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AG1 Freshman Guide

 Dear freshman,

As you know, we are an Agriculture program, but along side that, we are apart of a greater organization called the National FFA. We are a small part of this big family and within the FFA there are many divisions and sections. Before we explain that, here's some background history on our Chapter. The Stamford Regional Chapter was started in 1978 as the Vocational Agriculture Program. One interesting fact is that our principal Mr. Rinaldi graduated from Westhill and was a founding member of the original program! But, as mentioned earlier, there are different sections of the FFA. Throughout the 50 states there are 7,859+ Chapters, and within the states there are different districts. For example, in Connecticut, we have 5 different districts and each district has their own District Officer team. Stamford Regional (our Chapter name) is a part of District 2 in the CT FFA. In total, CT has 20 chapters, and each Chapter has their own Chapter Officer team. Welcome to Westhill and the Stamford Agriscience Program! We’re really excited you joined!

Best of luck,

 

Your 2018-2019 Chapter Reporter

Stewart Sbordone

Meet your Ag teachers! 

We asked the teachers the following, their responses are below:

1.) Where did you go to college?

2.) Were you in an FFA program growing up, if so where?/ Were you ever an FFA officer?

3.) What's your favorite animal?

Ms. Cipolla 

1.) SUNY Cobleskill

 

2.) Housatonic Valley, CT chapter, served as chapter Historian, and Parliamentarian.

 

3.)  Turtle

Mrs. Marenholz

1.) UCONN

 

2.) Woodbury, CT chapter, was not an officer.

 

3.) Cows/Dogs/Kittens

Ms. Gilbert

1.) SUNY Cobleskill and UCONN

 

2.) Housatonic Valley, CT

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3.) 

Mrs. Porter- Collins

1.) Texas A&M University

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2.) Woodbury, CT chapter, served as chapter treasurer.

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3.) Tiger

Mrs. Cascio

1.) NCC, and Broward Community College

 

2.) Stamford SAE Coordinator 

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3.) Dog

AG Vocabulary: 

What you need to know, and what it means  

•SAE-  Stands for Supervised Agriculture Experience, this what you would call your out side of school volunteering hours or project. Throughout the year you will need to have logged up to 75  SAE hours as a freshman, then 200 the next three years. 

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•FFA- Future Farmer(s) of America, this is what our organization used to be called but in 1988 we changed our name to The National FFA Organization. To break the stereotypical bias of what the FFA is. Agriculture is so much more than just farming with many different jobs and opportunities.

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•AET- Agriculture Experience Tracker, this is a website that you will become very familiar with, as you will track all of your SAE papers and hours through here.

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•CDE- Career Development Events, Competitions in which you compete against students from other Chapters in a certain activity.

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•Greenhand FFA Degree- The first award you as a freshman can earn. Throughout your freshman year you will accomplish the requirements for the award.  One thing to note is that this is the first of the many awards you can earn.; so don’t forget to set goals and aim high!

 

Helpful tips:

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•Get involved, participate in CDEs!

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•Here are a few ideas for places you can do SAEs: Sound Waters, Stamford Nature Center, Bartlett Arboretum, Fairgate Farm, and Maritime Aquarium etc.

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•Don’t for get the monthly chapter meetings are mandatory and count for a grade, do not miss them!

The Officer Team

Starting your sophomore year in the Ag program, you are able to apply to be an officer. The officer positions allow you to take a leadership role in your FFA chapter, and to take advantage of many cool opportunities that a regular member does not have access to. Since the officers play a vital role in our program, you will see them and communicate with them often. We want you to be able to get to know them a little bit better so if you have any questions or concerns, please go see any of them!

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Here are the questions we asked each officer:

Name, Position on Officer team, Grade 

  1. What middle school did you attend?

  2. What are your current SAEs?

  3. Are you a part of any clubs/teams outside of Ag?

Sydney Steinberg: President 13th

  1. Bi-Cultural Day School

  2. TOR farm project and a garden in my backyard

  3. Northstar Playmakers drama board. Part of the WHS Feminism Club.

Catharine Caragine: Treasurer 12th

  1. Nathan Hale

  2. Maritime Aquarium, developing a soap business, and creating a video on budget cuts in Ag.

  3. Wrestling, Girl Scouts, and Field hockey

Stewart Sbordone: Reporter 12th

  1. Rogers International School 

  2. My SAE is working in a Food Science Lab and Marine Exploration in Long Island Sound

  3. I used to play Squash 

 

Marine Tzavaras: Historian 12th

  1. ​

Lauren Klym: Parliamentarian 12th

  1. Rippowam Middle School

  2. My SAE is in progress.

  3. I’m in SE4A, LanD crew, and I play soccer and lacrosse.

Abby Lupinacci: Vice President 13th

  1. Rippowam Middle School

  2. Dog toy business with Zoe Karukas.

  3. Drama club, best buddies, SE4A, LanD crew, and Irish dance.

Evie Wolpo: Secretary 12th

  1. Turn of River Middle School

  2. My current SAEs are the Beardsley Zoo, the Stamford Nature Center and a hydroponics garden.

  3. Field hockey, BBYO.

Ries Allyn: Sentinel 12th

  1. Rippowam Middle School

  2. I grow a vegetable garden and work at Long Ridge Camp as the nature specialist.

  3. Northstar Playmakers drama board, LanD crew, Curtain Call SYT Board, and Girl Scouts. 

Karla Servin: Historian 12th

  1. ​

Maddie Monterosso: Junior Student Advisor 12th

  1. ​

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