The Indian Lake High School/Ohio Hi-Point FFA Chapter celebrated a banner year of success, but also considered learning from failure during their recent annual Awards Ceremony.
ILHS/OHP FFA officers opened the meeting by recognizing several individuals and groups from the community that have helped them through the year by serving as members of the advisory board, assisting in their education or helping with fundraisers.
Outgoing State FFA Reporter Bailey Lowe gave the keynote address with a personal story about failure and why it’s a good thing.
“My message, what I’m trying to get across is that, of course failure sucks, but think about it this way. When you take a test, do you remember the answers that you get right or those you get wrong? You learn a lot more from the answers you get wrong and you remember those for next time. The good thing from failure is what you learn.”
A variety of awards were presented throughout the evening. Dozens of first-year FFA members earned their Greenhand Degrees. Many older students earned Chapter Degrees.
Several students were recognized for excelling in state ag contests, including Nikita Scheifele, who placed first in the state with her agriscience project and Kaden Harford, who placed third and fourth in the state respectively with his fiber/oil crop production and grain crop production projects.As a finalist of the local speaking contest, AdeLynn Martin delivered the FFA Creed.
A chapter record eight members Tori Blanks, Allix Cotterman, Allison Culp, Kayla Cummins, Cheyenne Hill, Luke Jackson, Ethan Knief and Ethan Snapp were applauded for earning their FFA State Degrees.
In addition, several agriculture judging teams were recognized for their success in virtual contests this year. Finally, Allison Kinney and Ava Shroyer were applauded for winning first place in their judging contests and Sierra DeWeese was recognized for her first place finish in the local and district speech contests.
FFA Adviser Tanner Schoen told the crowd he is proud of the chapter’s recent accomplishments and growing leadership skills, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.
He presented Allix Cotterman with the Outstanding Senior Student Award and named Outstanding Students in each grade level. They are: freshmen Ava Shroyer, Annie Braig, Molly Partington, Ashlynn Biederman and Seth Thornburgh; sophomores Colby Borgerding, Stephanie Altstaetter, Allison Kinney, Sierra DeWeese, Hunter Gross and Mark Wolf; juniors Cheyenne Hill, Kayla Cummins, Ethan Knief, Ethan Snapp, Allison Culp and Shania Fruchey.
At the conclusion of the banquet, the current team of officers announced newly elected leaders for the 2021-22 school year.
They are: Seth Thornburgh, student adviser; Ethan Snapp, sentinel; Colby Borgerding, assistant reporter; Molly Partington, reporter; AdeLynn Martin, assistant treasurer; Stephanie Altstaetter, treasurer; Ava Shroyer, assistant secretary; Sierra DeWeese, secretary; Allison Culp, vice president; and Kayla Cummins, president.