Cole Ellis
My name is Cole Ellis, and I'm currently a senior and the president of the FFA chapter. I have been in FFA for six years including my time in middle school. I have been on the poultry team for three years now for my CDE, and I have done parliamentary procedure for the past three years as well as creed speaking in my freshman year.
My SAE is raising beef cattle on the family farm with my dad. I take care of nutrition herd management and everything in between. FFA has given me a chance to become a better public speaker and meet new people that I can build a relationship with. FFA has also helped me narrow down my career choice for when I leave high school this spring. My favorite thing about FFA is all of the memories I've gotten to make with my friends, and getting to do the things I'm passionate about.
Zane Bland
My name is Zane Bland and I am the vice president for the Siloam Springs FFA Chapter. I am 17, and a junior at the high school. I am a part of the parliamentary procedure team, as well as the vet team. My supervised agricultural experience is taking care of my horse, Picasso. I am applying for my state degree this year, and I have been a proud member for over four years. FFA has made an enormous impact in my life with all of the trips that I go on and all of the people that I meet. FFA has become a second family. Next year, I plan on going to college and getting a degree in an agriculture field.
Westen Vardeman
My name is Westen Vardeman and I'm a sophomore, I am the sentinel in the Siloam Springs FFA chapter. I compete on the poultry judging team as well as the parliamentary procedure team. Some of my accomplishments happened when I was in seventh grade and my trap shooting team of five won first in the state of Arkansas and third at nationals in Illinois. FFA has impacted my life in many ways, such as giving me new friends and offering me new experiences through my ag classes.
My favorite part of being involved in FFA has to do with all the activities. I get bored sitting at a desk all day, but FFA lets me do hands-on activities like working in the greenhouse, building in the shop, or doing SAE's along with many others. This year my SAE revolves around my cattle herd I am slowly growing, I have an Angus heifer and a Braford cow that I have gotten three calves off of over the past four years. Some of my hobbies are hunting and fishing. I love to go to new places and to be outside. I also enjoy taking care of animals which FFA has let me incorporate into classroom activities.
Savanna Behning
My name is Savanna Behning, and I am the reporter for the Siloam Springs FFA Chapter this year. I have been on the vet science team for three years now, and I am proud to say I was on the dairy cattle judging team that took us to nationals last year. We placed in the bronze category and had so many amazing bonding moments as a team while competing.
My SAE includes raising my rabbit and training him to be a therapy rabbit. Another SAE I will be doing is building my rabbit hutches from scratch and using them to house my rabbits. My favorite part about FFA is meeting people from all around the state and even my country and learning the new ways of different people/chapters. I love the leadership opportunities and the chances I get on a daily basis to make new friends. I look back at when I first joined and realize how much FFA has changed me. I am incredibly grateful for every amazing opportunity that is presented to me and all the amazing memories I've made these last two years. If you question joining, I would highly recommend it.
Shyane Ferguson
My name is Shyane Ferguson and I am the 2020-2021 Siloam Springs FFA treasurer. I am the 18-year-old daughter of Tony and Stephanie Ferguson and am currently a senior in high school. This will be my sixth year in FFA; this will also be my fourth year being on the veterinary science team.
I currently have three SAEs, one being my show cattle where I care for a specific breed of cattle then take them to local shows and compete. My other SAE would have to be my horses, which is where I care for, train, and rodeo on them. My most recent SAE would be my vet internship through the Siloam Springs Vet Clinic where I am working towards getting my vet assistant certification.
FFA has been a second family to me for years; even when I wasn't old enough to be in FFA I was still really involved through my older siblings. I have made so many friends through this organization, and have really enjoyed going to competitions for my judging teams. I am very thankful for all the advice that my FFA advisors have given me; it has helped me grow not only as a person but as a leader.
Hannah DeVoe
My name is Hannah DeVoe, I'm currently a junior and secretary of the Siloam Springs FFA chapter I have been in FFA for five years including my time in middle school. I'm currently on the horse judging CDE team and have been on it for five years now and I'm also on the parliamentary team. I competed on an LDE team for the first time last year, prepared public speaking, and now this year parliamentary.
My SAE project is raising and training horses and maintaining a healthy diet. Some of my accomplishments have been outstanding freshman of the year, horse judging team got seventh in the state, and placed third in our sub area for public speaking. Also a few summers ago, I had the opportunity to go to Washington D.C. to the Washington Leadership Conference to better my leadership skills and meet many new people from all over the U.S.
FFA has impacted my life by making me a better leader for my community and making me step out of my comfort zone to do things that I didn't like doing such as public speaking. It has brought me to so many amazing opportunities and awesome friendships that I will always remember. Judging season is my favorite time of the year being able to see everyone that you have met throughout the years. If you are questioning joining FFA you won't regret it! It brings you so many close friends, great opportunities that you will always remember and look back on.
Halle Cummings
My name is Halle Cummings, and I'm the parliamentarian of the Siloam Springs FFA chapter. I am 17 years old, a junior, and this is my fifth year in FFA. I have been on the horse evaluation team for four years now, and a year ago I was on the dairy cattle judging team that went to nationals and placed bronze.
My SAE is exercising and feeding supplements to my performance horses. Six of my ten horses are in my SAE. I try to ride two to three hours a day. Currently I am training two horses and the other four are my main rodeo horses that I compete on.
My most recent accomplishment would be winning the OJRRA all around saddle and I'm currently sitting fourth in the nation on breakaway and all around standings. FFA has helped me not only with public speaking but just getting out of my comfort zone. My favorite FFA memories would probably be going to nationals, judging trips, and chapter nights.
MacKenzie Sontag
My name is MacKenzie Sontag, I am 16 years old. I am the chaplain for Siloam Springs FFA and I am a sophomore. I have been a member of Siloam Springs FFA for three years. I have also been on the floriculture judging team for two years.
I have two SAEs. My first SAE is a compost bin I built at the back of the high school ag department last school year. I came up with this SAE because I noticed that we were getting rid of a lot of old dirt from the greenhouse and I wanted to give it a new life. So, I built the compost bin to try to make the dirt soil again. Since having this compost bin, I was able to test out some of the new soil in the greenhouse and it has been doing great.
My second SAE is a greenhouse my Dad and I built in my backyard. We built this greenhouse during quarantine to keep me busy during the summer. I was able to raise plants and then sell some for profit. I am hoping that one day I can make a real business out of plants that I grow in my greenhouse.
This year I am working on my chapter degree. FFA has really impacted my life by giving me another look into agriculture - there are more things than just learning about ag, there is a whole other side to it. My favorite thing about FFA so far is getting a chance to grow on my judging team, and having to look forward to all of the competitions that lay ahead.
Tori West
My name is Tori West, I am the junior advisor for the Siloam Springs FFA chapter. I am a senior this year. I have been a member of the Siloam Springs FFA for four years. I have been on the veterinary science team for three years and competed on the dairy cattle evaluation team last year. We placed first in the state and went on to nationals where we placed bronze. This was such an incredible experience and I learned so much about the different FFA chapters around the world.
My SAE is training and caring for my horses, Joe and Vegas. This includes making sure they keep a healthy diet and are given the proper amount of exercise. Some of my favorite memories I have would be competing in CDEs, chapter nights, and competing at the national convention. So far I have received my greenhand, chapter, and state degrees. FFA has given me so many opportunities, friendships, memories and lessons that I will never forget. I would not be where I am today if I hadn't joined my freshman year.
Mykah Nye
My name is Mykah Nye and I am this year's Siloam Springs FFA junior reporter. I am currently 16 years old, a junior, and this will be my fifth year in FFA. I've been judging on the equine team for my third year, on the parliamentary procedure team for my second year, and two years ago on the dairy cattle evaluation team that qualified for nationals.
Just in a couple of years of competing, my team and I have made it to state on the equine team. During these years, I've learned how much hard work and dedication it takes to become great at something. For the past couple of years my SAE has been farm animal care being anywhere from small animals such as chickens, rabbits, and dogs to cattle and horses. I keep records of animals, daily feedings and money spent.
In my past years of being in this organization I have experienced and accomplished many things. FFA truly impacts all of its active members; for me it's by providing the opportunities of learning things to take with you to your future so you can be successful.
One of my favorite things about FFA I would have to say is the leadership events and conventions because we are able to learn meaningful things and they give us tips to use in our own chapters. Also in those I love meeting new people and I'm able to make new friends that I have kept in contact with. When you're in this organization everyone is like your family and you grow so close together. I know FFA is the one organization for me to experience, learn and explore further to better educate myself in the agriculture field I will soon go into.
Emily Myers
My name is Emily Myers and I am this year's Siloam Springs FFA junior vice president. I am 16 years old, a sophomore, and this will be my third year in FFA. This will be my second year competing on the veterinary science team. My SAE is my show cattle, in which I care for special bred cattle and then take them to cattle shows in and out of state.
Along with that, I have two horses, and I am currently on the Rodeo of the Ozarks Rounders horseback drill team, which performs at rodeos. Some of my more recent accomplishments would be Champion Maintainer and Champion Senior Showman at the Benton County Fair, fifth overall individual at the virtual State CDE judging contest, and being in the routine of the Rodeo of the Ozarks Rounders performances.
FFA is like my second family, and I have made numerous new friends from being involved in FFA. I really enjoy going to competitions and having fun with my friends, and also enjoy my FFA advisors who make it possible.
Glen Walker
My name is Glen Walker and I have been an agriculture education teacher here at Siloam for six years now. My duties include teaching grades 7-12, career development event coach, and FFA advisor. I graduated from Springdale High in 1991 where I was very active in FFA. My accomplishments include a National Poultry CDE win, FFA president, and much more. The great thing about my job is watching students grow with all of the skills needed to be successful in life. I look at my job and think everyday I don't have to go to work (I get to go to work). Our kids here at Siloam are such great people the future looks very bright.
Shae Gregory
My name is Shea Gregory, and I am one of the three FFA advisors here at Siloam Springs High School. I teach the animal science, agribusiness and structures classes, as well as coach the livestock, vet science, ag communication and parliamentary procedures teams.
I graduated high school in 2012 from Mountainburg and got my Agriculture Education Degree from Arkansas Tech University in 2016. Four of my five years teaching have been spent here at Siloam Springs.
When I was in FFA I was on the livestock judging team and showed market goats. Some of my greatest accomplishments in this organization would have to be receiving my American FFA Degree and being selected to intern at the Arkansas FFA State Staff for two summers in college. The best thing about my job is traveling with kids and helping them discover what they are passionate about.
Kendra Woodlee
My name is Kendra Woodlee, and I am one of the advisors of the Siloam Springs FFA Chapter. I have been teaching for nine years, three of which have been here at Siloam. I teach survey of ag systems, ag mechanics and plant science. I also coach the Horse Evaluation and Floriculture teams.
I graduated from West Fork High School in 2008 and went on to receive my Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Agriculture Education from the University of Arkansas. My favorite thing about being an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor is seeing students grow and develop their skills in agriculture to their fullest potential.
