From October 24th, 2015 – October 31st, 2015, I was a privileged

member of the 88th National FFA Band. Over the course of the week, I

had many long rehearsals, some lasting between 7 – 10 hours. The

band performed at many different venues and at different sessions

during the week. Our concert pieces included titles such as Michael

Jackson: Through the Years, Pop & Rock Legends: Stevie Wonder,

and Tennessee Salute. For our live performances at different venues,

the band performed titles like Sweet Caroline, Ain’t No Mountain

High Enough, Uptown Funk, and September.

As a member of the band, I had to arrive early before the con-

vention started. The first four days, we worked on concert and pep band music, auditioned

for solos, recorded a CD of our concert music, and just had an amazing time with one an-

other. I was one of the various people to audition for a solo in the concert music, and I am

proud to say that I qualified to play a solo in the beginning of Tennessee Salute.”

The audition process to be a part of the National FFA Band is not very difficult, but

depends on the individual auditioning. To audition, you must record yourself playing the

chromatic scale (starting on any note of your choice), playing any major scale of your

choice, and selecting a solo or etude that can demonstrate your playing abilities efficiently.

After recording your audition and feeling satisfied about it, you have the choice of either

mailing a copy of it to the National FFA Band director, Mr. Joe LaJoye, or by posting it to

YouTube and sharing it via email. The National FFA Chorus audition is similar, but demon-

strations of how to audition are located on the National FFA website.

During my time at the 88th National FFA Convention & Expo, I got to see many

different keynote speakers who spoke about their experiences in life and inspired many

members. My personal favorite was Dr. Rick Rigsby. In his speech, Dr. Rigsby talked about

how it is easy to want to give up in life, but that you need to hold on to your values and

stand up for what you believe in. Dr. Rigsby’s speech was so inspirational and gave me

hope to keep standing, no matter what the circumstances.

In addition to keynote speakers, I also listened to the National FFA Officers’ retir-

ing addresses. My personal favorite retiring address was by Caleb Gustin, National FFA

Vice President of 2014 - 2015. In Caleb’s retiring address, he spoke about how one person’s

light can shine so bright in the world and inspire others to

shine their own lights. He talked about how our lights mat-

ter in society and to demonstrate his message, he asked the

audience, totaling over 65,000 members, to take out their

cell phones and flashlights and to hold them up with the

lights on. The entire arena went from pitch black to as

bright as the stadium lights at a football game. The arena

was flooded with a sea of lights, and it was amazing.

Caleb Gustin’s speech was very inspirational and I will

continue to shine my greatness in the world. (continued)

Dates to Remember:

Chapter Meeting

November 19th

Thanksgiving Break

November 25-27th

Talent Show -

December 3rd

Christmas Parade -

December 5th

Chapter Meeting

December 10th

Poinsettia Order

December 18th

National FFA

Convention

1

Upcoming

Deadlines

2

Past Event

Information

2

CDE Corner

FFA Camp

3

Chapter Photos 4

Meet Your Officers 4

Inside this issue:

Fall 2015

Learning to Do

Doing to Learn!

Earning to Live!

Living to Serve!

National FFA Convention

As the holiday season fast approaches, it is once again

time for our annual Poinsettia sale. This year you can

pre-order your plants in 6.5 or 10 inch pots that come

foil wrapped. You also can have the color options of

red, pink, or white poinsettias. The small pots are $9

and the larger pots are $15. The order deadline

is November 18 and you can see any FFA member or

Agriculture student to place an order.

Poinsettia Fundraiser

State Leadership Conference (SLC)

was a week long event in which the

St. Pauls FFA Chapter officers went

to the NC FFA Center at White lake

in which they attended workshops to

develop skills such as time manage-

ment, communication , prioritizing,

and much more. These workshops

help to train the officers and the skills

were brought back to better our chap-

ter. They also had the opportunity to

meet the new state officers and agri-

cultural leaders. Officers were able to

attend due to the generous donations

of numerous sponsors. Thanks to the

SLC sponsors: Deaver & Associates,

NC FFA SLC Scholarship, Monsanto,

Powers Strawberry Farm, Smithfield

Hog Production - West Division, and

Smithfield Foods.

SLC

Page 2 The Wagon Wheel

On September 14, 2015, Chapter President Nayeli Estra-

da attended the Regional Leadership Conference held at

Gray’s Creek High School. Nayeli witnessed opening cer-

emony conducted by the South Central Regional Officer

Team and then participated in four workshops focusing

on college preparation, leadership skill development, and

communication skills.

Regional Leadership Conference

Wildlife Camp

Teach-Ag Day

Upcoming Deadlines!!!!

Cancer Walk

The FFA Wild-

life Camp was

held on 9-18 to

9-20 at NC FFA

Center at White

Lake, NC. Dur-

ing these three

days, FFA mem-

bers learned how

to set land traps,

how to age deer by looking at features,

how to build a mallard nesting tube

(seeing as they have less and less places

to lay and hatch young) and carving

decoys. Many also shot shotguns and

went kayaking. Anthony Quick, Jr, Nick

Edge, and Abigale Moncrief attended

this wildlife camp and improve their

outdoor recreation and hunting skills.

February 29, 2016

FFA Dues ($25)

March 1, 2016

Camp Deposit ($75)

My experience in the 88th National FFA Band was life changing and amazing. The band was very respectful, disci-

plined and loved to play music. As the first St. Pauls FFA member to have ever participated in the National FFA

Band, I am extremely honored and grateful. Many members of the community helped out with the costs of travel-

ling to Louisville, KY and I thank you for your generous support. I would recommend that anyone willing to try out

do so because it is an amazing experience. - W. Hebert, III

Continued from Page 1

On September 24th, it was National

Teach Ag Day. Members from the St.

Paul’s FFA Chapter gathered in

groups to present a 45 minute lesson

on the promotion of Agriculture Edu-

cation. The group leaders were really

happy to see that there was a great

interest in FFA and Agriculture Edu-

cation. Through this the chapter has

gained many new active members.

The members are really looking for-

ward to next years Teach Ag Day.

On October 15, the FFA chapter held

a cancer walk for breast cancer

awareness. There was singing, music

and refreshments. Everyone who at-

tended walked four laps around the

track, while music and a special song

was performed. We would like to

thank the Cancer Walk committee

and the chairperson Paige McKenzie

for making this event such a success.

Funds raised were given to support

the Judy Everette Memorial Scholar-

ship.

FFA Camp - White Lake, NC

Forestry

On September 24, 2015, FFA members and

agriscience students competed in the Lum-

ber River Federation Forestry CDE held at

Luther Britt Park in Lumberton, NC. Each

participant had to complete the four phases

of competition: tree identification, tool iden-

tification, sawtimber estimation, and pulp-

wood estimation. St. Pauls FFA Forestry

team finished third and will compete in the

regional competition in April 2016. Highest

scoring individuals were Brandon McNeill,

Destany Davis, Oswaldo Aguilar, and An-

drew Lanterman. Practice for regional com-

petition will resume in February 2016.

CDE Corner

Page 3

Land Judging

On October 14, 2015, the Environmental

and Natural Resources I class competed

in the Regional Land Judging CDE held in

Cumberland County. Each participant

had to complete a site analysis for four

different sites using skills and knowledge

to judge the texture, structure, permeabil-

ity, slope, drainage, and capability of the

soil. NC FFA State Land Judging will be

held on November 13 and 14 at North

Moore High School in Moore County.

The team placed 2nd in Federation com-

petition. Highest scoring individuals were

Lillian Cummings, Oswaldo Aguilar, Ariel

Blue, and Hannah Britt.

St. Pauls took ten FFA members to the NC FFA

Center in White Lake, NC. This week was filled

with team sports and individual competitive

events throughout the week along with free time

for swimming, napping and three meals a day.

Team sporting events include basketball, volley-

ball, softball, and waterball. Other events include

track and field events, soccer skills, swimming

events, canoeing events,

putt putt, ping pong,

checkers, shuffleboard,

horseshoes, and a talent

show. If you are interest-

ed in attending next year,

please pay your $75 depos-

it by March 1, 2016. See

an advisor for more info.

Poultry Evaluation

Thirteen St. Pauls FFA members took part

in the Robeson Regional Agricultural

Fair's 4-H Poultry Judging Contest on

October 8, 2015 in Lumberton, NC. The

contest consisted of breakout eggs, interi-

or egg quality, ready-to-cook chickens,

poultry parts, past production hens, and

oral reasons. Junior team members Anto-

nio Flores-Cortez, Jared Caulder, and

Stephen Johnson took first place. Antonio

placed first individual and Jared placed

third individual in the junior contest. In the

senior contest, the top four team members

from St. Pauls were Shayna Beard, Erica

Yanosik, Andrew Lanterman, and Zaydi

Ozuna. Practices will resume in February

for the state contest which will be held in

March in Raleigh, NC.

Fish Fry

On October 2nd members and of-

ficers of the FFA chapter, and

the soccer team volunteered at

the annual St. Pauls Fish fry

from 4pm-7pm escorting guests,

carrying plates, picking up trash,

refilling cups, seating the guest

and making sure they were com-

fortable. Overall we had an

amazing outcome, 400 plates

were sold. All profits made were

divided between the FFA Chap-

ter and the Athletic Program.

St. Pauls FFA Chapter

648 N Old Stage Rd.

St. Pauls, NC 28384

Phone: 910-865-2978 or

910-865-2997

Fax: 910-865-3736

E-mail: sphsffa@gmail.com

Facebook: /stpaulsffa

Instagram: @stpaulsncffa

Twitter: @stpaulsncffa

The 2015-2016 St. Pauls

FFA Chapter Officers

were selected in May 2015

at the annual FFA Ban-

quet. Each officer went

through a five part inter-

view process that included

completing an application,

a writing prompt, a

knowledge test, an extem-

poraneous speech, and a

10-minute panel inter-

view. These officers then

attended the State Lead-

ership Conference at

White Lake, NC during

the summer to develop

their leadership, team-

work, and communication

skills. In August 2015,

the officers held a training

and planned out the pro-

gram of activities for the

school year using the Na-

tional Chapter Award are-

as as a guide.

2015-2016 Chapter Officers

Back Row (L to R): Siearra Davis (Reporter), Bri-

anda Barrera (Vice President), William Hebert, III

(Treasurer), Chasity McClay (Secretary), Abigale

Moncrief (Sentinel)

Front Row (L to R): Adriana Reyes (Chaplain),

Nayeli Estrada (President), & Cristal Segura-

Hernandez (Historian)

Thanks to Powers Strawberry Farm for allowing

the officers to have a photoshoot at their site!

Meet Your Chapter Officers