OBERLIN, Ohio — At the 2015 Lorain County Fair, Firelands FFA Adviser Shanna Finnegan recruited exchange student Pablo Barranco to join Firelands FFA after meeting him with his host family, Chad and Amy Grude of Wakeman. Barranco, from Seville, Spain, immersed himself in American culture and schooling, maintaining a 4.0 GPA and getting involved in cross-country, track, and FFA.
Barranco won an FFA jacket for being the first of his classmates to memorize the FFA Creed — which he memorized in Puerto Rican Spanish as well as English.
He won the county and sub-district public speaking contests, qualifying him for the Ohio FFA speaking contest where he placed fifth.
Barranco logged over 200 hours of FFA activities including leadership activities, community service, fund-raising and attending the national and state FFA conventions. He developed a strong relationship with Matthew Klopfenstein, former Ohio FFA President, who invited Barranco on stage to help him deliver his retiring address. Barranco returns to Spain the third week of June for his senior year and plans to attend college in the United States in 2017.
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WELLINGTON, Ohio — Recently the Wellington FFA chapter held its annual Food For America event at Westwood Elementary School. Chapter members taught the younger students where their food comes from, and the students participated in a petting zoo with many different types of animals. There was also a station about fishing and tractors. The elementary students also received goody bags with items donated from the dairy association.
