A new chapter in their ag journey

WINONA, Minn. — Hope Lutheran High School in Winona has done something few other parochial schools have accomplished: started their own FFA chapter.

The high school, which is affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, has an enrollment of about 78. The school received notice from the Minnesota FFA Association in April that their chapter had been recognized on the state level, and in July, they received national recognition.

“From there, it’s been a whirlwind,” said Deb Ellinghuysen, the new chapter’s FFA adviser.

Already this fall, the chapter has had state-qualifying teams in the Dairy Cattle Evaluation and Management Career Development Event and the Livestock Evaluation CDE, and the chapter has attended the National FFA Convention & Expo. In January, their Poultry Evaluation CDE team will compete.

Starting the chapter has been a group effort from students, parents and school staff.

Two of the current officers, seniors Kalli Tveten and Mallory Olson, were part of founding the chapter. Tveten, who grew up on a beef and crop farm, shows her grandparents’ dairy cows and works every day after school on Ross and Tiffany Nelson’s organic dairy farm.

Similarly, Olson grew up on her family’s 150-cow organic dairy where they milk with robotic milking units. Like Tveten, Olson is also out every day helping on the farm.

Tveten is serving as president of the new chapter and Olson is secretary.

For the two rural students, choosing a parochial high school came with a sacrifice.

“I really wanted to stay with our classmates in our Lutheran school,” Tveten said. “The one fallback was there was no ag class at the time, and there was no FFA.”

By the second semester of their freshman year, there was an agriculture class offered, and now, their own FFA chapter as well.

“It’s not impossible to start something from the ground up,” Tveten said. “You just have to ask for help and the right people.”

Besides Tveten and Olson, chapter vice president Carter Lorch and his mom, Karen, were key in starting the chapter, as well as Katie Ketchum, a former state FFA president hailing from Lewiston-Altura High School. The parents of the chapter members were also important.

“We would not be where we are if we didn’t have help from all of them,” Tveten said.

The idea to start their own FFA chapter came last fall. Before, six students had been participating in FFA through a collaboration between the Rushford-Peterson School and Hope Lutheran High School.

“It’s something that we always wanted … so why not get it started?” she said.

The new FFA chapter has 19 participants. Fourteen are from Hope Lutheran High School. The remaining come from two of the three K-8 schools that are part of the parochial system. Two are from St. Martin’s Lutheran School in Winona and three are from Immanuel Lutheran School - Silo located near Lewiston.

Hope Lutheran High School is a blend of rural and non-rural students. Ellinghuysen said she hopes starting an FFA chapter will have a positive effect on enrollment.

“(We’re) trying to get more of the rural kids to come down to Hope to have a faith-based education instead of going (to a public school),” she said.

Tveten said the lack of ag offerings at the school affected her.

“It was kind of one of the things where, if you want me to come to school here, we’re going to have to get this started,” Tveten said.

Olson said she has enjoyed expanding her knowledge of agriculture through their classes.

“You get the diversity,” she said. “It sparks interest in different areas that you didn’t know existed.”

One of the challenges in starting an FFA chapter was balancing the interests of their members, Ellinghuysen said.

“It’s kind of split,” Ellinghuysen said. “Some are more into mechanics and welding. Some are more into general livestock, some into poultry, some into dairy. So, we’re trying to find our way through to make everybody happy and attain their goals.”

To establish a chapter, they had to submit a constitution as well as a program of activities, which is updated each fall.

So far, they have had a petting zoo for the students at St. Martin’s Lutheran School and attended CDE contests and FFA National Convention & Expo. They recently completed a holiday fundraiser making and selling wreaths working with FFA mom and dairy farmer, Emily Tweten, who owns Hearty Sol.

Next semester, they are planning to sell farm-direct Florida strawberries in March. In April, they will have their first spring banquet.

Ellinghuysen said she would like to expand their volunteer activities. Several parochial opportunities could be included, like the annual Thanksgiving dinner, fish fries during Lent, and Hope Lutheran High School’s auction, where students offer service time for bid.

Getting the new chapter started has kept the officers busy. Tveten said it was November before she had a full week of school not interrupted by FFA activities.

“It’s taken a lot of time and a lot of hard work and dedication,” Tveten said. “This comes with some frustration from both yourself and teachers. … It takes a lot of work, and it’s a lot of work outside of school.”

In the future, Ellinghuysen would like to retire. Not a teacher by trade, she spent four and half decades working in the dairy industry before joining the high school — 41 years with ABS Global and four years as a herdswoman.

“I would like to be able to hand it off to someone who would be a full-time teacher for ag and science that would be able to take it places I can’t,” she said.

For Tveten and Olson, they said they are focusing on handing off a healthy chapter as they finish their high school careers.

“We’ve accomplished it and we’re finally here,” Tveten said. “Now it’s just a matter of … leaving it in a good place.”