Friends, family salute FFA

Wasco High's Future Farmers' of America held its annual Friends and Family Banquet on Friday, May 17, in the auditorium.

Outstanding students were recognized and awarded certificates for their contribution to the FFA program.

The Outstanding Service Award was presented to Ken Ballou.

Ballou accepted his award as his family looked on and his wife, Christie Ballou, was named Mother of the Year for her outstanding service to the FFA family. Student Jon Ballou joined his parents on stage after they received their awards.

Another award went to the FFA Creed Recitation Team, which included students Lindsay Lee, Corina Gonzalez, Kalani Castillo, Christopher Padilla and Karissa Andrade. These students memorized and recited the FFA Creed written by E.M. Tiffany at a competition held at Wasco High.

Freshmen Kalani Castillo, Christopher Padilla and Karissa Andrade were nominated as the Greenhand Candidates. Karissa Andrade was named the Greenhand of the year, which means she was the best performing freshman of the year.

The following students were each given certificates for their specific area of expertise: Outstanding Ag/Biology students: Janelly Garcia (Sustainable Bio), Ivan Perez (Vet Science Student), Haley Allen (Animal Science Student), Maricruz Diaz (Ag Gov/ Econ WACP), Anthony Santana (Ag Government Student), Claire Moreno (Ag Econ Student), Lindsay Lee (Ag Communications 9th), Daisy Cendejas (Ag Communications 10th), Carlos Rico (Farm Power), Andres Gutierrez (Ag Mechanic I Student), Carlos Vargas (Ag Welding Student), Yaraydeycy Vasquez (Plant and Soil Science), Stephanie Hernandez (Floral), Matthew Ramos (Horticulture Student), Tyler Ruddell (Workhorse Award), Andrew Morales (FFA President), Nick Gutierrez (Star Chapter Farmer), Karissa Andrade (Star Greenhand), Ken Ballou (Distinguished Service) and Karissa Andrade, Vianey Padilla, Ivan Perez and Stephanie Hernandez and Janelly Garcia were mentioned as the Veterinary Science Team selection.

In addition, 31 students were named the Agriculture Graduation Cord recipients: Andrea Alvarado, Monique Alvarez, Fiorela Arreola, Jonathon Ballou, Gabriel Benavides, Luis Casablanca, Hannah Cooley, Maricruz Diaz Carmona, Meah Dickson, Manuel Flores, Erasmo Garcia, Stephanie Hernandez, Jocelyne Juarez, Lisbet Lopez Tapia, Alondra Martinez, Andrew Medley, Leonardo Morales, Andrew Morales, Claire Moreno, Jacob Ocampo, Lluvia Pelayo, Jacob Perez, Kayla Perez, Alejandro Porras, Sophia Raya, Johanna Reyes Gallegos, Carlos Rico, Tyler Ruddell, Julian Servin and Lesly Velasco.

A slide presentation of the board members was also shown, and when pictures of the members when they were younger came up, there were lots of laughs and clapping.

Additionally, Wasco State of FFA Degree recipients were named and included the following 2019 students: Haley Allen, Andrea Alvarado, Fiorela Arreola, Kareena Barboza, Maricruz Diaz, Erasmo Garcia, Alejandro Gomez, Gilberto Gutierrez, Stephanie Hernandez, Alondra Martinez, Andrew Medley, Leonardo Morales, Jacob Ocampo, Jacob Perez, Kayla Perez, Daniela Ramos, Sophia Raya, Johanna Reyes, Kaitlyn Romero, Tyler Rudell, Lesly Velasco and Sky Williams.

After the awards were presented, the group broke up and gathered in the cafeteria for refreshments.