Mechanicsburg FFA holds banquet

Longtime advisor Neer honored

By Dani Schipfer - Mechanicsburg FFA Reporter- Submitted to Urbana Daily Citizen
MECHANICSBURG – On Friday, May 14, the Mechanicsburg Future Farmers of America (FFA) Chapter hosted its 2020-2021 banquet.

During the banquet, there were refreshments as well as treats provided by Mr. Kindle, the Mechanicsburg High School science teacher.
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There was also a silent auction with goods donated by many of the Mechanicsburg FFA Booster members.

The banquet was held to honor and recognize the accomplishments of the chapter members from this past school year. Due to the cancellation of the 2020 FFA Banquet, we also recognized some of the accomplishments from the previous school year.

The Meats, General Livestock, Dairy and Soil judging teams all received awards for their placings at this year’s state contests. Most of the members also advanced in their status of their FFA degrees. We had several members that went through a long application process to receive their State FFA degree.

The people from the Mechanicsburg chapter who received their state degrees last year and were recognized this year were: Mallory Blakeman, Grace Forrest, Morgan Heizer, McKenze Hoewischer, Cori Kent, Luke Stroud, Emma Violet and Jennifer Wallace. This year the chapter had one recipient of the State FFA Degree and that was Elyse Wilson.
Throughout the night the top individuals in each class were recognized. The Star Greenhand, Star Chapter, Outstanding Junior and Outstanding Senior were given to students who went above and beyond throughout the past year.

The Star Greenhand Award was given to Taylor Rausch and Hannah Dingledine. The Star Chapter Award was presented to Lilly Marsh.

The Outstanding Junior Award recipient was Elyse Wilson, and the Outstanding Senior Awards were presented to Grace Forrest and McKenze Hoewischer. There were also four students, one per grade level, who received a leadership award.

The Freshmen Leadership Award was given to Hannah Dingledine. The Sophomore Leadership Award was given to Dani Schipfer. The Junior Leadership Award recipient was Natalie Tull and the Senior Leadership Award was presented to Kaylee Warfield.

Lastly, the chapter’s officers, members and advisors recognized Kevin Neer for his many years of service and dedication to the Mechanicsburg FFA Chapter. Neer worked at Mechanicsburg High School for 35 years. While working he taught history, business and agriculture. He coached basketball at Mechanicsburg for a number of years as well as coached several CDE teams for the Mechanicsburg FFA Chapter.

Over the course of five years, he brought home 12 state banners for the Mechanicsburg FFA Chapter.

Neer had a huge impact on the Mechanicsburg FFA Chapter and rightfully deserved the recognition.

The chapter made the most of the new circumstances and honored all those deserving of recognition for their hard work, successes and contributions to the chapter.
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The chapter would like to thank all who helped make this year a success including Dr. Billy Ayars, the FFA Boosters, all the donors and many more. The chapter would also like to wish all of the seniors good luck in their future endeavors.