FFA Inside the Emblem: Kiel

40 members
Kiel, Wisconsin
Manitowoc County

Tell us about your chapter. We are a seventh-12th grade chapter. We have about 40 members this year, and those members compete in Career Development Events, Leadership Development Events and attend leadership conferences and events. We had six teams compete in CDEs this year, with our Agricultural Technology & Mechanical Systems, Poultry Evaluation and Milk Quality & Products teams competing at the state level. We have a few LDEs as well, including Parliamentary Procedure, Extemporaneous Public Speaking, Employment Skills and Creed Speaking. We strive to help members develop career readiness skills and leadership qualities that they can take with them and utilize into their futures, whether that be agriculture related or not.

How does your chapter volunteer in the community throughout the year? Our biggest volunteer event is our Trick-For-Charity event where we collect food for our food pantry. Members go around town during trick-or-treating in October with shopping carts and ask for donations of non-perishable food items. Our goal is to donate at least 500 items to the pantry, and we exceeded our goal and donated over 1,000. We do Adopt-A-Highway and clean up one of the highways. We host a cookie sale during National FFA Week. We get donations of cookies from a bakery and sell them during our lunches at the high school. All proceeds benefit Meals on Wheels America. We adopt a family or two during the holidays, and we make fleece tie blankets to be donated to Project Linus, where they are donated to children’s hospitals.

What fundraisers does your chapter do throughout the year? First, with our alumni, we have a stand at the Kiel picnic where we sell food items. Then, we have our pizza sales which are in the winter months. FFA members sell pizzas. Then, we gather ingredients and make the pizzas during a weekend in February. I’d say our pizza sales are the most successful, as community and staff members look forward to supporting our chapter each year, while getting delicious pizzas.

What are the biggest events of the year? In late summer and fall, we run a food stand at the Kiel picnic. We also do Trick-For-Charity. In winter, we have our staff breakfast during National FFA wWeek. Members meet before school to cook breakfast for staff members in the high school to show their appreciation for their support. In spring, we have our Tractor Day event. Students don’t have to be involved in FFA to participate in this event. They meet at a restaurant in their tractors for breakfast and then are escorted by police to school that morning. They have also started a parade past the elementary and middle schools to show off their tractors.

What is unique about your chapter? In August, we run a food stand at the Kiel picnic. It is one of our fundraisers. We sell grilled cheese, mozzarella sticks, cheese nuggets, milk and smoothies. This is run by our members, advisers and alumni members, and gives members a chance to network with the community and the alumni.

When was your chapter founded, and how has it evolved? The Kiel FFA Chapter was chartered in 1946 and was primarily a dairy science, agricultural business, agricultural mechanics and natural resources program. They were known to repair and paint tractors and implements and plant thousands of trees within the school district boundary. A new adviser was hired in 1983, a greenhouse was added, and course offerings were expanded. Our chapter also broadened its scope to participate in more CDEs and apply for more proficiency areas. Beginning in 1997, a new instructor was hired, and a second instructor position was added shortly after that. Over the next 25 years, having two instructors allowed for exponential growth in both the classroom and FFA. Four classes were crossed with science standards and became eligible to count as science credits, and three classes were articulated with Fox Valley Technical College. A community-supported referendum helped fund a greenhouse, head house, two animal labs with an outdoor fenced yard and a kitchen to provide hands-on opportunities for students. FFA grew as well, winning many state and national awards including national FFA three-star chapter awards. In 2022, our Agricultural Technology & Mechanical Systems team competed at the national level, and in 2023, our Parliamentary Procedure team competed at the state level.