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The Andes Central FFA Chapter was first chartered in the 2019-2020 school year. The FFA Chapter currently has 17 members ranging from 7th grade to seniors. These members include Riata Bultje, Abigail Svatos, Madeline Derry, Cole Bergin, Marin Bultje, Emery Bultje, Exavian Aungie, Callie Bergin, Taylor Brooks, Andrew Calandra, Luke Dangle, Tahni Drappeau, Tamerrah Haddden, Hunter Loefler, Steven Nielsen, Daniella Robinson, and Gracie Ronfeldt.

In honor of National FFA Week, the FFA Chapter has a week filled with fun activities for all students. All week long, FFA members will be doing the morning announcements. There will also be an ag related trivia question that will be answered by email only. Winners will be chosen from the staff, middle school and high school.

Activities will kick off on Tuesday because of no school due to President’s Day on Monday. Tuesday’s dress up theme will be Owl Day, which allows students to dress up like their favorite wise person/cartoon character. Tuesday’s activities will include FFA Staff Appreciation Breakfast put on by the FFA members from 7:30 a.m. until 8:15 a.m. in the elementary lounge.

Wednesday’s dress up day is plow day, where students can dress as a farmer. Activities for Wednesday include a hat/cap canned good drive. Students can wear a hat/cap if they bring two unopened canned food donations or personal hygiene items. The canned food and hygiene donations will then be taken to the ROCS office.

Thursday’s dress up day will be flag day, where students are to dress in their best USA attire. The daily activity will be the dirtiest vehicle contest. Whoever enters the contest with the dirtiest vehicle will win. Judges will be FFA members, two high school students and one middle school student.

Friday’s dress up day are blue and gold (FFA colors) day. The daily activity will be Ag Olympics. There will be seven competitors (one from each grade including middle school). The first event is Scrabble. Competitors will need to find their five-letter word in a bucket of corn and spell it out to complete the first challenge. The second event is the lick tub flip. Competitors will be given a set amount of time to see how many times they can flip the lick tub in that time period. The third event is the bale stack. Competitors will be timed while they carry and stack three straw bales in a designated area. The fourth event is the nail pound. Competitors will need to pound three nails all the way into their board. This event will be timed and a penalty will be imposed for bent nails. The fifth and final event will be the grain relay race. Competitors will be timed to see how long it takes them to fill the other bucket with grain. They will take scoops from a full bucket and carry it over to another and fill it to the fill line.

The Andes Central FFA Chapter has a board of officers consisting of five members: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Reporter, and Sentinel. The FFA members that hold these positions are Riata Bultje, President; Abigail Svatos, Vice-President; Madeline Derry, Secretary; Cole Bergin, Treasurer; Marin Bultje, Reporter; and Emery Bultje, Sentinel.

President Riata Bultje As the President of the Andes Central FFA Chapter, Riata Bultje has been a fiveyear member of the FFA. Riata became a member as an eighth grader, which was the first year that the Andes Central FFA Chapter was chartered. As the chapter President, Riata is responsible for presiding over meetings, coordinating chapter activities, and representing the chapter in public relations.

Riata’s favorite part of FFA is that it allows members and students to explore the opportunities that the diverse industry of agriculture has to offer and seeing other chapter members enjoy the activities that they participate in in FFA. When asked what Riata would tell other students about joining FFA, she said that FFA is not just for farm kids. There are so many opportunities that are available that will help them with their futures such as leadership. Leadership is a main focus of FFA and people need to have leadership skills in every aspect of their life.

In South Dakota, agriculture is a huge industry, where almost anywhere one would look, they would see something that is agriculture-related. Since FFA is an agriculture-based organization, it allows students to gain the knowledge and skill sets that will help them in their future careers, whether they pursue agriculture or not and that is something not many other school activities can offer.

Vice-President Abigail Svatos Abigail Svatos is the Vice-President of the Andes Central FFA chapter. Her role as the Vice-President includes taking over the duties of the President if necessary or in their absence and to work closely with the president to make decisions about meetings and activities planned. Abigail is also a five-year member, having been a part of the organization since its charter in 2019-2020.

Abigail’s favorite part of FFA is being a part of an organization that supports agriculture and helps all who join it with their future. She also enjoys the chapter activities that they do. When Abigail was asked what she would tell other students about joining FFA, she would tell them that FFA makes a huge difference in one’s life by showing great ways to help the community, better oneself, and help keep life on the right track.

FFA supports the agricultural industry with SAE’s, classroom involvement, leadership events, and competitions based around agriculture. Even if people have not grown up around agriculture, there are many different opportunities to get involved in FFA.

Secretary Madeline Derry Madeline Derry is the Secretary of the Andes Central FFA chapter. In her position as secretary, she is responsible for creating meeting agendas and keeping track of and taking notes during the meetings. This is Madeline’s second year as a member of the FFA. Madeline’s favorite part of being in FFA is competing in the CDE’s in the spring with her fellow Andes Central FFA chapter members. Madeline would tell other non-FFA member students, that they do not need to be a farmer to be a part of FFA. Being a part of FFA would allow them to gain experiences and opportunities that may be helpful to them in their future. To Madeline, what you learn in FFA can be carried with a person throughout their entire life and can be used to enhance any future plans.

Reporter Marin Bultje Marin Bultje is the Reporter for the Andes Central FFA Chapter. As the reporter, she manages the social media accounts and posts any announcements, activities and pictures for the public. This is Marin’s third year as a member of the FFA chapter. Marin’s favorite part of FFA is getting to go to all the LDE and CDE competitions and being able to compete against other FFA chapters. Marin would tell other students that in FFA one can gain excellent leadership skills, and one can meet many new people. The skills learned in FFA can be used throughout one’s entire life not just high school.

Sentinel Emery Bultje Emery Bultje is the Sentinel for the Andes Central FFA Chapter. As the sentinel, she assists the President in maintaining order, getting the meeting room set up, and welcoming members and guests. Emery has been a member of the Andes Central FFA for the last four years. Emery enjoys going to and competing in all the various FFA events. When asked what she would tell other students about FFA, she responded with that one can get to know a lot of people and learn many great things that one will be able to use later in life. Marin feels that the FFA chapter does lot of activities and there are many opportunities to go to events and competitions.

March 1st is the start of the Career Development Event competition season. The first CDE competition will be on March 1 in Redfield. Here is the rest of the CDE schedule.

March 5th – Faulkton March 11th – Bridgewater March 12th – Northwestern March 18th – Tri-Valley March 20th – Livestock, Horse and Poultry judging – Huron March 21st – Flandreau March 25th – Howard March 26th – Milbank March 26th - Scotland (state qualifier) March 28th – Miller April 5th - Sturgis