FFA is a national organization based in school that works to promote agricultural education and builds student leadership. Students who are enrolled in an Agriculture course at Monroe High School are automatically considered FFA members, meaning they can get involved without paying to join the club. The Monroe FFA chapter works to promote student involvement, help our community, and allow students to learn more about agriculture in a positive environment. The chapter participates in many local, state, and national events, along with holding our own community service activities and fundraisers.
The Washington Leadership Conference provides FFA members a premier leadership experience while exposing them to the rich history of Washington, D.C. WLC inspires FFA members to become changemakers in their communities. Each day of the conference focuses on a different principle taught through the context of our nation’s capital. These principles include exploration, encouragement, advocacy and service. At the end of the week, members leave with a Living to Serve Plan they can implement in their communities. This past summer Jackson Trupke, Reece McIntosh and Hudson Zarling attended WLC and have continued to show their passion for leadership.
Fall Leadership Workshop, also known as FLW, is a leadership development workshop specifically for students that hold a chapter officer position, but can include general members also. Wisconsin is organized into 30 districts, which are all organized into 10 sections, which is also how Fall Leadership Workshops are scheduled. State FFA officers organize one workshop for each section in Wisconsin, ensuring every town in each district is invited. At this workshop, officers get feedback on their roles and learn new ways to excel in their officer positions, bringing new things to the table for every FFA chapter. The Monroe FFA chapter also gets involved in many other expos, conventions, and leadership workshops held at the state and national level. The students who attended this year’s FLW are Kira Schmidt, Jackson Trupke, Reece McIntosh, Hudson Zarling.
Led by Brodhead and Parkview FFA Monroe assists in hosting 450 4th graders at Spring Grove Dairy for Food For America! This year we had 641 people total on the farm with students, Station Leaders, FFA Volunteers and Lunch Volunteers! We appreciate Spring Grove Dairy (The Zimmerman Family) for letting us use their farm for this event! Monroe FFA leads the sheep station which includes hands-on experience spinning wool. Each student was able to try and make yarn and take it home as a souvenir. Thank you to Jackson and many other students who made this event a success. Pictured below are students from the event.
One event the Monroe FFA attends every year is World Dairy Expo, held at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin. The expo is an opportunity for dairy producers, organizations, companies, and FFA members to compete in showing, share dairy technology and knowledge, and explore different careers in the dairy field. Monroe FFA also prides itself on getting members involved in the community and working hard to develop exceptional leaders right in our small town of Wisconsin!
One activity the Monroe FFA Chapter prides itself on is its Holiday Fruit Sale. This sale is held through October to mid November, allowing students to have plenty of time to raise money for the chapter to participate in all of our events. A large variety of food is sold in the fruit sale, including 8 different mixed fruit baskets, 6 different citrus fruit boxes, 11 different options for apples and pears, and many different cheese, sausage, and nut packages.
The Monroe FFA chapter travelled with a few surrounding chapters to Indianapolis, Indiana for the 2025 FFA National Convention. The convention was held from October 22nd to the 25th. During convention we learned new things and bonded as a chapter! On the way to the convention, we toured a Shrimp Farm. We also enjoyed the opening session with inspirational messages from Kevin Wanzer. We attended one of the largest career shows and also saw many perform at a fabulous rodeo. The National FFA Convention was a great experience for all the students who attended. Lastly we congratulated Bryce Grossen as he joined the 1% off FFA members who earned the prestigious FFA American Degree. Congratulations Bryce.
Halloween is a holiday that is enjoyed by many children. Monroe FFA completed a project with the hopes to increase awareness and support inclusion by offering local homes Halloween goodies for all children. Monroe FFA created house signs, painted teal pumpkins and provided goodies that were non food options, gluten free, nut free and offered them to homes at no cost. This year’s project was led by Monroe FFA president Raevynn Jackson. We hope to continue this project next fall.
In December Monroe FFA attended the District 2 Farm Bureau 10th annual Youth Agriculture Summit for FFA members to learn about agriculture careers. The conference promoted all agriculture careers to encourage more students to consider a job in agriculture. The event was hosted at the Blain’s Farm and Fleet headquarters at Blain Supply. Students enjoyed a keynote presentation from Jillian Garde, a Culver’s Corporate and past Alice in Dairyland. Furthermore students learned career experience from Chris Williams from K & W Greenery, Patrick Johnson and Devon Reed from Johnson Tractor, and multiple speakers from Compeer Financial.
This year’s Halftime Conference was held in Stevens Point, WI on January 10th and 11th. Raevynn Jackson and Addison Curran attended this conference. Halftime is put on by the State Officer Team to help the leaders of each FFA chapter get ready for the second half of the year. The conference made the FFA members get out of their comfort zones and create new ideas with others all around the state. We learned a lot and returned rejuvenated with a lot of ideas from this conference to implement into our local chapter. Pictured below is Addison and Raevynn who attended this conference.
The Monroe FFA Chapter also enjoys participating in fun events and bonding activities. This year we have attended two different hockey games and had a holiday cookie baking extravaganza where officers baked over 100 cookies that the students decorated during our December FFA member activity.
District 13 Speaking contest is an LDE held annually to challenge students regarding public speaking. Leadership Development Events develop individual responsibilities, foster teamwork and promote communication while recognizing the value of ethical competition and individual achievement. LDEs are intended to be an outgrowth of instruction. This year we had four students participate in events.
SAE Grants are designed to help students create or enhance their individual SAE project. The grants are made possible through donations from individuals and organizations who support FFA and agricultural education in Wisconsin, including Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, Crystal Farms, Organic Valley, Seneca Foods, and the Wisconsin FFA Foundation Board of Directors. Raevynn Jackson is one of many Wisconsin FFA members who received $1,000 to go towards her Dairy Production SAE project.
