(Submitted by Billy Tidyman, Chapter Reporter)
After months of district competitions and team practices, members of the Chadron FFA Chapter put their hard work to the test while competing at the state convention during the week of April 3rd-6th 2018. The students left early on a snowy Tuesday morning and returned Friday evening after spending a busy few days in Lincoln. A total of 34 students competed in 16 different Career Development Events including: Ag Biotechnology, Ag Communications, Ag Mechanics, Agriscience, Agronomy, Environmental and Natural Resources, Farm and Agribusiness Management, Floriculture, Food Science and Technology, Livestock Evaluation, Livestock Management, Meats Evaluation and Technology, Nursery and Landscape, Poultry Evaluation, Veterinary Science, and Welding. Chadron students came home with 13 total team ribbons, and 36 total individual ribbons. The chapter had great success! There were over 7,000 members who descended upon UNL East Campus, Pinnacle Bank, Southeast Community College, and several downtown hotels to compete at state convention.
Ag Biotechnology placed 5th out of 24 teams with team members Hunter Hawk and Kayley
Galbraith both placing within the top eight, Madison Cogdill placing 15th, and Tate Ryan placing 17th all
out of 96 total students.
Ag Communications placed 6th out of 21 teams. Hunter Hawk placed first in the web design portion,
Michael Matt placed 11th in video design, Madison Cogdill placed 13th in opinion writing, and MiaKayla
Koerber placed 5th in journalistic writing. This was the first time our chapter had qualified for this event
and were district champions going into state.
In Ag Technology and Mechanics, the team worked together to place 15th out of 49 total teams.
Individually, Michael Collins placed 24th, Joe Matt placed 58th, Lance Cattin placed 84th, and Jacob
Lemmon placed 88th all out of 196 students.
The freshman Agriscience team placed 29th out of 107 teams. Allie Watson placed 89th, Emma Cogdill
placed 96th, Ella O’Brien placed 183rd, all out of 417 students. Kadence Wild also was also a member
of the team and helped to the team placing.
The Chadron Agronomy team places 20th out of 109 total teams, with Drew Jersild placing 46th, Billy
Tidyman placing 51st, Cody Madsen placing 61st out of 430 students. Dadi Serres was also a member
of the Agronomy team and contributed to the overall placing.
The Environmental and Natural Resources team placed 63rd out of 105 teams with Tate Ryan placing
105th, Cole Madsen placing 196th, out of 416 students. Alyeea Lopez and Shannon O’Rourke were
part of the team.
Farm and Business Management placed 25th out of 83 teams. The individuals who made up this team
were Drew Jersild who placed 36th, Clark Riesen who placed 83rd, Kylee Garrett who placed 137th, and
Cole Madsen who placed 162nd out of 326 total students.
Floriculture placed 39th out of 49 teams. The team was made up of Hailey Watson who placed 64th,
MiaKayla Koerber placed 71st, out of 195 students. Krysta Dawson and Shannon O’Rourke were also
team members.
The Food Science and Technology team placed 10th out of 36 teams. The team was made up of Billy
Tidyman who placed 30th, Dadi Serres who placed 37th,True Thorne who placed 38th, out of 144
students. Pamela Fisher also contributed points as a team member. This was the first time our chapter
had qualified for this event and were district champions going into state.
In Livestock Evaluation: Senior Division, the team placed 26th out of 47 teams, with Beau Jersild placing
24th, Clark Riesen placing 63rd, out of 182 students. Dan Dunbar and Alexys Fernandez also competed
as team members.
The Chadron FFA Livestock Management team placed 3rd out of 49 teams. The team consisted of
Mackenzie Scoggan, Cody Madsen, Hunter Hawk, Katie Lewin, and Alexys Fernandez. The team won
the poultry division, placed third in Dairy, and 4th in Equine.
In the Meats Evaluation competition, the team placed 47th out of 108 teams, with Michael Matt placing
76th, True Thorne placing 189th out of 420 students. Lance Cattin was part of the team.
The Nursery and Landscape team placed 12th out of 24 teams, and was made up of MiaKayla Koerber
and Hailey Watson who both tied for 18th out of 96 students. Krysta Dawson and Alyeea Lopez were
also part of the team.
The Poultry Evaluation team placed 7th out of 23 teams, with Cody Madsen placing 9th, Samantha
Johns placing 35th, Mackenzie Scoggan placing 39th, out of 92 students. Katie Lewin was also a
member and helped with the team placing. This event was new to the state. Teams had to win the
district Livestock Management contest to be eligible to compete.
Veterinary Science placed 13th out of 36 teams with Samantha Johns placing 51st, Beau Jersild placing
59th, out of 144 students. Renee Redfern and Mackenzie Scoggan provided help to the overall team
score.
The Welding team placed 16th out of 60 teams, with Dan Dunbar placing 9th out of 60 students in Arc
Welding, Joe Matt placing 12th out of 60 students in Oxyacetylene, and Michael Collins competing in
MIG to help out with the overall team standing.
In addition to the Career Development Events, our chapter had three students qualify in Leadership
Development Events. Hunter Hawk competed in Senior Public Speaking and placed third overall,
receiving a gold medal. Renee Redfern competed in Cooperative Speaking and placed in the top ten,
received a silver medal. Jacob Lemmon competed in Employment Skills and also placed in the top ten,
received a silver medal.
It would not have been possible to study for all of the events without the help of several volunteers such
as Lucinda Mays, Dave Carlson, Justin Madsen, Bailey Lupher, Jessica Hartman, John Cattin, and
Butler Ag. With so many students qualifying and competing all over town, Amy Hawk and Jim O’Rourke
road along and helped out as additional chaperones.
All in all, the Chadron FFA Chapter had a very successful year, and is sad to see it come to a close.
Young members within the group will have some large shoes to fill this coming year as 12 senior
members will be graduating and moving on. Many of these seniors have been members since freshman
year when the club was first getting started, and have been excellent influences by contributing to and
teaching the younger members. The chapter will be holding its annual celebration banquet on April 29th
as new officers will be taking over. This year has been a wild ride full of new accomplishments,
experiences, and memories.
Thank you Chadron FFA.
Submitted by Billy Tidyman
Chapter Reporter
Hunter Hawk awaits Senior Public Speaking Finals. He placed 3rd. He also placed 1st in Web Design in
Agricultural Communications.
Shannon O’Rourke, Aleeya Lopez, Cole Madsen, and Tate Ryan compete in Wildlife & Natural
Resources contest.
Seniors MiaKayla Koerber, Dadrianna Serres, Pamela Fisher and Billy Tidyman get ready for their
last state convention. Chadron FFA had 12 seniors who have contributed greatly to the successes
of the chapter.
