Megan Wiese Wins 5th at State FFA Competition

Megan Wiese, a sophomore at MHS and a member of FFA, took fifth place at the state FFA Leadership Development Events (LDEs) on December 4 in Rapid City. Nearly 600 FFA members from across South Dakota competed in over 10 events.

Wiese won her award in the Employment Interview Skills contest. FFA competitors were challenged to complete a job application, write a letter of application and a resume, participate in an actual interview, and compose a follow-up letter. The event was sponsored  by the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The travel scholarship was sponsored by Kindra Gordon, Sadie Frey, and the Lance and  Shirley Howe Family.

Top place winners in Employment Interview Skills:

1. Grace Lindeman–  Parkston
2. Tanner Eide–  Gettysburg
3. Elliot Hendrix–  Rapid City
4. Hope Baysinger–  Mitchell
5. Lacie Weber–  Oldham-Ramona-Rutland
6. Megan Wiese–  Milbank
7. Sydney Lockhart–  Hot Springs
8. Tristen Petrik–  Platte-Geddes

Other categories in the competition included Parliamentary Procedure, Prepared Public Speaking, Extemporaneous Public Speaking, Ag Sales, Conduct of Chapter Meetings, Creed Speaking, Marketing Plans, Ag Issues, Ag Broadcasting/Journalism, and Ag Communications.

State-winning teams and individuals advance to the National FFA Leadership Development Events in Indianapolis next fall. Students qualified in district competitions, with the top two teams advancing along with the top three individuals from each of the eight FFA districts in South Dakota.

Between competitive events, students had the opportunity to interact with agriculture industry leaders –South Dakota FFA Star Partners– at the Career Carnival. In addition, state officers from the Montana FFA Association presented workshops on leadership development and identifying leadership qualities. FFA members and chapters were recognized for their success in 11 leadership areas at the awards presentation. Attendees also gathered for an evening meal on Sunday.

Sara Colombe is the FFA adviser at MHS. The South Dakota FFA consists of 111 FFA chapters with over 6,000 FFA members. The SD FFA Leadership Development Events are a special project of the SD FFA Foundation.