Recent FFA American Degree recipients include (top row) Nate Herringshaw of Bowling Green, Elmwood FFA members Emily Curtis, Shelby George, Lindsay Heller, J.R. Laborie, (middle row) Nathan Meek, Emily Reynolds, Ryan Rose, Reid Rothenbuhler, Kylie Snowden, (bottom row)Kristin Martin of Eastwood, Emily Limes of Otsego, and Mark Wasserman of Penta.

Elmwood leads county with nine awards, Otsego has five
Last month 18 Wood County FFA students were awarded their American FFA degrees at the national convention
held in Indianapolis.
The American Degree is the highest award that can be achieved within the FFA. The award showcases a
member’s highest level of commitment to the FFA and each individual’s significant accomplishments with
their FFA-related activities and projects. Each year, nearly 3,500 members receive their American FFA
Degree. This means, less than one-half of one percent of all FFA members achieve this prestigious
degree.
In addition to their degree, each recipient receives a gold American FFA Degree key.
Nathan Herringshaw was the lone recipient from Bowling Green. Elmwood led all county schools with nine
recipients, Emily Curtis, Shelby George, Lindsey Heller, J. R. Laborie, Nathan Meek, Emily Reynolds,
Ryan Rose, Reid Rothenbuhler and Kylie Snowden; Otsego produced six American Degree awards this year,
Amy Gobrogge, Mike Hannewald, Emily Limes, Josh Main, Caroline Weihl and Ryan Williams; Kristin Martin
was Eastwood’s honoree; while Mark Wasserman represented Penta Career Center in earning the top FFA
award.
Each of these outstanding students have worked diligently during the high school years and beyond to
achieve this honor. Among the requirements are their performance with their Supervised Agricultural
Experience projects (SAE), academic achievement of a C average or better, as well as participation in
chapter and school activities within the FFA. Those would also include Career Development Events (CDE).

Additional requirements include having earned the state degree, completed at least three years of
instruction in agricultural education, earned at least $7,500 in their SAE, and productively invested at
least $7,500.
A very brief synopsis follows for each.
Bowling Green
Herringshaw SAE projects consisted of poultry production, farm job placement and installing geothermal
loops, plus home improvement and community service. His CDE highlights include being part of the state
poultry and agricultural engineering teams. He also was on the district soil judging and general
livestock judging teams. He is attending Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute at
Wooster. He also served the chapter as its student advisor.
Elmwood
Curtis completed projects of soybean and corn production, and a variety of livestock projects including
dairy beef cattle, and market hogs. She also completed 280 hours of work placement. Her successes with
CDEs included being a member of the first place state grain merchandising team and second place state
parliamentary procedure team. She served as the chapter’s president and secretary where she had the
district’s top secretary’s book. She attends the University of Findlay with an interest in human
resources.
George conducted SAEs of corn production, swine production, nearly 500 hours of placement in agriculture
processing, and completed more than 80 hours of community development. Her CDE involvement include being
part of the first place state Greenhand team, first place state grain merchandising team and second
place state parliamentary procedure team. She served as the chapter’s vice president. She is attending
University of Northwest Ohio with an interest in agricultural business.
Heller completed SAEs of corn and soybean production, and more than 80 hours of community development.
Her CDE success included being a member of the first place state Grain Merchandising team, as well as
the first place state Greenhand team. She developed leadership skills by attending the Washington
leadership conference, and put her skills into action by serving competently on standing committees. She
attends Ohio State University, with an interest in mechanical engineering.
Laborie conducted SAEs of corn and soybean production in addition to completing several hundred hours of
job placement at Laborie Enterprises. His CDE accomplishments included being a member of the first place
state Greenhand team, second place state parliamentary procedure team, first place state outdoor power
equipment team, first place state grain merchandising team, and second place state ag. engineering
teams. He was chapter president and treasurer. He is pursuing a degree in agriculture systems management
at Ohio State University.
Meek completed SAE projects including raising turkeys, and multiple corn and soybean projects. His
successes in CDE participation included being a member of the first and second place state cooperatives
teams. He used his talents with computers to create many chapter presentations for banquets, sales
activities, FFA Week, and recruitment events. Meek extended this volunteerism to youth educational
events, and community service for the elderly. He is attending the University of Findlay to pursue an
interest in computer science.
Reynolds completed multiple market steer and market hog SAE projects, job placement for Sunrise
Cooperative, and 69 hours of community development. Her CDE success included being a member of the first
place state grain merchandising team. She earned chapter proficiency awards in the areas of beef and
swine production. Reynolds is a student at the University of Findlay pursuing an interest in education.

Rose conducted SAE projects of corn and soybean production, home improvement, and community development.
He was active on career development teams including the second place state agricultural engineering
teams. He is employed with CSX as a crane operator.
Rothenbuhler had SAE projects of pheasants, soybeans, and corn. He also experienced success in the area
of CDEs as he was a member of the first place state grain merchandising team. He earned a chapter
proficiency award in the area of wildlife management. He continued his skill development by taking
leadership roles with the chapter’s charity work auction and involvement with Relay For Life.
Rothenbuhler attends the University of Findlay pursuing a degree in pre-law.
Snowden raised multiple market hog projects, 10 acres of corn, five acres soybeans, and 70 hours of
community development for her SAE projects. She was a member of the first place state Greenhand team,
and first place state grain merchandising team. She earned multiple volunteerism awards. She is
attending Ohio State University’s Agricultural Technical Institute and studying agriculture business.

Eastwood
Martin graduated in 2010 and was the former chapter president and treasurer. While in high school, she
received proficiency awards based on special crop production. Her SAE projects consisted of raising
market hogs and cattle, growing crops such as pumpkins, and job placement on Martin Farms. She is in her
second year attending Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster, working on a
double major in beef and sheep production and crop services and management.

Otsego FFA members who received the American FFA degree include (front, from left) Caroline Weihl and Amy Gobrogge; (back) Josh Main, Mike Hannewald and Ryan Williams.

Otsego
Gobrogge is currently is attending Ohio State University, majoring in animal sciences. She participated
in parliamentary procedure, soil judging, agronomy, and livestock evaluation career development events.
She also served as a chapter officer and a committee chairman, and also competed in the Big E in
Massachusetts for Parliamentary Procedure. Her SAE project included raising market steers and working on
her family’s farm. She also placed second in the state for placement proficiency in beef production.
Hannewald currently attends Ohio State University, majoring in agronomy. He was a member of the agronomy,
parliamentary procedure, and soils teams. He also competed in extemporaneous public speaking as well as
job interview where he placed third overall in the state for in each area. He also served as a chapter
officer for two years. Hannewald served on the State Officer team where he was the District One
President in 2010-2011. He also served on the 2011 National Officer Nominating Committee. His SAE
consists of raising livestock, crop production, and working on his family’s farm. He won the state
proficiency for accounting and was second in diversified agricultural production proficiencies.
Limes is attending Lake Land College in Illinois, majoring in agriculture transfer. Next fall she will be
majoring in food science.She was a two-year chapter officer and was on the state winning livestock
judging career development event team. She completed on the national level where the team placed 11th.
She also competed at the Big E in parliamentary procedure. Her SAE consists of raising cattle and lambs,
and showed many of her projects at the county and state fairs as well as many other exhibitions, and was
a member of Wood County 4-H and the Wood County Livestock Judging team.
Main is currently attending Bowling Green State University, majoring in business while operating his own
business, Main Creek Farm. The farm features all natural farm-raised freezer beef and specialty items
which was started as part of his SAE project. He also raised crops and completed various home
improvement projects on his family’s farm. Main won second place in the state for the Agricultural Sales
Proficiency for his efforts in his business. Main competed in agronomy and soils CDEs. His SAE projects
also included growing corn and soybeans as well as raising dairy beef feeders.
Weihl is attending Ohio State University, majoring in agricultural communication. She was very
competitive in livestock evaluation, soils, dairy, parliamentary procedure, agronomy and public
speaking. She was on the state winning livestock judging team, and then represented Ohio in the national
contest, where the team took 11th place. She was a two-term secretary for the chapter. She is currently
serving as the District One president for Ohio. Weihl’s SAE program consisted for working on her
family’s farm, raising cattle and job placement. She was named as the 2011 District One Star Farmer.
Williams is attending Bowling Green State University, majoring in environmental science. He competed in
soil evaluation, agronomy and wildlife management CDEs. His SAE project was raising both corn and
soybeans as well as working on his family’s farm. He also completed several home improvement projects.
At Otsego, Williams played football and baseball.
Penta
Wasserman is attending Owens Community College in its John Deere tractor program. The 2009 Penta Career
Center (via Lake High School) graduate was very active on the family farm during high school. He
continues in that effort. In 2009 he told the Sentinel-Tribune his goals were to be a lifetime farmer in
the Millbury area.