Granton FFA Does Well at State 2022

Granton FFA Members Pongratz, Walter and Woller

From l-r, Granton FFA members Alexis Pongratz, Megan Walter and Abby Woller
won proficiency awards at state.
Walter also was named a finalist for the Star in
Agricultural Placement and Star Farmer awards.
 
 
Submitted photo

 

The Granton High School FFA chapter had a successful showing at the State FFA Convention last month, with several individuals receiving awards and some even advancing to nationals.

 

 The Wisconsin State FFA Convention took place at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. Highlights of the event for the Granton FFA chapter were as follows.  

 

Nine Granton FFA members initially submitted proficiency applications in February. Seven of these members earned gold placings and three of those gold placings were state finalists. Overall, Alexis Pongratz earned third gold in service learning and Abby Woller earned third gold in fruit production. Megan Walter won the diversified livestock production category, and her application will advance to nationals.

 

FFA member Jordan Berg Presentation

 

Granton High School FFA member Jordan Berg presents her agriscience fair board 
at the Wisconsin FFA Convention. She won and will advance to nationals.
Submitted photo

 


Jordan Berg competed in the agriscience fair with a project she conducted in the school greenhouse. She won and will advance to nationals.

 

The Granton FFA chapter ranked gold and its application will advance to nationals for the National Chapter Award. Granton also earned third place in the state in the area of building communities. Granton’s Building Communities program includes the Haunted Forest, Project Merry Christmas, hat making and the Clark County Christmas Angel Project. 

 

The middle school quiz bowl team competed at state. They made it to the second round of competition, but missed advancing to the finals by just a few points. Emma Brookhart, Jessi Berg, Brittany Walz and Kadyn Marg were team members.

 

The Granton FFA chapter had the 10th-place Food For America program in the state. This program encompasses the Thanksgiving skit with the fourth grade, farm tour with the fourth and fifth grades, district-wide agriculture expo and agriculture-based elementary lessons done with classes throughout the year.

 

The Granton FFA chapter boasted four State FFA Degree recipients, the most of any chapter in Section Seven. Only 331 state degrees were given out in the entire state this year. Justin Berg, Walter, Dolorosa Thomas, and Sam Martin earned this award.  

 

Granton’s chapter scrapbook made it into the top 10. 

 

Three Granton students—Pongratz, Tori Seif and Emma Woller—participated in the State Honors Chorus, for which they had to audition and be accepted into.

 

Lizzy Reinart was also named a Three-Star Leader.

 

Walter was named a finalist for the Star in Agricultural Placement and Star Farmer awards.

 

“There are seniors who apply for this and don’t get named a finalist in a category, let alone a finalist in two categories,” Granton FFA advisor Katie Reider noted in an email.

 

The Star Farmer Award recognizes students in production agriculture working with entrepreneurship programs, ranging from animals to crops. 

 

Walter’s experience growing up on a dairy and hog farm sparked her love of animals and led her to convince her parents to add market lambs and beef cattle to the operation when she was in the ninth grade. Walter is involved in all aspects of the farm, including milking, feeding, vaccinating and butchering. Her responsibilities have greatly diversified as her farm added more species of livestock. She said her greatest accomplishment has been winning shows with her livestock.

 

Walter’s other award, the Star in Agricultural Placement finalist, is given to students that are working in a variety of job opportunities in the agricultural industry. 

 

Starting at a young age, Walter has assisted on her family’s farm and has had an interest in animals. In the beginning, she started off feeding calves and scraping the milking area. Her role has expanded since then, as she is now responsible for dehorning, castrating and even helping select bulls to use for breeding. Furthermore, Walter is involved in almost all components of care for the beef, sheep, and hogs that her family’s farm raises.

 

Walter plans to attend UW-Stout to major in psychology and social work. Her parents are Jim and Caroline Walter.  

 

Abby Schoessow and Ben Styer 2022

 

Abby Schoessow of the Granton FFA accepts a trophy from FFA President Ben Styer
on behalf of her FFA chapter for its Building Communities program.
Submitted photo

 

 

From the Clark County Press, Neillsville, WI

July 13, 2022

Transcribed by Dolores Mohr Kenyon, July 16, 2022

Web page by James W. Sternitzky PhD, July 18, 2022

Return to Grant Township Community Web Page

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