JCC FFA Chapter

Governor's Award of Excellence: 11/4/2024

Congratulations to the Johnson County Central FFA Chapter for receiving the Governor's Award of Excellence!

JCC will be recognized at State FFA again for this award – this is the 13th straight time that our chapter has won this award! This year, JCC FFA plans on spending the money on science equipment for the classroom that FFA members will also be using on their AgriScience Fair Projects!

The Governor’s Award of Excellence, sponsored by NIFA, recognizes outstanding FFA Chapters and agricultural education programs in Nebraska. Judges review applications and Chapters are awarded either $1000 or $2500 to promote continued success of projects and activities.

Those awarded a $2500 award:

• Aquinas
• Johnson County Central
• Ord
• Wallace

Those awarded a $1000 award:

• Bishop Neumann
• Broken Bow
• Chambers
• East Butler
• Keya Paha
• Lakeview
• Lewiston
• Maywood
• McCool Junction
• Oakland Craig
• Osmond
• Perkins County
• Spalding Academy
• Wayne
• Wilcox-Hildreth

District FFA Livestock Judging Results: 10/30/2024

Middle School (175 participants)
3rd Place Team
Brynn Weber - 7th purple
Jay Chaudhari - 9th purple
Aedan Gordon - 18th blue
Ashton  Huskey - 40th blue

Jr. Division (183 participants)
3rd Place Team - Qualified for State!!!!
Tegan Topp - 5th place purple
AJ Rautenbach - 8th place purple
Wesley Schmid - 11th purple
Sophia Schmid - 13th purple

Sr. Division (108 participants)
Cameron Werner - 6th place Purple
Kayden Baderschter - Blue
Saige Rother - Red

State Land Judging Results: 10/15/2024

JCC had two ribbon at State Land Judging! 

»» Blue: (13th place) Riley Wellensiek
»» White: (35th place) Stefani Peters

A total of 148 participants at State Land Judging. 
Outstanding job by the entire team!

National FFA Convention: 11/3/2023

This morning, JCC's Ashley Beethe & Catherine Wendt walked across the stage at Lucas Oil Stadium at National FFA Convention. The two earned 7th place Nationally “Food Science AgriScience Fair Division 4”!

Congrats for placing in the Top Ten Nationally!

Governor's Award of Excellence: 10/23/2023

Congratulations to the Johnson County Central FFA Chapter for receiving the Governor's Award of Excellence! JCC will be recognized at State FFA again for this award – this is the 12th straight time that our chapter has won this award! We are tremendously proud of our FFA!

The Governor’s Award of Excellence, sponsored by NIFA, recognizes outstanding FFA Chapters and agricultural education programs in Nebraska. Judges review applications and Chapters are awarded either $1000 or $2500 to promote continued success of projects and activities.

Those awarded a $2500 award:

• Johnson County Central
• Southern Valley
• Wallace 

Those awarded a $1000 award:

• Beatrice
• Blair
• Blue Hill
• Bridgeport 
• Centennial 
• East Butler 
• Filmore Central 
• McCool Junction 
• Minatare 
• Nebraska City 
• Newman Grove 
• Norris 
• Perkins County 
• Sandy Creek 
• Weeping Water

2021-22 Chapter Officers:

President: Lane Othmer
Vice President: Emma Swanda
Secretary: Kinze Gordon
Treasurer: Eli Dorn
Reporter: Trey Holthus
Sentinel: Wyatt Ludemann
Parliamentarian: Dani Lueders

DISTRICT CDEs (3/1/22):

On Tuesday, March 1st, JCC FFA competed at District CDEs. 

The following students have qualified for State!

A̲g̲S̲c̲i̲e̲n̲c̲e̲ ̲T̲e̲a̲m̲ ̲-̲ ̲1̲s̲t̲ ̲P̲l̲a̲c̲e̲
Nolan Wellensiek - 2nd indv.
Rue Kuhl  -4th indv.
Kayden Badertscher - 8th indv.
Kali Drake

F̲o̲o̲d̲ ̲S̲c̲i̲e̲n̲c̲e̲ ̲T̲e̲a̲m̲ ̲-̲ ̲2̲n̲d̲ ̲P̲l̲a̲c̲e̲
Abbigail Jamison - 2nd inv.
Colby Strecker - 4th 
Tucker Drake - tied 9th indv.
Emma Swanda - tied 9th indv.

N̲a̲t̲u̲r̲a̲l̲ ̲R̲e̲s̲o̲u̲r̲c̲e̲s̲ ̲T̲e̲a̲m̲ ̲-̲ ̲2̲n̲d̲ ̲P̲l̲a̲c̲e̲
Wyatt Ludemann  -4th indv.
Lane Othmer - 8th indv.
Kayden Baderstcher
Eli Dorn

A̲g̲ ̲M̲e̲c̲h̲a̲n̲i̲c̲s̲ ̲T̲e̲a̲m̲ ̲-̲ ̲4̲t̲h̲ ̲P̲l̲a̲c̲e̲
Nolan Wellensiek - 6th indv.
Lane Othmer - 10th indv.
Eli Dorn
Wyatt Ludemann

N̲u̲r̲s̲e̲y̲ ̲L̲a̲n̲d̲s̲c̲a̲p̲e̲ ̲-̲ ̲5̲t̲h̲ ̲P̲l̲a̲c̲e̲
Kinze Gordon
Dani Lueders
Emma Swanda
Abbigail Jamison

J̲r̲.̲L̲i̲v̲e̲s̲t̲o̲c̲k̲ ̲J̲u̲d̲g̲i̲n̲g̲ ̲-̲ ̲5̲t̲h̲ ̲P̲l̲a̲c̲e̲
Levi Boardman - 8th indv.
Wyatt Ludemann
CadiJohn Rivera
Colby Strecker

O̲t̲h̲e̲r̲ ̲p̲l̲a̲c̲i̲n̲g̲s̲ ̲b̲u̲t̲ ̲n̲o̲t̲ ̲S̲t̲a̲t̲e̲ ̲Q̲u̲a̲l̲i̲f̲y̲i̲n̲g̲
Kinze Gordon - 7th indv. Vet Science
Brett Bohling - 9th indv. AgBioTech
CadiJohn Rivera - 10th indv. AgBioTech

DISTRICT WELDING (2/23/22):

» Team of Nolan Wellensiek, Lane Othmer, Eli Dorn, and Tucker Drake placed 6th among 13 teams in District 1

Individually Placing in the Top 10:
» Nolan Wellensiek 4th place in ARC welding
» Lane Othmer 9th place in MIG welding
74 individual participants competed from District 1

The team also toured Sandhills Global in the morning, where their TractorHouse is printed.

DISTRICT LAND JUDGING (10/7/20):

Johnson County Central FFA Chapter competes in the Southeast Nebraska District Land Judging Contest

On October 7th eight Johnson County Central FFA members competed in the Southeast Nebraska District Land Judging contest. The two teams traveled east of Auburn to compete in field owned by Lynn and Jana Rogge. It was a beautiful day to judge soil! The team of Dalton Berkebile, Eli Dorn, Emma Swanda, and Kinze Gordon placed 5th among the 13 schools that competed. Top 4 schools advance to the State competition. “It is definitely a disappointment to know we missed going to State by a few points. We have a young team and I am confident that next year we will be even more competitive!”

A total of 208 students participated and our students did very well respectively. Dalton Berkebile and Eli Dorn tied for 13th, Emma Swanda earned 19th, and Kinze Gordon tied for 39th. Other Johnson County Central FFA students competing were Lane Othmer, Jack Leuenberger, Dani Lueders, and Brett Bohling. 

A sincere “Thank You” goes to the Nemaha NRD here in Tecumseh for making this contest possible amidst a pandemic. 

District CDEs (3/3/20):

STATE QUALIFIERS:

AgriScience - 1st Place Team
Tucker Drake - 2nd Place indv.
Mackenzie Gordon - 6th Place indv.
Eli Dorn
Dani Lueders

Food Science - 2nd Place Team
Gisselle Mannriquez - 3rd place indv.
Cheshire Burger - 9th place indv.
Sam Buss - tie for 11th
Emma Swanda - tie for 11th

Natural Resources - 2nd Place Team
Sam Buss - 4th place indv.
Eli Waring - tied for 8th place indv.
Jackson Leuenberger - 10th place indv.
Jason Kettelhake

Nursery Landscape - 3rd Place Team
Jazdia Aschemann
Gisselle Mannriquez
Emma Swanda
Jason Kettelhake

Jr. Livestock Judging - 3rd place Team
Kinze Gordon- 7th place indv.
Lane Othmer
Emma Swanda
Dakotah Ludemann
 
Sam Buss - Job Interview- 1st Place
Levi Dorsey & Sam Buss - State FFA Degree

Livestock Judging (11/6/19):

State Qualifying team (placed 3rd)
Kinze Gordon- indv.7th place
Lane Othmer
Emma Swanda
Dakotah Ludemann

State Land Judging (10/23/19):

Levi Dorsey is your 2019 State Land Judging Champion!!!! He scored 360 points and second place was 336 points. Out scoring second place by 24 points is impressive especially at the State level. In fact, he only let 1 Ag Teacher beat him! If you see Levi he deserves a big CONGRATULATIONS!!

District Land Judging (10/9/19):

Levi Dorsey Qualified for State Land Judging!!!
Sam Buss competed in the Adult Division and placed 5th!!!

The team of Levi Dorsey, Dalton Berkebile, Caleb Eggelston, and Jackson Leuenburger placed 5th. They were 3 points off from qualifying as a team!!!

Levi & Sam will be BOTH competing at State in 2 weeks....which is put on by Tecumseh NRD!

2018-19

Upcoming Events 2018-19:

National FFA Convention (Indianapolis, IN)
October 23-27, 2018

District Livestock Judging (Beatrice, NE)
November 7, 2018

District Leadership Development Events (Beatrice, NE)
January 29, 2019

FFA Week
February 18th - February 24th

District Career Development Events (Beatrice, NE)
March 5, 2019

Nebraska State FFA Convention (Lincoln, NE)
April 3-5, 2019

State FFA Results: 

April 3-5, 2019

Connor Bartels/Sam Buss: 1st Place Social Systems AgriScience Fair
Levi Dorsey: 3rd Place Food Products & Processing AgriScience Fair
Tanner Kerner/Tyler Bartels: Top 20% Natural Resources

Connor Bartels: State FFA Degree

Johnson County Central Top 10 "I Believe Chapters"
Governor of Excellence Award (Chapter Award)

District Results:

March 5th, 2019

State Qualifiers!!!

AgriScience: 1st Place
Jackson Leuenberger: 5th indv.
Cheshire Burger 6th indv.
Emma Swanda: 9th indv.
Lane Othmer: 13th indv.

Nursery Landscape: 3rd Place
Tanner Kerner
Sam Buss
Jackson Leuenberger
Gisselle Mannriguez

Food Science: 2nd Place
Emma Swanda 6th indv.
Cheshire Burger 7th indv.
Alinda VanDyke 12th indv.
Jon Doty 14th indv.

Livestock Management: 2nd Place
Connor Bartels
Caleb Eggelston
Levi Dorsey
Syd Othmer
Lane Othmer

AgriScience Fair Projects
Connor Bartels & Sam Buss
Levi Dorsey

Livestock Judging 2nd place
Lane Othmer: 1st Place ind.
Emma Swanda
Mandy Colsden
Jackson Leuenburger

Poultry Management: 2nd Place
Connor Bartels
Caleb Eggelston
Levi Dorsey
Syd Othmer

Natural Resources: 4th Place
Tyler Bartels -6th indv.
Tanner Kerner
Dalton Berkebile
Levi Dorsey

Not qualifying for State but placing indv.
Caleb Eggelston 9th & 
Connor Bartels 10th in Vet Science
Jackson Leuenburger 9th in Biotechnology

District Welding Results

Wednesday, February 27th: 

Garret Cropp 2nd place O/A
Garret Cropp 6th place in TIG
Colton Wellman 6th place MIG
Jon Doty 10th place MIG
Scott Beyers & Dalton Berkebile tied for 10th place ARC

125 welders competed. Our welders just fell short 12 total points from qualifying for State. 

District Livestock Judging Results

Wednesday, November 7th: The Junior Livestock Evaluation Team qualified for STATE! Placed 3rd as a team: Lane Othmer (1st Place individual), Emma Swanda, Mandy Colsden, & Jackson Leuenberger. The Senior Livestock Evaluation Team is an alternate for state, placing 5th as a team: Connor Bartels, Caleb Eggelston, Levi Dorsey, & Syd Othmer.

2018 National FFA Convention

The Johnson County Central FFA Chapter attended the 91st Annual National FFA Convention in Indianapolis on October 24-27, 2018. JCC's Marissa Borrenpohl received the American Degree and the Agriscience team of Connor Bartels & Sam Buss presented in Food Products & Processing Systems Division 6. Sam  & Connor finished 10th, receiving a Silver medal (full Agriscience Fair results PDF).

2018-19 FFA Officers

President: Connor Bartels
Vice President: Sam Buss
Secretary: Levi Dorsey
Treasurer: Sydnie Othmer
Reporter: Jon Doty
Sentinel: Tanner Kerner
Parliamentarian: Gisselle Manriquez

State Land Judging 

Results from October 17th, 2018: 
Levi Dorsey placed 3rd Individually (out of 151 students)
Connor Bartels (in the "Adult/Professional" division since he has competed at Nationals) placed 5th Individually (out of 28 adults)

2017-18

Upcoming Events 2017-18:

National FFA Convention (Indianapolis, IN)
October 25-27, 2017

Leadership Skills Events (Beatrice, NE)
January 30, 2018

Career Development Events (Beatrice, NE)
March 6, 2018

Nebraska State FFA Convention (Lincoln, NE)
April 4-6, 2018

2017-18 FFA Officers:

President: Nick Goracke
Vice President: Connor Bartels
Secretary: Mackenzie Eltiste
Treasurer: Charla Eggleston
Reporter: Levi Dorsey
Sentinel: Macey Pietzyk
Parliamentary: Sam Buss

2018 State Convention

JCC senior and FFA Chapter President Nick Goracke received his State FFA Degree on Friday of this year's state convention! In AgriScience, the team of Sam Buss & Connor Bartels took 1st Place and qualify for Nationals! 

Both Livestock Management and Sheep Management made Top 5. In Sheep Management, the team finished in 4th Place. And in Livestock Management Overall, the team finished in 5th Place. The team includes Nick Goracke, Connor Bartels, Sydnie Othmer, Aleisha McDonald, and TJae Roesener.

The JCC FFA Chapter also received the 2018 NIFA Governor's Agricultural Excellence Award. 

2018 CDE Results

District results from Tuesday, March 6th, 2018:

Livestock Management Team 1st Place
Nick Goracke
TJae Roesener
Aleisha McDonald
Connor Bartels
Syd Othmer

Poultry Management Team 1st Place 
Nick Goracke
TJae Roesener
Aleisha McDonald
Connor Bartels
Syd Othmer

Food Science Team 1st Place
Gabi Alvarado- 3rd
Tia Parrish- 4th
Sam Buss- 8th
MacKenzie Eltiste -tie for 9th
Charla Eggelston- tie for 9th

Natural Resources Team 2nd Place 
Nick Goracke- tie for 1st
TJae Roesener- tie for 1st
Aleisha McDonald-tie for 8th
Mandy Colsden-10th

Floriculture Team 4th Place 
Gisselle Manriquez
Gabi Alvarado
Carley Broadfoot
Tia Parrish

Not qualifying as a team but placed individual
Garret Cropp- 4th OA Welding
Jason Kettelhake-5th AgriScience
Mandy Colsden - tie for 6th
Tanner Kerner- tie for 5th Nursey Landscape
Sam Buss- tie for 9th Nursery Landscape

National FFA Convention

The JCC FFA Chapter attended the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis on October 25-28, 2017. FFA member Rudy Pooch received her American FFA Degree! Congrats, Rudy!

State Land Judging Qualifies for Nationals!

The JCC Land Judging Team earned 3rd Place at State on October 18th, 2017, qualifying for Nationals in Oklahoma City in May! The entire team ribboned individually!

2017 Husker Harvest Days

The JCC FFA Chapter visited the 2017 Husker Harvest Days on September 13th, 2017. 

2016-17

2016-17 FFA Officers:

President: Marissa Borrenpohl
Vice President: Angelica Wellman
Secretary: Kacie Hahn
Treasurer: Nick Goracke
Reporter: Sara Kettelhake
Sentinel: Emily Oestmann
Parliamentarian: Schyler DeFreece

District Leadership Skills Events (SCC Beatrice) - Tuesday, January 31, 2017
District Career Development Events (SCC Beatrice) - Tuesday, March 7, 2017
State FFA Convention (Lincoln) - Wed/Thurs/Fri, April 5-7, 2017

2017 Nebraska FFA State Convention: April 5-7, 2017 (Lincoln, Nebraska)

2017 District FFA Career Development Events: March 7, 2017 (Beatrice, Nebraska)

2015-16 FFA Officers:

President: Rudy Pooch
Vice President: Marissa Borrenpohl
Secretary: Jessica Bohling
Treasurer: Emerson Carbajal
Reporter: Nick Goracke
Sentinel: Sarah Kettelhake
Parliamentarian: Kacie Hahn

2016 Nebraska State FFA Convention information and results

Click here to read about the Tower Garden project by the FFA Chapter with the second grade class!

2016 District FFA Career Development Events: March 1, 2016 (Beatrice, Nebraska)

2014-15 JCC/JB FFA Chapter

2013-14 JCC/JB FFA Chapter

American FFA Degree Recipients:
‣ Nicholas Goracke (2019)
‣ Marissa Borrenpohl (2018)
‣ Rudy Pooch (2017)
‣ Lindsay Weber (2016)
‣ Isaac Buss (2016)
‣ Alyson Gottula (2013)
‣ Josh Dieckgrafe (2011)
‣ Cory Johnston (2010)
‣ Tanya Gadeken (2010)
‣ Lisa Niedermeyer (2010)