Kiss the Pig Contest to Be One Highlight of National FFA Week at Sterling School
| Sterling Public Schools will celebrate National FFA Week February 23-27 with a variety of activities designed to promote the Future Farmers of America. | Monday, February 23: FFA members will kick off the week in a Farmer’s Hat and Boots. Kiss the Pig voting starts. Tuesday, February 24: FFA members will wear Blue and Gold. Wednesday, February 25: FFA members will wear Official dress. FFA will serve a Teacher Appreciation Breakfast. Thursday, February 26: This day is Red vs. Green Day! FFA members are invited to Drive a Tractor to School Day. An Ag Olympics contest will be held. Friday, February 27: FFA members are invited to dress like a teacher! The Kiss The Pig winners will be announced!!! |
All proceeds from the Kiss the Pig contest will be donated to SENCA (Southeast Nebraska Community Action). The staff will be split into High School Teachers and Elementary Teachers, with each teacher having a jar to collect votes. Voting takes place daily by putting money in the jar of the teacher you’d like to see kiss a pig. The high school teacher and the elementary teacher who get the most votes by Friday morning, February 27 at 8 a.m. will Kiss the Pig.
Sterling Public Schools currently has 16 high school FFA members and 13 Middle School FFA members. Sterling’s FFA Chapter holds meetings every month. Officer and team meetings are held whenever necessary throughout the year. Sterling’s FFA Officers for the 2025-2026 school year include: Carson Podtburg, president; Dakota Andrews, vice president; Bo McCoy-Speckmann, secretary; and Mason Podtburg, treasurer.
In addition to celebrating National FFA Week, February 23-27, Sterling’s FFA members are also preparing for the District Career Development Event competitions which will be coming up soon. These competitions include Welding, Agronomy and Meat Evaluation. The Sterling FFA chapter will serve a pancake feed in April and will host a Petting Zoo event in early May. Mrs. Goracke also noted that members of Sterling’s FFA Chapter have competed in Land Evaluation, Livestock Evaluation and MS Quiz Bowl.
This is Rachel Goracke’s 32nd year of teaching and her 2nd year of being the FFA Sponsor at Sterling Public Schools. “I enjoy giving students an opportunity to explore Ag areas that interest them and could lead to productive careers in their future,” Goracke said.
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Johnson County Central FFA Amplifies Leadership, Learning, and Opportunities During National FFA Week
During FFA Week the Johnson County Central FFA chapter is gearing up for a celebration focused on leadership, agricultural literacy, and student achievement.
Organized each year by the National FFA Organization, National FFA Week encourages FFA chapters nationwide to share the value of agricultural education and the impact the organization has on students. This year’s observance gives Johnson County Central students a chance to highlight both the importance of agriculture and the real-world skills they’re developing through FFA activities. National FFA Week will include visits to elementary classrooms to teach younger students where their food comes from, the chapter’s popular Drive Your Tractor to School Day, and themed dress-up days to promote school spirit and community involvement.
With just over 60 members in grades 7–12, the Johnson County Central FFA chapter continues to thrive. Far from being just a club, FFA provides students with hands-on opportunities to grow as leaders, researchers, entrepreneurs, and competitors while building career skills that will serve them long after graduation.
One highlight this year has been the chapter’s involvement in the Agriscience Fair program. Students conduct detailed research projects, identify agricultural problems, run multiple trials, and prepare formal scientific papers. The 2026 Agriscience Fair participants include Saige Rother and Molly Weber, Ashley Beethe and Catherine Wendt, Sophia Schmid and Reese Badertscher, Bri Robison and Riley Wellensiek, Cooper Jones and Adree Case, and Levi Othmer and Wesley Schmidt. These young researchers are advancing to preliminary judging next week, showcasing the chapter’s commitment to scientific innovation and critical thinking.
FFA students are also excelling in Career Development Events. The Ag Sales team recently earned first place in district competition and will advance to state, with Levi Othmer placing first individually, Wesley Schmid third, Cameron Werner sixth, and Cooper Jones rounding out the team. In addition, Riley Wellensiek and Bri Robison will compete at the state level in Agricultural Demonstration, where they will demonstrate proper saddle fitting for horses. The junior livestock judging team, made up of Hadley Hartman, Ashton Huskey, Wesley Schmid, and Sophia Schmid, has also qualified for state competition. The Biotechnology team received 2nd place and earned their way to State. Individually, Wesley Schmid earned 3rd, Molly Weber 4th, Cooper Jones 7th, and Levi Othmer 9th. Members are preparing for additional contests this spring in areas such as food science, agricultural mechanics, agronomy, and vet science.
Another point of pride for the chapter this year is the achievement of the State FFA Degree, one of the organization’s highest honors. The 2025–26 State Degree recipients from Johnson County Central are Levi Othmer, Ashley Beethe, Bri Robison, Catherine Wendt, and Draven Campbell; a testament to their dedication and hard work.
Entrepreneurship is another area where the chapter is growing. Students manage three school-based enterprises that teach business and leadership skills beyond the classroom. These include a farm equipment detailing business, the Better Bites freeze-drying business, and, most recently, a student-run operation farming 41 tillable acres. Through these enterprises, members learn real-world business planning, marketing, financial management, and agricultural production: valuable experience that prepares them for tomorrow’s careers.
Leading the chapter this year is the 2025–2026 officer team: President Levi Othmer, Vice President Ashley Beethe, Secretary Catherine Wendt, Treasurer Saige Rother, Reporter Molly Weber, Sentinel Bri Robeson, and Parliamentarian Kaiden Dorn.
The Chapter is led by Advisors Christy Hodges and Connor Bartels. Hodges is now in her 27th year of teaching and celebrating her 30th anniversary as a State FFA Officer. Bartels is in his 3rd year teaching and is a graduate of the JCC FFA program. Both Hodges and Bartels agree that “seeing students develop skills that prepare them for careers in agriculture and science - that’s what makes this all worthwhile.” They noted that balancing time remains the biggest challenge when so many members are involved in other school activities.
Auburn Celebrates FFA Week
| Auburn High School Celebrates FFA Week By Lily Edwards, AHS chapter reporter Auburn celebrates National FFA week with dress up days, hiding ducks for students at AHS, alternative mode of transportation day where students will drive something other than a car to school like a grain truck or 4x4, and the chapter will go to Calvert elementary to teach them about FFA and agriculture. For some highlights of our chapter Leadership Development Events (LDE) state qualifiers are: Hunter Stevenson, Aca Andrew, and Alayna Helms. Also we had 3 members earn their state degree including; Lily Edwards, Hunter Stevenson, and Mia Gerdes. We also have one member who made it to the state choir for FFA is Ella Ackley and will sing at the Nebraska State FFA Convention on March 25-27 in Lincoln. Livestock judging team that qualified for state includes: Lily Edwards, Hunter Stevenson, Mia Gerdes, and Aca Andrew. Auburn FFA has more competitions coming up and then plan to start prepping for state! | Why did I join FFA? “I joined [FFA] because I love everything with animals and plants. I loved learning about animals and their biology through my animal biology class. This has opened my eyes to all different animals and how they can all relate with their bones and body systems. I also loved my horticulture class and getting hands on experience with plants. We planted different kinds of plants then held a plant sale where the community could come and see what we have grown through the year.” Lily Edwards, AHS chapter reporter |
Third row: Jake Crotty, Landry Allen, Nash Gerdes, Logan DeBuhr, Macy DeBuhr, Veronica Housley, Nash Crotty; Fourth row - Joey Hanika, Zane Carman, Emma Falk, Charlize Phillips, Sophie Falk, Ella Ackley, Quinn Grafton, Austin Schneider; Fifth row - Hunter Crane, Halle Jones, Blake Greene, Gavin Palmerton, Lilly Ackley, Blake Gerdes, Wrenn Andrew, Miles Ockinga
Sixth row: Truin Feilen, Brecklynn Womelsdorf, Zoey Siegel, Lexie Cook, Gabriel Winkelman, Tucker Ryan, Rianna Reiman; Back row - Brady Joy, Rhett Gerdes, Baylee Floyd, Aspen Kreifels.
Not Pictured: Hailey Janssen, Nathan Fachorn, Mia Gerdes, Vice President.
Johnson-Brock Celebrates FFA Week
By Katelyn Melvin, JB chapter reporter
With FFA week rapidly approaching, the Johnson-Brock FFA is ready to hit the ground running. From February 21 to 28, Johnson-Brock FFA members will celebrate FFA with dress-up days showing their agricultural spirit. Monday the 23rd is denim day, Tuesday is wear an FFA shirt day, Wednesday is chore fit day, Thursday is patriotic day, and the week will be wrapped up with Flannel Friday. The Johnson-Brock FFA officers will reward high-participating students in the dress-up days with snacks to foster FFA spirit.
FFA week is a celebration across the nation of the organization and the impact it has on students for a lifetime. The week highlights agricultural advocacy and education, encouraging broader thinking of FFA’s impact. High school agricultural classes are scheduled to do their part in advocating by teaching elementary students about the importance of the agricultural industry.
Aside from a week of celebration, FFA members will compete in Career Development Events at Southeast Community College in Beatrice on February 24. Events focus on fostering skills in technical areas of agriculture, including, but not limited to, natural resources, farm business management, agronomy, food science, and agriscience.
A few recent highlights include two groups (Katelyn Melvin, Hannah Greiner, Addison Grotrian, & Kinley Vice, Layla Miller, and Kendall Jeanneret) in the newly added Integrated Agriscience course continuing on to the semifinal round for an FFA-endorsed event, “microTank.” The competition included presenting a business pitch on microgreens to a panel of judges virtually. Semifinalists won a microgreen rack valued at $1800 to begin the growing process. Another highlight is that Johnson-Brock FFA recently hosted two state FFA officers, Leah Christen and Jadyn Tidyman. Both middle school and high school members learned about opportunities in FFA and how to develop soft skills. Classes participated in interactive activities to develop teamwork and communication.
We currently have 78 active members, seven of whom are chapter officers. Charlotte Metschke (senior) is our chapter president. Gretchen Anthony (senior) is vice-president. Emily Bohling (senior) is the secretary. Quentin Behrends (junior) is the treasurer. Grady Behrends (senior) is the sentinel. Delani Sharples (senior) is the historian. Hannah Greiner (sophomore) is the parliamentarian. Katelyn Melvin (sophomore) is the reporter.
| Why did I join FFA? “I do not come from any agricultural background; my parents both work in healthcare, and are not from the Johnson area. When I was going into junior high, our school held an extracurricular rotation, where we had to travel around the school to learn about activity options. I had never considered FFA before that day, especially as a former shy kid, but something about hearing both advisors, Mrs. Ashton Bohling and Mrs. Dawn Metscke, talk about the grand amount of opportunities in FFA piqued my interest. I took the sign-up paperwork home, filled it out, and held onto it until the very last day, when I decided to go for it. I handed the packet in and joined a much larger community than just myself. My experiences in FFA have brought me out of my shell and developed both technical and soft skills for the future. I believe FFA has a place for everyone, and I strive to show others that agriculture is a part of all of our lives, even if we don’t know it.” Katelyn Melvin, JB chapter reporter |
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