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belonging to the teacher they want to kiss the
cow. At the end of the week, the teacher who
has the most money in the can kisses the cow
at lunch with the entire student body watching!
The chapter offers a college tour each fall
for seniors. We travel with another local FFA
program and visit up to six agriculture colleges
and universities over a span of three days. Our
students gain valuable insight and information
about each school so they can determine
where to apply for their future education.
Mountain Empire FFA is very proud to have
a member representing our chapter at the
National FFA Convention as a proficiency
finalist. This is the second time our chapter has
ever had a national proficiency finalist.
Most FFA chapters have a large group
of students that can make a huge difference
wherever they go. Mountain Empire FFA may
be small in size, but we make up a huge part
of our community. If you ever find yourself on
I-8 between El Centro and San Diego, take
a look around. You will see the desert, the
ocean, and in the quiet, seemingly empty
mountains, you just might see the Mountain
Empire High School, home of the Redhawks
and Mountain Empire FFA.
Photo captions
Clockwise, starting on opposite page at top:
• Members on our college tour at Fresno
State. We started the tradition of
weighing all the prospective college
student group when there for the school
farm tour.
• The canned food drive generates lots of
items for our annual community service
project where members “bowl” with a
frozen turkey.
• Amanda Morrison was the state winner for
her proficiency area. She has now been
named a national finalist and will compete
at the 2016 National FFA Convention.
We are proud of her!
• FFA members (elves) read the “Polar
Express” to the guests on the North Pole
Limited train along with a visit from Santa
after arriving at the North Pole.
• The officer team creates an array of
activities for Greenhand Encounter. In one
activity, they all painted their hands green,
placed their handprint, and signed their
names on a giant poster that now hangs
in the ag room.
• During FFA week, the history teacher
had the most “votes” to earn the honor of
kissing the cow at lunch.
• State conference attendees, showing off
their conference t-shirts, are excited and
pumped up to attend the opening session
in Fresno.
• The La Jolla Shores Beach was the setting
for the “Cows on the Beach” 110 year
anniversary photo shoot where we
took Holstein heifers. It generated a lot
of curiosity from the beach goers that
morning.•
California FFANEWS • Page 5 • Winter 2016