Central Valley Christian

Central Valley Christian is in its first year of the FFA Program. Students have been involved in variety of local social and fundraising events, and their first competitive events have been in the public speaking realm. The Citrus Judging Team has been active in competition, and the Farm Power & Machinery, Livestock Judging, Dairy Judging and Dairy Products teams are all gearing up for competitions this spring.

They are keeping it “low key” for FFA Week this year, as they ease their way into the FFA World. Plans for the week include a fundraiser event, Kiss the Cow. How it works – the teacher on campus that has the most money in their milk jar at the end of the week, has to kiss the cow. The plan is to give part of the proceeds to charity. In addition to Kiss the Cow, the school will have an Ag Fact read over the morning announcements, each day. They will also be holding Dress-Up Days to earn points, and the winning class receives a prize.

Dinuba

The Dinuba FFA has been active in many ways so far this year. They have had competitions in Cotton Judging and Vine Pruning. They are preparing for Speech, Veterinary Science, Nursery Landscape and Floral contests. This FFA Chapter also hosts a pet food drive for The Cat House on the Kings. Any donations are welcome! This project is student driven from the Ag Leadership class. Other projects coming from the class include an Autism Awareness Day and celebration, while others are helping out at a homeless shelter by helping hand out food.

The group continues to train Guide Dogs for the Blind and is currently training three dogs. Students learn to train dogs for future owners, and are with their dog 24/7. The Veterinary Science class members have the chance to learn to care for these dogs by bathing, brushing teeth, applying parasitic applications, grooming and cleaning their ears. They currently have a dog that has gone through all her training and will be graduating and given to a new owner. Dinuba FFA’s Madasen Gutierrez will with sadness and excitement go to this ceremony and watch a person in need of a dog receive her dog, Gazele.

El Diamante

Since 1947, National FFA week has been celebrated throughout schools, including Visalia’s very own El Diamante FFA chapter.

“It’s a great way to get our members involved and give peers a little sneak peak of some of the fun we have to offer as FFA members,” said Jenna Toor, chapter secretary.

This chapter hopes to bring awareness to FFA and agriculture throughout the school’s student body during FFA Week by hosting various lunchtime activities including Potato Sack races, a Corn Hole competition and Kick Ball tournament. Agriculture-themed dress-up days, and a feature in the school’s weekly video production of EdHews, will be offered.

One of their most iconic activities they have done in the past is their Kiss a Cow fundraiser. One of our chapter members brings a cow, or steer, they plan to show in the Tulare County Fair, and volunteer teachers are lined up, as well as students, so they can give the cow a little smooch!

“One of our biggest goals within our chapter, which applies throughout FFA, is promoting agriculture,” Toor said. “As FFA Week approaches, we plan to use this as an opportunity to excite and educate our members about the importance of agricultural education and to open their eyes to the influence of the industry, and how it affects their daily lives as humans and citizens of the Central Valley. We are constantly encouraging our members to take what they learn in the classroom, and whether it be educating another or participating in a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE), appreciate what agriculture has to offer.”

Exeter

The focus for the Exeter Chapter is to have a complete agriculture education program that consists of the three circles: FFA, classroom and SAE. On the farm, Exeter FFA has a horticulture unit, livestock units and a full agriculture mechanics shop. They offer a wide variety of courses to meet the needs of their students. Exeter has 430 FFA members who all have different interests. They offer hands on learning and leadership opportunities for all students.

The Exeter FFA chapter has four days planned packed with fun activities for FFA Week. Some of the activities include a Dodgeball Tournament, a Giant Game of Clumps, a Staff Appreciation Lunch, and their annual Bed Races. A highlight of the week is the Bed Race activity. It consists of carts made out of bed frames, assembled by past agriculture mechanics classes that are pushed by a team of students around a track on campus. The teacher team is always the one to beat! Exeter FFA is looking forward to this awesome week and providing a special experience its members and students.

Farmersville

The largest focus of the Farmersville FFA chapter is to bring agriculture awareness and promote the countless opportunities within the organization to the students of Farmersville High School. The FFA program at Farmersville High School is growing. With growth, comes an opportunity to educate students about all of the opportunities to develop their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success. This year’s goal has been to get students involved in more leadership activities, attend more conferences, to become involved in career development events, and increase student understanding and participation in supervised agriculture experience program.

The Farmersville FFA Chapter has some big plans for FFA Week. Each day there will be a themed dress-up day, as well as a scheduled lunchtime activity. Dress-up days include Animal Day, Western Day, Camouflage Day, and Blue-Gold Day. Some of the exciting lunchtime activities will be performed in the center of campus and will be open to the entire student body. Activities for FFA week are Chubby Chicken (a spin on the popular Chubby Bunny game), a cookie eating contest, Cow Pies (melted chocolate bar guessing game), and an obstacle course. The officer team is hard at work to plan fun activities to bring a positive awareness to FFA at Farmersville High School.

Hanford

Hanford FFA is ready to kick off FFA week on February 20th-24th with a bang! They have multiple lunchtime activities planned for its members, and are looking forward to all student bodies getting involved. Some of the lunchtime activities include Supermarket Sweep, Penny in a Haystack, and a Minute to Win It relay. All games are agriculturally oriented. Supermarket Sweep, for example, helps strengthen the members’ knowledge of California’s top commodities through riddles and a scavenger hunt. FFA week will also consist of school-wide dress up days. These days include Twin Day, Western Day, Blue and Gold Day, and Freedom Friday, which is a patriotic day. Along with these activities Hanford FFA is holding a free lunch time BBQ on each campus throughout the week.

This year Hanford FFA is encouraging their members to “Think Outside the Barn.” They hope through this chapter theme, they will be able to break the stigma behind FFA. Hanford FFA wants their students and school population to know that FFA is much more than farm animals, and farming. It offers leadership opportunities, SAEs outside of animal agriculture, and valuable skills that will benefit students for a lifetime. They are excited to see the chapter grow and continue to help the community through various community service events.

Lemoore

Each year Lemoore FFA conducts an annual Community Pumpkin Patch for preschoolers through third graders, partners with local elementary school classes to implement the Partners in Active Learning (PALS) program, assists with the Kings County Fair cleanup days, conducts canned food drive for local Christian Aid, and provides tour guides for Kings County Farm Day. They have installed a drought tolerant landscape for the City of Lemoore. Lemoore FFA is proud of its more than 25-year history in raising puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind, which developed its recognition as a FFA SAE project by the National FFA Association two years ago.

During FFA Week, Lemoore FFA will host a schoolwide dress up days including The Owl, when students may dress up like their favorite wise-old nerd; The Plow, when students may dress up as a farmer or in Western wear, The Flag, when students are to dress up in patriotic colors, and Blue and Gold Day, FFA colors.

Other Activities throughout the Week include the airing of a promo video with a thank you to staff and others for supporting FFA, a Clue Game with advisors – new clues given out daily to see which advisor did the dastardly deed, and a Kiss the Cow event involving the entire school.

Monache

Monache has about 400 students involved in FFA with three teachers. Some 24 hogs, 10 sheep and a hundred chickens are kept on the campus farm, some of which will be shown at the Porterville Fair in May. The club hosts a Farmers Market on the farm, held on March 4 this year, with student-grown produce and plants available, as well as floral arrangements and other items.

Monache High School FFA has something planned for every day of FFA Week. A Trivia Day will be held in class and a Tailgate party after school. There will be a Teacher Appreciation lunch and a FFA Mini contest on Friday, where students will participate in a variety of Career Development events in each class.

Sequoia High

Sequoia FFA received its charter last year. Its focus is on Natural Resources and Forestry. The program currently works in collaboration with Reedley Junior College to offer a dual enrollment course in Chainsaw Operations, and Sequoia FFA works closely with Sequoia National Park for service learning projects.

Last year, Sequoia FFA won the Western Region Hartzog Award, and had the opportunity to meet the then Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewel when she visited the Cesar Chavez Memorial, last October. Through this program, students receive employment and internships with the National Park Service. Sequoia FFA is excited to continue expanding their unique program.

For FFA Week, Sequoia FFA will be having a Logging Sport competition and a Salsa Making contest, in addition to doing community service projects in the National Park.

Strathmore

Strathmore FFA celebrates National FFA Week in many ways. This year, the chapter officers have planned a different lunchtime activity for each day. They also plan to hand out a special treat on each day. All members and non-members are encouraged to get in on the fun. The chapter also puts on its annual Drive Thru Dinner. The money raised will be put toward sending members to the State and National Conventions, and scholarships for seniors. The Drive Thru Dinner will be held on February 23, from 4-6pm at the Strathmore Ag Department Parking Lot.
Strathmore FFA’s strongest and most popular areas are hogs and chickens. But, they also have a growing Floral and Ornamental Horticulture component to their program. They have a Crop Box (indoor hydroponics growing system), several greenhouses, and an aquaponics system going up this year.

A California Ag Curriculum is taught during FFA Week to celebrate and help further knowledge of the importance of California agriculture.

Tulare

Tulare High School Farm is home to the Tulare High School Agriculture Program and Tulare FFA. This is one of the most unique agriculture programs in the United States, due to the fact that its site is separate from the three campuses it serves – Tulare Union High School, Tulare Western High and Mission Oak High School. Additionally, this site is home to the programs 60-acre commercial farming operation and its Land ‘O Lakes affiliated 100 cow dairy. These facilities offer students a truly hands-on experience in agriculture as it prepares students to be college and career ready.

In February, the Tulare High School Agriculture Program celebrates National FFA week differently than others by making it a month-long event. Already under way, Tulare FFA promotes FFA and Agriculture during the entire month of February. Tulare FFA members will visit each of the 14 feeder schools into the Tulare Joint High School District, promoting FFA and agriculture. Also, Tulare FFA will host the Sequoia Sectional FFA Public Speaking Contest, the San Joaquin Regional FFA meeting, the Tulare FFA Blue and Gold Dash, and many of the members of the Tulare FFA chapter are donating many hours of community service in the support of the events and operation of the World Ag Expo – the largest showcase of agriculture in the world. The members of Tulare FFA understand that we all celebrate agriculture each and every day – three times a day, at meal times.

Woodlake

The Woodlake FFA chapter focuses on the success and involvement of its members. It highly encourages members to be active by joining CDE teams, attend sectional and regional activities, and participate in our chapter level leadership and team building. Advisors put in a lot of effort and time to see this chapter succeed. The program has grown in size and score over the past four years, and hopes are to accomplish more by getting others involved.

For FFA Week, the officer team came up with dress-up days and activities to celebrate the mission of FFA. Dress-up Days include: Tuesday is Tuxes and Tiaras, when FFA members will dress in formal business attire, Wednesday is Western Wear (country apparel), Thursday is Tiger Pride Thursday, when members will wear school colors of orange and black for the annual Donkey Basketball game that afternoon, and Friday is FFA Friday where members will wear a lot of National Blue and Corn Gold to represent the colors of FFA.

Activities planned include a Decorated Door competition, in which teachers will decorate their classroom doors with a theme of agriculture and organize their teaching content, so that each teacher can show their students how agriculture relates to their school subject. The officer team will judge the classroom doors and whoever does the best job will receive the award of a pizza party for lunch. Another activity, is a mini CDE field day on campus, where advisors will host different CDE competitions to promote involvement in FFA Competition teams. The annual Donkey Basketball game is held against Exeter FFA. This event will take place on Thursday, February 23, in the Woodlake High School Old Gym facility. Tickets are available at the door. Woodlake FFA plans carefully in order to make their FFA week fun and informational for members and the community.

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Handbell choir and music instructor Patty Guthrie is celebrating the recent acquisition of a complete five-octave set of handbells. For several years Guthrie has taught a handbell class using bells borrowed from two local churches. Several times each week, Guthrie would pick up large cases of bells and bring them to UPHS, TCOE’s public charter school located on the Visalia campus of College of the Sequoias.

In the past six months, the school managed to raise nearly $13,000 toward the purchase of their own set.
Tulare County Superintendent of Schools Jim Vidak and the board members kicked off the campaign at the November Tulare County Board of Education meeting with a donation of $5,000. During the holidays, Gateway Church in Visalia allowed the choir to play at their Christmas programs and to receive donations, which they matched up to $1,000.
Guthrie reported that the school received nearly $4,000 from those Christmas performances, plus $1,000 from the Visalia Downtown Rotary and $1,000 from an anonymous local woman. Local foundations, community members and educators also donated, including the Provident-Salerno Family Foundation, Randy Rowlett, David Miller, Nora Allstedt, Cheryl Small, Judy Summers, UPHS teacher Helen Million-Feller and former principal John Kelly.

During the fundraising, Guthrie found a man willing to sell his used four-octave set, which will be reconditioned by the original manufacturer this summer. A fifth-octave set arrives in time for the students to use them at the UPHS Showcase on May 19.

“We look forward to sharing this beautiful and unique musical experience with Tulare County audiences,” said Mrs. Guthrie. “While high school handbell choirs are fairly common on the east coast, I am not familiar with any schools in this area that play these special instruments.”

For more information, call UPHS at (559) 730-2529.

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The head coaches named were Hanford High School’s Josh Young for the West, and Exeter High School’s Chris Frankland for the East, as a replacement for Woodlake’s Jose Del Rio, who will be unavailable for the game.

The annual game is managed by the Lemoore Kiwanis and Visalia Optimists clubs. The head coaches were chosen due to the great successes of their teams according to Tom Hayslett, a game organizer from Visalia Optimists. He explained the reasoning behind the choosing Frankland and Young.

“Hanford won the State Championship, so Young was an easy choice. Exeter had the second best record in the East, so Frankland was best candidate behind Del Rio.”

Rio and the Woodlake Tigers had the best record in the East this past season.

Young and his Hanford Bullpups took home the State Championship for Division 4AA in December. He said his team wanted to get back to State, after losing in that game the year before.

“We had a lot of returners coming back. We thought we could get back to where we were the year before. The goal was to win league. We didn’t do that, but we played some of our best football in the playoffs. We had a good team, and the players put in to what we wanted to do,” he said.

Young also spoke on his feelings about being selected as the coach of the West for the East-West All-Star game.

“I was excited. I’ve been asked before but didn’t feel right about accepting,” he said. “This time, it just felt right. It’ll be great getting to coach some of our guys, and the rest of the guys as well.”

Chris Frankland and his Exeter Monarchs finished with an 8-4 record and a loss in the second round of the playoffs. Frankland reviewed his team’s 2015 campaign.

“We had a good season. We wanted to be the last team standing. That didn’t happen, but the team came together and played well last season.”

Frankland also spoke about the emotions he felt upon finding out he was chosen to coach the east team.

“It was a surprise,” he said. “I had a visitor at lunch yesterday, and had no idea what it was about, and then I got the news. I knew Jose would be selected, so it caught me off guard when it happened. I was surprised and honored to selected, even as a replacement.”

The game will take place on Saturday, June 26 at 8pm. It will be the 49th annual All-Star game.

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A lot of community input was accessed to aide in the Terra Bella Community Plan update, presented to supervisors in November, 2015, said Michael Washam, assistant director of Economic Planning and Development Department (EDD) for the county.

The plan is a part of the overall general plan on the county in part with economic development along the Highway 65 and 99 corridors¸ but also aimed at making each of the communities “safer, healthier and more sustainable.”

Efforts have been made toward completing some street and sidewalk projects including the “Safe Routes to School” program. The county also aims to generate more flexibility in zoning to allow more than one use for a property – such as a business with an attached residence and/or allowing for quicker start-up time for a potential business to a community.

The county has been highly successful in receiving grant funding for many recent projects throughout the county. The same has been quite helpful in the Terra Bella community providing funds for street and sidewalk work involving five streets and the sidewalks close to Terra Bella Elementary School.

But, far and away, one of the most significant recent improvements for the community is a recreational area, perceived and brought to fruition through Setton Farms, Washman said.
“We went to the school and asked for input about what they ¬[residents] wanted to see in the park,” said David Goad, Setton Farms plant manager.

Improvements were made in a walking track, and a new stainless steel drinking water filling station was added, trees and shrubs were planted and barbecue pits with shelters and picnic tables were placed along with playground equipment. Privacy fencing has also been built.

While Setton provided the plans and organization, along with the land, it asked its business partners to participate as well.

Some of its pistachio growers donated funding, a local electrician who is contracted by the plant, provided solar lights for the recreational area, and a local manufacturer installed the barbecue pits and shelters, Goad said.

“It’s a team effort,” he said.

The park is irrigated with recycled water from the plant.

“We’re part of the town – our employees live here – we are Terra Bella, we’re right in the middle of town,” he said.

Supervisor Mike Ennis said that the park “is a great, great asset to the community,” in a video produced by EDD and displayed on YouTube.

The park has been a community project,” Washam said. “There is no graffiti and no vandalism.”
Another recent addition to the community is a Family Healthcare Network clinic in 2014. The clinic has been extremely well received by those in the area, Washman said.

The county has also been active in taking down old, dilapidated buildings in the area – but not just by bulldozing them down.

“There is a sustainable and historic approach to this,” Washam said. “Boards are pulled off carefully for reuse or refurbishing as are the old windows.”

And with all of this, more improvements still may come in the near future to Terra Bella and other small communities within the county, Washam said.

The Tulare County “Build a Day in Terra Bella” may be viewed at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=or96RiMBjhc

The post Terra Bella Sees Upgrades Through County and Community Efforts appeared first on Valley Voice.

The council voted unanimously to shift from the Essential Air Service (EAS) program, a Department of Transportation program that subsidizes airlines to serve small cities like Visalia, to the Community Flexibility Pilot Program (CFPP), which pays cities to forego EAS – and subsidized air service – for 10 years in favor of a direct payment of two years’ worth of subsidies.That funding could be used to improve airport facilities.

But, one airline has stated that itmay consider serving Visalia without the subsidy program.

Mokulele Airlines is exploring the idea of taking on the Visalia market anyway.

“We were disappointed to hear the council opted for the buyout program,” said Ron Hansen, Mokulele Airlines’ CEO.

“We are waiting to hear what Imperial does,” he said.

Imperial County suffered the same fate as Visalia when SeaPort Airlines pulled out of California. It, too, was left without an air carrier.

The three airlines that bid for Visalia’s service – Mokulele, Boutique Air and Great Lakes Airlines – also bid for Imperial’s service. There, the cities of Imperial and El Centro voted to endorse Mokulele’s bid, while that county’s Board of Supervisors voted in favor of Boutique Airlines.

The DOThad not awarded service to either airline as of press time.

If Mokulele is awarded Imperial’s service, it would be flying between the Imperial/El Centro Airport and Los Angeles. At that point, adding flights between Los Angeles and Visalia may be feasible.

“We believe Visalia is a good market and could be very successful,” Hansen said.

During the Visalia’s recent council meeting, the city’s Airport Advisory Committee recommended the city enter into the CFPP buyout program instead of selecting another carrier after serious concerns regarding EAS program restrictions.

Visalia will be the first airport in the country to take advantage of the CFPP option, which has been available since 2004.

Visalia is applying for $3.7 million, which CFPP may provide the city in exchange for sitting out of the EAS program for 10 years. If approved, funding under the program could be used to enhance the airport such as building new hangars and other facilities which could attract cargo and private operations.

SeaPort Airlines served the airport since February 2015, but ceased service overnight on January 15, citing the nationwide pilot shortage affecting regional airlines across the nation.

Prior carrier Great Lakes Airlines had served Visalia from 2008 to 2015, but saw its reliability falter due to the same pilot shortage.

Any carrier that would operate out of Visalia, through the subsidy program, would need to have an effective per-passenger subsidy of under $200 per person. If it went above that limit, Visalia would lose its subsidy anyway – and it would no longer be eligible for the program.

SeaPort Airlines, Visalia Airport Manager Mario Cifuentez said, had managed to hit nearly 10,000 passengers during its time at Visalia. But somewhere between 30-40% of those passengers were simply flying from Burbank to Sacramento, or vice-versa, using Visalia as a stopping point, he said.

While SeaPort was successful in raising passenger counts, the subcommittee stated in its report to council that it was incredibly unlikely any of the three carriers that bid for service would meet that subsidy cap. Cifuentez echoed these concerns to the council.

The program does not mean that passenger service at the airport would be forced to end – airlines would simply be forced to operate at Visalia without a subsidy, Cifuentez said.

Councilmembers said that while it was unfortunate that the community could lose service, they looked forward to the possibility of attracting companies to the city by upgrading the airport’s
facilities.

“This is a good opportunity to market the airport differently,” Councilman Greg Collins said.

The lack of reliability of the airlines serving Visalia has “been a problem” for the last 16 years, Councilmember Bob Link said.

“It could also help the Industrial Park,” Link said. “I support it 110%.”

“I’m totally supportive,” said Mayor Steve Nelsen.

“We’ve been burned [by air carriers] twice,” said Nelsen, referring to service from SeaPort Airlines and Great Lakes Airlines.

“This is a chance to rebrand it [the airport],” Nelsen said.

Through monthly lease and landing fees, the airport has generally been receiving $40,000 annually in revenue from airlines serving Visalia, Cifuentez said in an interview. That’s $400,000 in 10 years versus $3.7 million, he said. He added that he did not know whether the city would receive one lump sum or would be reimbursed project by project.

Cifunetez was to meet with DOT representatives and file for the buyout program funds.

“It’s a viable program,” he said, “but no one has done it before.”

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