The September board meeting was held on September 9th, 2024. the band, music trip, and FFA were all topics of discussion during the meeting.
The band and music trip was represented by Sean Keasling. Every four years the band and music groups have traveled to different states across the country. On the last trip, they went to Disneyland in Orlando, Florida to participate in different workshops. During one of the workshops, they picked a Disney song from a movie to make a demo of. The choir and band make the music and the directors get a CD to go home with. This year they are planning to go back to Orlando, Florida to do the same thing. They are planning to go during Spring Break, the 15th-20th of March. So far they have 24 students signed up to go. The difference this year is that they are going to be flying down to Orlando rather than driving. The board was asked for permission by the band and choir groups to receive two buses to take students to the airport and back and one suburban to take instruments down to Florida and back, as well as permission to go on the trip in general. The music and band groups have been fundraising for two to four years depending on when the trip is. They start fundraising in seventh grade and get to go on the trip once they get into high school. The school board has decided to approve the trip and give two buses and one suburban.
The next thing on the agenda was the trip to the Nationals FFA competition in Indianapolis, Indiana. This year four boys have qualified. Landon Albrecht, Eli Olander, Caden Parry, and Evan Watkins. The rankings of the boys at state were; Landon: 1st, Eli: 6th, Caden: 11th, and Evan: 19th. Southeast of Saline has not had anyone qualify to go to Nationals since 2010. They have been studying since January to go to the national competition and compete. One thing different about FFA is that they only have one time to participate in this event. Another difference is that fundraising goes to the entire FFA chapter unlike other organizations like FCCLA that has their funds go to the specific person who works for that event. The FFA boys asked for money to go for nationals with a total of $2,161. This amount will cover all but lodging. They also asked for two suburbans and money for fuel costs. Sunnyside Pumpkin Patch also chipped in $500 for the trip. The school board has approved this trip out of state for the boys to participate in their events.
We wish both organizations good luck and hope they have fun during their competitions and their workshops.
