient was Alexander Lopes, star chapter (sophomore) recipient was Megan Ellis, star junior recipient was Yosgart Toledo-Farias, and our star senior recipient was Maritza Jimenez.

- We then recognized our state agriscience finalists, who were Kiara Velasquez and Yosgart Toledo-Farias, with their project on pickled cucumbers and the bacteria that grow within them in different canning solutions.

- We also give awards out to our top SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) projects, for if it is a placement project where the student puts in hours of volunteer work project or an entrepreneurship project, which means if they put in hours of work or buy and sell items. We honor one underclassman and one upperclassman for this award. This year, our underclassmen placement winner was Jesse Townsend, and our upperclassmen placement winner was Saige Mendes. Our underclassmen entrepreneurship winner was Natalie Mattos, and our upperclassmen entrepreneurship winner was Hayden Koenig.

- The lion's heart award was given to the member who shows a strong work ethic and always wants to participate and help out in any way possible. This year's recipient was Adrian Flores Jau. The award to follow is the highest overall GPA award for the person in the program with the highest GPA for our chapter, which this year went to Isabella Ford with her GPA of 4.5.

- The next award was the merit award, which is given to an individual who shows leadership and provides guidance for our chapter, and someone who proves that leadership is not about being in charge; instead, it’s about lending a hand and bettering your skills as an FFA member. This year, the merit award was given to Dania Ayala.

- Following this was the Dekalb award, which is given to a member who shows scholarship, work ethic, and commitment. This year, the medal was given to Brianna Garcia. Following this medal was the plaque given to Ariana Jimenez for being the top overall agricultural student. This award was given to her for attending the most monthly meetings, community service activities, committee meetings, and so much more to show her dedication and commitment to the program.

- We then recognized our numerous three and four-year active members. These members have been a part of the FFA for three or four years, consecutively showing their commitment to the program by being in an agriculture class and always attending meetings and events to maintain their membership. Pitman FFA was proud to present cords to over fifty members to wear at graduation. Following this, we gave cords to around one hundred members for their completion of a CTE pathway. Pathway completion means students who took a series of classes from start to finish, such as horticulture, intro to floral, and advanced floral. By completing these pathways, students are able to earn their college credits for these CTE courses through Modesto Junior College while also earning a cord to wear when they walk the stage at graduation.

- In order to show appreciation to the members who go above and beyond in our chapter by participating in and attending the most events throughout the school year, we take the top twenty members on a fun trip the next day. This year, the trip was a tour to the Alcatraz museum island in San Francisco, followed by a Chick-Fil-A lunch on the way home. These members were Maritza

Jimenez, Joseph Silveira, Yosgart Toledo-Farias, Carter Brannon, Brianna Olson, Hayden Koenig, Kylie Deckard, Natalie Mattos, Megan Ellis, Adrian Flores Jau, Madison Staley, Brianna Garcia, Kinsley Latter, Dania Ayala, Alexander Lopes, Ariana Jimenez, Annette Carrillo, Isabella Chapa Diaz, Leilanny Ramirez, McKenzie Mutchler, Clara Fey, Eduardo Ferdusco, and Paige Barnes.

- The last business of the banquet was the advisors giving appreciation to the past officing team for their hard work throughout their time in office, and the officing team gave back their appreciation to the advisors for their help, patience, and humor throughout the year by helping them along the way whenever they needed. Following this was the time everyone was waiting for, which was announcing the new officing team! The 2026-2027 Pitman FFA Chapter officer team is as follows: As Parliamentarian, Dania Ayala; as Student Advisor, Kinsley Latter; as Historian, Adrian Flores Jau; as Sentinel, Caleb Mutchler; as Reporter, Megan Ellis; as Treasurer, Carter Brannon; as Secretary, Natalie Mattos; as Vice President, Joseph Silveira, and as President, Yosgart Toledo-Farias! We know this team will do great things next school year, and we can’t wait to see all they accomplish!

Although the year has come to an end, our students in classes were still busy until the end. Starting with our biology classes, this month, they have been working on their ecosystems unit. Students learned about producers, consumers, trophic levels, biodiversity, and food webs. Students are rounding out the unit by developing their own ecosystem.

Next up, our chemistry classes have been busy concluding their atoms and molecules assignment with some fun experiments. The following directions were provided: they were able to make elephant toothpaste, slime, and dancing raisins. The students got a hands-on learning opportunity where they were able to get their hands dirty. Our AISSA class has concluded their employment skills unit, where they were able to pick and choose a job in the agriculture industry, write a resume for their skills, form a cover letter for the chosen job, and do a mock interview with the teacher as if they were applying for the position in real life. The students were grateful for the opportunity to create a resume to use for future jobs and get some interview skills and feedback to use later on.

The Horticulture class has been busy this month, taking a field trip to the Fresno Zoo alongside the vet medicine class, where they were able to see numerous different plants and exhibits relating back to their coursework. They were also able to identify different pollinators present that help benefit the plants, such as butterflies. The floral classes have been busy this month with painting their own pots and putting flowers into them for a Cinco de Mayo project, making centerpieces for a bridal shower, and making teacher appreciation vases for all the teachers during teacher appreciation week. Alongside these fun arrangements, students were also able to make bouquets to take home, as well as their final arrangements in class. Vet medicine rounded out their year with the surgery unit. Students learned about proper sterilization methods, scrubbing in, disinfecting, and rounded out with proper suture and stapling methods. They were able to gain hands-on experience practicing different suture patterns and materials.

Meanwhile, the Vet Science class has been learning about exotic animals. Students have been learning about proper care of exotic animals, habitat design, permitting, and care. Students were then able to have the opportunity to attend the Fresno Zoo alongside the horticulture class, where they were able to see behind the scenes of the care and habitats of exotic animals. Students are rounding out their year designing their dream zoo.

In the Ag shop, engineering students have been finishing up their welding projects for the year to be entered into the fair over the summer, after they finished presenting their SAE projects to their classes. Next up is the welding class, where students have been keeping busy while completing their welded dice and tractor projects in order to enter them into the fair in July. They will be welding them and then painting them in hopes of winning some ribbons.

Lastly, our welding and fabrication team was hard at work finishing up their fair projects, such as fire pits, smudge pots, rocket stoves, benches, and much more. They will be continuing these projects over the summer by finalizing them with paint and other finishing touches to make them as perfect as can be for the Stanislaus County Fair in July.