Manor FFA students receive PA Farm Show honors

Two dozen Penn Manor High School students won numerous awards recently at the Pennsylvania Farm Show representing Manor FFA.

Eleven students earned Keystone Degrees, and one student, Arilyn Tegtmeier, earned a first-place award for her project on animal nutrition.

Arilyn was competing in the Agriscience Fair Animal Systems Division. Her project is an analysis of the nutritional impact of whole and raw foods as alternatives to processed foods for animals. Arilyn began her research by experimenting with different diets after her dog was diagnosed with stomach cancer.

She expanded her research to include 17 live rats that are eating a variety of raw/whole foods versus store-bought rat food.

As the state winner, she is eligible to submit her project for review at the National FFA level and, if chosen, present her research for a national ranking.

Here are the other awards:

Keystone Degrees

Eleven students – Samantha Garrett, Boyd Barley, Shelby Martin, Evan Ressler, Lynsey Wissler, Wesley Herr, Kayla McLain, Connor Bitts, Neve Consylman, Ryan Barnett and Rose Drumm – earned Keystone Degrees.

The Keystone is the fourth of five degrees FFA members can earn.  Only 357 members out of 12,771 in the state received the degree.

To earn a Keystone Degree, FFA members must hold the Greenhand and Chapter FFA Degrees; perform at least 25 hours of community service; earn or invest $1,000 or work 300 hours outside of school in their SAE program; participate in 15 FFA Activities, five of them above the chapter level; and demonstrate leadership and advocacy of agriculture and FFA.

Jacket recipients

Seven students – Austin Kolb, Marshall Ebersole, Colin Smith, Madeleine Denlinger, Lauren Sensenich, Kylie Kreider and Brenna McDevitt – earned a blue jacket, the iconic symbol of FFA membership.

The first-year member jacket campaign is sponsored by the Pennsylvania FFA Alumni, which provides the jackets and a scarf or tie free of charge.  To qualify, students must write about what the jacket means to them and what they plan to achieve while wearing it.

Honorary Chapter Degrees

Two Penn Manor couples received Honorary Chapter Degrees for raising three or more children who have earned Keystone Degrees.

The recipients were Marvin and Shirley Herr, whose sons David, Wesley and Joe earned Keystone Degrees, and Richard and Gladys Drumm, whose daughters Jennifer, Rose and Margaret all earned the degrees.

Eastern Region Star Placement

Wesley Herr earned the star placement award based on an interview, his work experience supervised agricultural education projects, and his FFA leadership and involvement.

Market Swine Placement

Abigail Reiff placed fifth, Eleanor Barley placed sixth, and Jonathon Eshbach placed seventh in the competition.