Chapter History

SUMMER 2023

Summer may have been a nice break for the rest of Bear River High School, but Bear River FFA has been hard at work all summer long.

To end our previous school year, we said

"goodbye" to our 2022-2023 Officer Team, and

"hello" to our newly installed 2023-2024 Officer Team. This took place during our "End of the Year Banquet" on May 25. Also during the banquet, numerous speeches, scholarships, awards, and proficiencies were dispersed to our deserving and dedicated members.

During and even before summer, our Nevada County Fair Exhibitors have been putting countless hours into their projects, hoping that their work will be appreciated at the fair from August 9-13. Most of our exhibitors also set up and worked the Buyer's Dinner, to thank those who bought an item from the fair last year, and to also encourage them to come back and support Bear River FFA at this upcoming fair.

The officer team took their retreat to Scotts Flat Reservoir from July 31-August 2. On day 1, we departed from BR bright and early to get a head start on our day. Layla and Kristi prepared a great game of "The Floor is Lava" for all of us to enjoy.

During our business sessions, we decided on a theme for this year, outlined our goals (team, chapter, and individual), as well as planned some fun activities for our members. After our business sessions, we headed straight to Emerald Pools, where we took a refreshing swim.

During the last 2 days of our retreat, we planned out new committees, set official dates, planned fun activities and meetings, and did numerous group activities. On day 2, the advisors put together an activity where we were partnered up, and one partner was blindfolded. We then had to lead our blindfolded partner around the whole campsite, only using words. This taught us the importance of communication with each other, and was also just a ton of fun (especially since Ms.

Glomson sabotaged by telling us to lead our partners into jumping fully clothed into the lake).

On day 3, we summed the trip up by writing one positive thing about our fellow officers on a piece of paper. Then, we packed up camp and sadly headed home. This trip was so much fun and we came together not only as a team, but as a family.

The Bear River Chapter Officers are more than ready for this 2023-2024 school year!

On behalf of all of the advisors and officers, we extend a huge thank you to the Nevada Irrigation District (NID) for donating this space to us, as well as a special thank you to the Recreation Department Manager, Monica Reyes for making it all happen.

The results from the 2023 Nevada County Fair are as follows:

⁃ Sheep: Katie Brink, Aimee Brink, kristi Brink, Halle Coalson, Chris, Newell, Luke Jeffers, Layla O’Connor 

⁃ Chris Newell had FFA reserve champion market lamb & supreme champion ewe. 

⁃ Everyone did great in their market class and were successful showmen. 

⁃ GOATS: Savannah Musser, Colten Cook, Macy Martin, Bailey Ham. 

⁃ Macy placed in her market class and 8th in showmanship

⁃ Colten placed 4th in showmanship

⁃ POULTRY: Viviana Velazquez 

⁃ Viviana represented BR in the fur and feathers Division and received best of show award.  

⁃ DAIRY GOATS: Savannah Musser and Bailey Ham brought multiple dairy goats and were very successful. 

⁃ Bailey Ham placed first in showmanship and moved on to master showmanship 

⁃ SWINE: Addison Guild, James Strong, Lilian Elliott, Gabby Kitchen, Connor Perrine, David Ezell, Kale Turnage 

⁃ Addison received 8th in showmanship 

⁃ Lilian received 3rd place in showmanship 

⁃ BEEF: Mason block, Blake Simning, Luke Long, Arden Franks, Braden Smith, Cole Mertens, Austin Mertens, James Strong, Aliyah Lopez, Eli Thompson, Wyatt Thompson, Wyatt Fowler, Molly Fowler, Wendy Fowler, Morgan Fowler, Layla O’Connor, Kiley O’Connor, Dakota Graham, Belle Burnett, Hailey Clemens

⁃ James strong placed 1st in novice showmanship

⁃ James also won FFA reserve champion market steer 

⁃ Arden Franks won FFA champion market steer and supreme champion market steer. 

⁃ Arden Franks also placed first in showmanship and moved on to master showmanship. 

⁃ Morgan Fowler placed 7th in beef showmanship

⁃ DAIRY COWS: - Molly, Wendy, Wyatt Fowler.

⁃ They all did great and were amazing showmen. 

⁃ Wyatt placed 1st in showmanship and moved on to master showmanship.

⁃ Molly placed second in showmanship.

⁃ Wyatt received best overall dairy breeding heifer. 

⁃ AG MECHANICS:

⁃ Proud Division Award: Chloe Huiskens

⁃ Best of Division: Mya Marsh

⁃ 1st place projects: Addison Guild, Belle Burnett, Gabby Kitchen, Wyatt Neeb, Adam Sigl, Cooper Marchi, Taven Duffey, Morgan Fowler, Hailey Brenes, Austin Mertens, Wyatt Thompson, Ocean Nasalroad, Dakota Graham, Thomas Billingsley , Makayla Magnusen, Taryn Cleek, Bridgette Kohlbeck, Maliya Mendoza, Nikolas Palacio, Braden Smith, Macy Martin

⁃ 2nd place projects: James Strong, Ian VanWinkle, Savannah Hansen, Luke Billingsley, Luke Jeffers, Gavin Hulcy 

⁃ 3rd place projects: Colten Cook

⁃ This year's ag mechanics live auction broke a record and brought in 105k for NU and BR students who made projects.

Published by: Faith Escoto on Aug. 8, 2023.

FALL 2023

Aug. 31 marked our first BBQ as well as our first monthly meeting of this school year. With around 300 members and guests present, we can definitely call it a success!!

The officer team opened the meeting and got right to business, informing our chapter of our fair successes + more.

After we closed, the officer team hid all around campus, waiting for the chapter to find them and pelt them with over 500 water balloons. We were amazed with the turnout, and only had one casualty (Luke's officer shirt sleeve).

From Sept. 12 - Oct. 10, we ran a fundraiser on Snap Raise, where our chapter members and supporters raised over $20,000. Great job BRFFA! 

We are proud to announce our new chapter merch, orders close on Friday, Oct. 6…so get one while you can.

On Sept. 20, our members had the opportunity to participate in an above-chapter community service event. The Nevada County Farm Day allows for us to give back to the community, and help educate our local youth.

Our officer team put together a station in which they educated the kids on the foundation of agriculture, and then gave them an opportunity to rock national blue corduroy for the first time. We hope all attendees had so much fun, and great job to everyone who helped out. A special thank you to the Fowler Family, the Long Family, and Colten Cook for your above and beyond contributions to putting together this year's farm day.

On Sept. 21, we held our September Monthly Meeting, with our fun activity as well. During our meeting, we were able to discuss business and played a cookie race game! To play the cookie race game, our members were instructed to place an Oreo on their foreheads–and try to get the cookie in their mouths without using their hands.

At the Superior Region COLC, we arrived at Sutter High School, ready to start our day. Following the opening ceremony, we heard from former National FFA President, Breanna Holbert.

Ms. Holbert gave us an inspiringly impeccable speech, and then led us in a team bonding activity. Next, we split into groups and got into our workshops. Some of the things we learned about in our workshops are: S.M.A.R.T. goals, community service event brainstorming, improving ag. literacy, and our teamwork styles.

This morning, we got straight into our workshops, but this time they were predominantly hosted by the CA FFA Officer Team. With one of the workshops being held by the Sierra Buttes Sectional Officer Team, some of the things we learned in our workshops today are: conversation techniques, professional vs. casual interactions, self reflection activities, and the impact of bias. Participating in these workshops not only gave us an insight on how a productive team functions, but also gave us opportunities to mingle with other chapters and create friendships across our phenomenal region. We would like to thank Sutter High School, the CA FFA, Superior Region FFA,

Sierra Buttes FFA, and everyone else that

assisted in making COLC above and beyond this year!

On Oct. 7, members of Nevada Union and Bear Bear River FFA gathered at our district ranch to dance and socialize. With over 100 members present we consider the dance to be a huge success! Thank you to Miner Moe's for being so willing to provide pizzas, Outlaw Foods for providing Porta Potties, and our parent volunteers for all of your hard work. 

On Oct. 10, fifteen of our AMAZING freshmen attended the Greenhand Leadership Conference!

This in-the-classroom conference leads students through self-discovery of talents, interests and personal characteristics to start them down the road of uncovering their passions in life. Through GLC, students will emerge in the Who, Why, What, Where, How and Impact of Agricultural Education.

On Oct. 13, a few of our members presented at Sierra College—with the topic of our chapter. Thank you to Sierra College, Western Growers Association, and California Secretary of Food & Agriculture-Karen Ross for allowing us to come and give a presentation on the basis of our chapter. We are so thankful to have had this opportunity, and are looking forward to further working with all of our new connections.

Our presenters from this morning are as follows (left to right): Luke Long, Faith Escoto, Layla O'Connor, James Strong, Savannah Hansen, Gavin Hulcy, Morgan Fowler, and Dakota Graham.

We are so proud of this incredible quarter, and can’t wait to see what is in store for the rest!

Published by: Faith Escoto on Oct. 15, 2023.

WINTER 2023

To kick off our winter quarter, we held a fun activity where our members worked in groups to wrap each other as mummies and then played heads. We LOVED this activity.

We are so proud of our Ag Mechanics Team! They placed in the top 10 in the nation, competing against 47 other states!

Morgan Fowler and Braden Smith both earned silver medals and Wyatt Thompson and Nikolas Palacio both earned gold medals.

Congratulations Molly Fowler, Owen Long, and Bailey Ham for your hard work and dedication within your time in the blue jacket.

The American FFA Degree is the highest achievable degree for active members in the FFA. It is awarded to high school graduate members with demonstrated leadership, community service, academic success and outstanding SAE programs.

Ms. Glomson's 7th period Floral made 20 centerpieces for the annual Nevada County Farm Bureau Dinner. We had a lot of fun making these & we're glad to help out one of our biggest supporters. 

11/17 Last night was the Sierra Buttes Section Opening & Closing contest, and we couldn't be more proud of our students!!

We brought 3 novice teams, 3 advanced teams & our officer team. Two of our novice teams and our officer team moved on to the final round!

A HUGE congratulations to Audra Paasch for receiving outstanding novice president & Carson Robitaille for receiving outstanding historian!!

Last Thursday, BR FFA fulfilled around 315 orders of our carefully cooked meals. Thank you to all of our student and parent volunteers for their help.

Our B.I.G. Contest season is off to a fantastic start! Our amazing freshman competed in the Sierra Buttes Section contest.

We placed 1st overall high team

Audra Paasch - 1st high individual Wendy Fowler - 2nd high individual

Wyatt Fowler - 4th high individual

BR FFA Movie Night! Last night, members got to watch Elf while enjoying popcorn, hot chocolate, and cookies. Thank you to all members that helped set up and take down all of the fun.

Through these past few weeks, our FFA chapter has been working collaboratively with the Bear River Leo Club members to donate supplies to a local animal shelter, Sammie's Friends. Thanks to the help from our members, it is ensured that numerous animals at Sammie's Friends will have a spoiled Christmas! Great job BR FFA! 

Beginning & Advanced Floral had fun making their Christmas Mug Arrangement as a part of their final.

We hope everyone enjoys their break!

Published by: Faith Escoto on Dec. 22, 2023.

SPRING 2024

Congratulations to our very own, Elaine Owyoung for getting selected out of the hundreds of applicants to be 1 of the 75 attendees at the SLE (Sacramento Leadership Experience)!!!

At SLE, students step into the role of one of California's State Legislators, are assigned a specific California district and spend four days in Sacramento. SLE is all about the role of government, agricultural policy and advocacy.

Good luck Elaine, and great job on your extreme hard work during the application process.

SACRAMENTO MFE / ALA

At this conference, sophomores, juniors, and seniors have had the opportunity to attend their designated conference based on their age. (MFE for sophomores or juniors who haven't previously attended and ALA for juniors or seniors who haven't attended previously). Both of which were put on by the amazing CA FFA State Officers!

Those that attended MFE (Made For Excellence) received a deeper understanding of who they are and how they can build trust, show vulnerability and give empathy in order to develop relationships to ultimately influence those around them. They participated in numerous team building and social interaction games and activities throughout their conference.

Those that attended ALA (Advanced Leadership Academy) discovered how to best work on a team in order to achieve a common goal. While working in their chapter teams, students will uncover the steps to developing improvement plans for a chapter event and showcase their idea to other chapters at ALA.

Our students attended the first LDE contest of the season - the Palermo Buckle Bonanza!

W Creed Speakers: Carson Robitaille, Marineke Helms, Wyatt Fowler, Wendy Fowler & Audra Paasch.

Job Interview: Gabe Cortes

Extemporaneous Speaking: Morgan Fowler

Morgan placed 3rd overall in the Extemp contest & Audra Paasch moved on to the final round of the Creed contest!

Everyone did great, and we can't wait to watch you grow & be successful in the upcoming contests!

Thank you, Palermo FFA, for such a great day!

On Jan. 24, we held an interest meeting for members looking to attend the CA FFA State Leadership Conference. 

On Jan. 25, we held a community service activity where we made Valentine’s Day cards for our local elderly homes. 

BR FFA had a great day at the Tulelake Field Day! Thank you to all of our parent volunteers that helped get us there, and everyone who worked the event itself.

B.I.G.:

- 1st High team: BR A

- 2nd High team: BR B

-4th High team: BR C

- 1st Individual: Wendy Fowler

-2nd Individual: Audra Paasch

- 3rd Individual: Adi Hoffman

- 4th Individual: Lukas Ham

-5th Individual: Wyatt Fowler

-7th Individual: Leah Lubarsky

Creed Speaking:

-1st High Individual: Audra Paasch

 Impromptu Speaking:

-4th High Individual: Faith Escoto

* Veg. Crop:

-3rd Overall Team

W Advanced Parli Pro

-2nd Overall Team

W Job Interview

-4th High Individual: Savannah Hansen

A HUGE thank you to Taurus Fabrication for donating metal to our Ag. Mechanics program. This will allow all of our Ag. Mechanic 1 students to practice their welding skills.

Another contest in the books! Thank you, Arbuckle FFA, for hosting this field day

Ag. Sales: Placed 2nd high team with many members receiving Individual sub contest awards.

* Creed Speaking: Carson Robitaille moved on to the final round and placed in the top twelve individuals.

W Veg. Crop: The team placed 6th overall & Justin Edgar received 9th high individual.

Vet Science: The team placed 13th overall.

* BIG: Still awaiting results!

Congratulations to Faith Escoto for being our Superior Region winner for Ag. Communications!

Throughout the past year, she has put countless hours into her project @escotoforeducation. We are so excited to see her compete even further, wish her the best of luck as she competes at the state level!

On Feb. 8, we held our February Monthly Meeting, where we discussed business and made crepes for our meeting attendees. 

In February, Ms. Glomson’s Ag. Science classes had a great time with their innovative DNA labs. Students had the opportunity to look at wheat germ cells and DNA extractions under the microscope, and got to make yummy candy replicas of DNA structure.

Phenomenal job to every single contestant that competed in our 1st Annual Bear River FFA Chapter Contest.

Thank you to all of the community members, parents, staff members, students, and all other amazing helpers and judges that made it all possible!

Results:

Creed

1. Audra Paasch

2. Wendy Fowler

3. Carson Robitaille

Impromptu

1. Faith Escoto

2. Dakota Graham

Ag. Sales

1. Savannah Hansen

2. Luke Long

3. Adam Sigl

Ag. Mechanics

1. Connor Perrine

2. Ethan Perrine

3. Adam Sigl

B.I.G.

1. Audra Paasch

2. Wendy Fowler

3. Lukas Ham

Veterinary Science

1. Dakota Graham

2. Faith Escoto

3. Jackson Telliano

Veg. Crop

1. Justin Edgar

2. Viviana Velazquez

3. Braden Smith

The purpose of National FFA Week is to raise awareness about the National FFA Organization's role in developing future leaders and the importance of agricultural education.

This year, we celebrated National FFA Week from February

17-24, with 4 awesome spirit days and even more fun activities!

At the Chico State & Butte College FFA Field Day, our student's hard work and studying paid off!

*Ag. Sales: Placed first high team overall. Gavin Hulcy placed high individual.

BIG: Placed first high team overall. Wendy Fowler placed first high individual & Audra Paasch placed third overall.

Our Veg. Crop & Vet Science team did amazing as well!

Congrats to you all

Sierra Buttes Section Speaking Contest 

Thank you, Nevada Union FFA for putting on a very well organized contest and serving us all a delicious meal! Also, thank you to the Sierra Buttes FFA Section for your presence in our awards ceremony!

Great job to all of the BR FFA that competed last Friday! Audra Paasch and Viviana Velazquez will be moving onto the region level for their respective contests.

Spanish Creed:

1: Viviana Velazquez

Creed:

2: Audra Paasch

2nd per. Animal Science Industry got to tour Superior Farms in Dixon, CA! 

We loved having the opportunity to see the cycle of the lamb processing! It would not have been possible without the dedication from Miss Glomson, and the wonderful facilitators, Chuy Reyes and Ann Vassar for making the tour happen entirely. 

Thank you, Superior Farms, for your generosity and hospitality to our students!

On Mar. 6, we held our March Monthly Meeting, where we discussed business and highlighted the success of our members. 

Gridley FFA Field Day!

Thank you Gridley FFA for putting on such an amazing contest with so many precious awards!

BR FFA Results:

*BIG：

1st and 5th high overall - Wendy Fowler: 1st, Audra Paasch:

2nd, Adi Hoffman: 6th, Lukas Ham: 7th

* Parli Pro:

-Advanced: 3rd high team

Kiley, Elaine, and Wyatt all received high chair awards #Veg crop:

-4th high team

Justin Edgar placed 6th high individual

• Veterinary Science

-6th High team

Faith Escoto placed third in practicums and 8th high individual

- 5th high team for ID

-4th high team for General Knowledge

We could not be more excited to announce that all of the Bear River FFA members we took to the regional speaking contest are moving on to the state level!

*Viviana Velazquez placed 1st place in the Spanish Creed - Blue Division

* Audra Paasch placed 1st place on Creed Speaking

Novice Parli Pro placed 3rd high team. Audra Paasch

received high chair and Wendy Fowler high chair 5

Advanced Parli Pro placed 1st high team. High chair 3 was Wyatt Thompson, High chair 4 was Morgan Fowler, and high chair 5 was Katie Brink.

Congratulations again to all of our hard working members on their success!!

Thank you, Modesto Junior College, for hosting such a wonderful FFA Field Day!

BIG won first high team and Audra Paasch received 3rd high individual.

* Ag. Sales won 2nd high team and Gavin Hulcy received the 1st high individual award. Gavin Hulcy, Adam Sigl & Quinn Kodet placed high in sub category awards!

W Veg Crop & Ag. Mech had successful days as well!

What a great quarter of existential success from our chapter!

Published by: Faith Escoto on Mar. 17, 2023.

SUMMER 2024

State Leadership Conference Day 1 & 2!

So far our students have had the opportunity to attend several leadership general sessions where they have heard from keynote speakers and national officers, recognized other members' hard work and heard others' FFA success stories!

Our novice parli pro team placed 5th in the state of CA.

Malia Spotts received the high chair 1 award!

Students then attended leadership workshops, walked around the career and college expo, then ended the night with an FFA block party!

96th Annual CA FFA State Leadership Conference Days 3 and 4!

On day 3, Faith placed 2nd in the state for agricultural communications. We also took advantage of attending every single leadership workshop we could, and making new connections within our chapter and other chapters. During the last session of the day, we got to watch the final 12 state officer candidates do their Q&As, leaving the final decision up to the delegates.

On day 4, we got to tune in and watch the ending remarks of the 2023-2024 State Officer team, as well as the announcement of the new 2024-2025 officer team!

Congratulations to the new state officers, we wish you the best!

On Apr. 2, we held our April Monthly Meeting, where we discussed business and did an easter egg hunt activity.

Thank you, @reedleycollege for putting on such a great contest with beautiful awards.

4 We are so proud to announce that BIG came out on top once again as the high team, with Wendy Fowler as 2nd high individual. Wyatt Fowler, Wendy Fowler, and Adi Hoffman all placed in their respective subcategories!

4 This field day doubled as state finals for our sales team, and we are SO excited to share that they placed third in the state!

4 Vet Science also competed!

Kingsburg Fab Contest

Amazing job to our new fab team, (Adam Sigl, Nikolas Palacio, Colton Danos, and Colten Cook) for placing 10th at the Kingsburg Fab Contest! We are so proud of them!

4 Thank you @ktownffa for your generosity in hosting!

Superior Region Awards Banquet++

On Monday, 2 of our members attended the regional awards banquet held in Chico, CA.

Congratulations to Braden Smith and Wyatt Thompson (not pictured) for receiving their State FFA Degrees. The State FFA Degree is only awarded and achieved by the top 3% of members in the California FFA Association. Great Job, Braden and Wyatt!

Faith Escoto also attended and received her plaque for her regional win in agricultural communications.

Fresno State Field Day

• BIG placed 1st high team overall. Adi Hoffman received 3rd high individual and Audra Paasch received 2nd high individual!

• Ag. Mech placed 18th overall!

• Vet Science placed 11th overall!

• Veg Crop placed 23rd overall!

We are more than excited to announce that

WYATT THOMPSON is YOUR new elected 2024-2025

Superior Region Historian. Wish him the best of luck on his year of service.

2 Delegates from our chapter also attended and voted to elect the team as well.

Thank you @superiorregionffa for setting up and putting together such a phenomenal event.

YOUR new BRFFA Chapter Officer Team!

President- Faith Escoto

Vice President- Wyatt Thompson

Secretary- Kristi Brink

Treasurer- Dakota Graham

Reporter- Viviana Velazquez

Sentinel- Malia Spotts

Historian- Audra Paasch

Following the devastating passing of our peer, Nathan Cavolt–James Strong, Ben Barley, Cooper Lunsford, Seamus McKeown, and Taven Duffey, have been working hard on a metal jersey in memory of Nathan Cavolt.

Nathan was a part of our BR Ag family, alongside many other groups at Bear River. It is with honor that we will hang this jersey on the outfield wall forever, so Nathan will stay in our hearts and future generations to come.

The Bear River FFA Chapter has been honored to house the young, smart, amazing, and talented individuals in the Class of 2024. We wish all of them the best of luck as they travel through their future endeavors. We are so sad to see them leave, but so excited to see where they go. Congratulations to the Bear River High School Class of 2024!

We are so grateful to have had such an amazing year.

Thank you, BR FFA!

Published by: Faith Escoto on Jun. 10, 2024.