Miller City FFA Starts off 2026 with Leadership, Career Developments and Community Service
Miller City FFA Starts off 2026 with Leadership, Career Developments, and Community Service
By: Alivia Gilgenbach, 2025-2026 Miller City FFA Reporter
From January through the beginning of April, the Miller City FFA chapter has stayed busy with a wide range of events, competitions, and service activities. These past few months have given members many opportunities to grow as leaders, gain new skills, and get more involved both in and out of the classroom.
Our officer team started the year strong by earning gold ratings on all of their officer books. Dylan Schroeder, with assistant Payton Michel, completed the Treasurer book, Blake Liebrecht completed the Secretary book, and Alivia Gilgenbach completed the Reporter book. This recognition reflects the time and effort our officers put into keeping the chapter organized and successful.
Members also worked hard on their degree and proficiency applications. Dave Siebenck and Lane Pester will earn their American Degree in November, while Alivia Gilgenbach, Noah Liebrecht, Reagan Schiffer, Josie Schnipke, and Payton Michel will earn their State Degree in May. Dylan Schroeder earned a top four placement in his proficiency area of Ag Mechanics and Repair and will receive final results at the State Convention in May.
Many members competed in Career Development Events throughout the winter. In January, the Food Science Team traveled to Riverdale and placed 4th in District 4.
February brought the Sub-District Public Speaking CDE with two members participating in the Creed Speaking Division in which Madisyn Schroeder placed first and advanced to districts, and Kierstyn Goecke placed fifth. On February 14th, the Agricultural Communications team, made up of Noah Liebrecht, Alivia Gilgenbach, Natalie Ruhe, and Issac Wrasman, placed tenth at the state level after creating a mock magazine layout, feature story, social media posts, and a broadcast for the FFA New Horizons Magazine. Members also competed in the District Ag Sales CDE on February 17th, including Alivia Gilgenbach, Noah Liebrecht, Issac Wrasman, and Blake Liebrecht. In the District Ag Power CDE, Dylan Schroeder and Noah Kuhlman placed fifth. The AFNR class took the Greenhand Quiz CDE to test their general FFA knowledge.
Throughout March, the chapter continued to stay active in Career Development Events. In the Outdoor Power CDE, Tanner Verhoff, Tyler Ruhe, and Dylan Schroeder placed fourth at districts, while Noah Kuhlman, Colt Warnimont, and Aiden Michel also competed in the Agricultural Mechanics Skills event. Several members participated in multiple general livestock judging contests at District 1, Indian Lake, Wilmington, and the State level. Those members included Issac Wrasman, Alivia Gilgenbach, Noah Liebrecht, Blake Liebrecht, Madisyn Schroeder, Callie Tobe, Colt Warnimont, Aiden Michel, and Kalin Schrader.
Outside of competitions, our chapter focused on giving back to the community. The officer team prepared and served a free meal to community members at the Leipsic Community Center. The chapter’s officers visited with 8th grade students during FFA Week to share about the experiences that FFA provides and to encourage them to get involved.
Tractor Day was hosted on March 20th, where several members drove tractors to school and taught elementary students about farm and tractor safety. The annual Petting Zoo was hosted on April 1st, giving members the opportunity to bring their animals to school for a day for elementary students to observe and learn more about livestock. A safety lesson about animal blind spots was given to all elementary students.
As we conclude a successful and eventful start to the year, our chapter looks forward to the opportunities that the busy spring season will bring. The accomplishments from January through the beginning of April demonstrate the hard work, dedication, and leadership of our members. We are looking forward to our annual banquet in April, where we will celebrate member achievements, and to the installation of our new officer team as they prepare to lead the chapter in the coming year.
The first photo is FFA members serving a meal at the Leipsic Community Center and the second photo is tractors that were driven to school by ffa members.