Banks FFA Does It Again!

Banks FFA Dairy Cattle Judging Team picture: (left right) Nick Evers, Mitchell Evers, Gerritt Schmidlkofer, Mathias Schmidlkofer, Eric Evers, LeeAnn Pallett, Stefani Evers, Abby Evers

For the third time in four years, the Banks FFA Dairy Cattle Judging Team has earned top honors by placing first at the State FFA Dairy Cattle Judging Contest. Banks now gets to represent Oregon at the National Dairy Cattle Evaluation Career Development Event this coming October at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.

On Monday, Banks FFA was among about 20 teams from around the state to descend on the Oregon State University Dairy Research Center for an afternoon of evaluating dairy cattle. The event consists of evaluating six classes of live heifers and cows based on current industry standards, evaluating the genetic merit of two more classes of animals, then giving two sets of oral reasons, where the student orally describes the class and defends their placing to a judge. Even if a student does not planning pursuing a career in the dairy industry, the skills gained through participation in this event will benefit them for the rest of their life.

Banks FFA has developed quite a reputation for dairy cattle judging over the past few years. After winning the state contest in the early 90s, Banks FFA took a 15-year hiatus from dairy judging, and then started a team back up in 2007. In 2007, the team placed 8th at the state contest, and started a tradition of success that continues today. The following year in 2008, Banks dairy judging team placed first at the state level, then went on to place 15th at the national level. They followed that success with a first place finish in 2009, and a second place finish in 2010.

Along with the first place team performance this year, four members placed in the top 10 individually. Eric Evers placed first overall, Mathias Schmidlkofer placed 7th, Gerritt Schmidlkofer placed 9th, & Stefani Evers placed 10th. The team will be working hard this summer and next fall to prepare for the national contest in October.

Meek ProTech: A School Unlike Any Other

Meek ProTech is an alternative high school in NE Portland. Wondering what sets it apart from other schools? Check out this video to find out.

Video created by Meek ProTech students Karla Carballo, Keisha McGuffy, and Raymone Kennedy for PCC's Social Media Outreach Project.

Vernonia High School Construction

This marketing video was created by Vernonia High School students Josh Liman, Marina Mekidiche, and Vaclav Michalec for PCC's Social Media Outreach Project. Their goal was to recruit more students into their class and inform the community about the positive impact of the VHS construction program. Their finished product is hilarious and effective--take a look for yourself here or check it out on YouTube.

No Boyz Allowed Class Flourishing in Sherwood

Sherwood high school teachers John Neibergall and Jon Dickover share more than a first name: in adjoining classrooms they teach engineering and construction, respectively, two subjects which traditionally attract a much higher percentage of male students than females.

Unsatisfied with the low numbers of young women enrolled in their engineering classes, John and Jon put their heads together to come up with a solution. They looked at the research behind recruiting female students into nontraditional subjects. They examined the population they were serving: a vibrant and social school of over a thousand students in a tight-knit community. They talked to the young women already in enrolled in their classes.

They decided the best way to introduce female students to a potentially intimidating subject was to create a new class just for them. They gave it a catchy name: No Boyz Allowed. They set up a recruitment table during lunch periods and asked current female engineering students to show off cool projects and answer questions from curious passersby. Engaging prospective students one-on-one is proved to be a simple but powerful strategy: suddenly Sherwood High School students were seeing enthusiastic proof that girls could thrive in high tech classes.

Their hard work paid off: the first NBA class filled up. And then a second one.

Word of mouth from current students will likely popularize the program even more. Many of the students from this introductory class will move into more advanced engineering classes. From there they can pursue college educations and high wage jobs in a high tech field in desperate need of more women.

All thanks to two amazing teachers at Sherwood High School.

Extra Credit: Be sure to check out this great video, created by an NBA student, documenting some of the adventures the class has had so far!

Gaston High School Gives Back

Last school year the woods classes at Gaston High School illustrated the amazing positive impact a CTE program can have on its community.

One of the school district's bus drivers had recently fallen on hard financial times. Her kitchen cabinets were falling apart, but as anyone who has renovated a kitchen knows, replacing them was not exactly an affordable endeavor. That's when Gaston High School woods teacher Wade Sims proposed an idea: if she could pay for the raw materials, his class would construct her a full set of beautiful custom cabinets at no extra charge.

Take a look at the jaw-dropping results:

Advanced woods students did most of the actual construction, but students at every level were able to pitch in and help. In the end, a deserving member of the community got a beautiful new kitchen for a fraction of the price, while a group of dedicated students learned a valuable construction trade--not to mention the value of giving back.