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EXETER FFA
Exeter Citrus Success
Submitted by Grace Jardon
The Exeter FFA Citrus Judging team is well under way on a successful season.
The team of fi ve students, ranging from their freshmen to senior year, have
shown immense improvement and success. The team attended the Reedley
College Citrus Judging Contest on January 21st. Two team members placed in
the top four, one as high individual and another as fourth high individual. The
team placed fi rst overall in the A contest. The citrus judging contest consists of
the identifi cation of the defects and pest damage that pose threats to the citrus
industry. Oranges, lemons, grapefruit, and citrus trees are just some of the citrus related produce at the contests. The students also give the reasons for
their placings to a judge with a well rounded citrus background. We wish the team members the best of luck as they continue to build their knowledge
of the citrus industry.
MCFARLAND FFA
Family Show Day
Submitted by Gabriel Parra
A week prior to the Kern County Fair, the McFarland FFA Chapter hosted a
Family Show Day at our school farm. This event helped demonstrate the hard
work and time our members put into their SAE projects during the summer.
We had our swine, lamb and goat exhibitors prepare and practice for the
upcoming fairs by showing their animals in front of guest judges to get feedback.
Family, friends, and school staff were welcome to support the exhibitors’ hard
work towards their SAE projects. During the friendly competition between the
exhibitors, the judges ranked exhibitors on showmanship and asked questions
about their animals. Family Show Day was overall a wonderful event, and we hope that we continue to host this event in the upcoming years.
TRACY FFA
A Special Story
Submitted by Zac Sciortino
This past year Tracy High has been under threat that our Special Education
Classes would be relocated to another school. As a population of students,
we brought it to our district’s attention that the Special Education classes are
one of the most needed courses on campus. They don’t only provide diversity
and differences on campus but they teach students the value that we each
possess. Notice of this spread to different schools and to athletes who support
the cause to save the class. Tracy FFA wanted to show our gratitude for the
Special Education students so we invited them to join us for FFA Week! From kissing goats to cooking, we saw the happiness fi ll their eyes. On the last
day, Tracy FFA planted fl owers with the students to take home. We taught them the importance of caring for the fl owers and the responsibilities they
have. We now plan on making this a tradition every FFA Week! Tracy FFA is a chapter full of diversity and we hope other chapters will follow along
to include everyone.
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California FFANEWS • PAGE 14 • Summer 2017