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Newsletter

Volume | Issue | 2016

In This Issue:

- End of the Year

Banquet

- Merced Fair

- State Fair

- National Jr. Angus

Show

- POA Trip

- Officer Retreat

- Livestock Camp

- August Ice Cream

Social Meeting

- G.L.C.

- T-shirts and

Sweatshirts

- Stay Connected

- Calendar

Buhach Colony End of The Year Banquet is an Em ot ional Celebrat ion of Success!

With a chapter full of amazingly talented members, we definitely have a lot of accomplishments to not only recognize, but celebrate as well.  The end of the year banquet provides to do just that, gave credit where credit was due!  This year our banquet was on May 25, 2016 and proved to be one of the most special ones we have ever had.  As we celebrated the accomplishments of our members, we also gave special recognition to one of the most influential advisors the Buhach Colony has had as he said his final good bye?s before retirement.  To celebrate many of our FFA members, parents, faculty, friends and alumni came together to put on a special program honoring member achievement and the retirement of Mr. Steve Obad.

Following the opening ceremony, Mr. Kollman, one of the Buhach Colony High School Assistant Principals welcomed all and offered his own congratulatory message.  Next to follow was the presentation of the senior scholarship winners, and the acknowledgement of graduating seniors who received their State FFA Degree as they received their FFA Graduation Stole.

Other student recognitions included Outstanding Ag Biology student, Ag Welding and Woodshop freshman, sophomore, junior and senior, Outstanding Environmental Science student, and Outstanding Internships in Agriculture student as chosen by the respective instructors given their individual exceptional performance in their classes and within the FFA.  In addition to those outstanding students, our chapter 's most active first and second year members, who have a strong Supervised Agricultural Experience program and demonstrates exceptional leadership abilit ies is awarded the Star Greenhand and Star Farmer awards. This year the Star Greenhand, first year member, was Kilee Carrera-Gillard and the Chapter Star Farmer, second year member, was Abigail Douglas.  Beyond those two dedicated and involved students, the involvement of all of our members in the chapter is extremely important and should also be rewarded.  The Point of Awards system allows our advisors to keep track of who has been involved in what, and at the end of the year a total point value for each student is organized and the top 24 most involved students are awarded prizes

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for their accomplishments and each is given the opportunity to go on an expenses paid summer trip.  This year the most involved members were awarded a white water rafting trip to Knights Ferry with the top point award winner deserving their own special recognition, and proudly we announce that this year?s POA winner was Michaela Clark.

A large portion of the evening is spent recognizing the hard working members of our Career Development Event (CDE) teams who put a lot of time and effort into being a part of a productive and competitive team throughout the spring semester.  The members of these teams work with the respective coaches to become experts in their field of competition and show their skills as they compete against other individuals in the same area.  Team members devote so much time, energy and dedication to become the best at what they do that the recognition does not rightfully do it justice! Mr. Mancebo is the advisor for the Job Interview and Dairy Cattle Judging team.  The Job Interview team consisting of Jose Medina, Cheyenne Brown, Morgan Souza, Abigail Douglas, Kelsey Coen, Tiffanie Underwood, Joslyn Campos, and Sadie Montague experienced many great successes this year and takes with them valuable skill to use as they move on as productive members of society and the workforce. The Dairy Cattle Judging team consisting of Maggie Homen, Caden Sores, Madi Homen, Camille Silvera, Austin Sherman, Jonathan Pacheco, McKenna Sherman, Logan McParland, Nichelle Lawler, Macie Harmon, Shelby Rolfe, Alexis Machado, and Morgan Miguel proved to be a force to reckon with this competition season bringing home a bundle of blue ribbons with many individual recognitions as well.

      The Prepared Public Speaking Team and the Livestock Judging team are coached by Mrs. VonAllman.  The Prepared Public Speaking team had four dedicated members this year and included Madison Homen, Maggie Homen, Kristina Ramos, and Madison Murphy. Madison Homen placed 2nd at sections and Maggie placed 3rd moving on the the regional competition. Where Maggie placed 7th overall. Livestock Judging Team included competitive individuals Michaela Clark, Madyson Paschall, Abigail Douglas, Brittany Perry, Kilee Carrera-Gillard, and Gauge McMullen. The team celebrated as hard work paid off bringing home high placings in the competition sub-contests, most prominently swine.  Not only was Mrs. VonAllman recognized for the energy and passion she poured into the teams this year with comical and heart-warming speeches from team members, she was also so excited to announce to all that Michaela Clark, a graduating four year livestock judging team member, would be continuing her judging career at Conners State College in Oklahoma this coming fall!  

     Mr. Avila is the coach behind the Small Engines Team, consisting of Brock Hightower, Cheng Vang, and

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Banquet Cont inued...

Pictured Left: Brittany Perry and Star Greenhand winner Kilee Gillard Pictured Above: POA Winners

Pictured Right: Brittany Perry and Star Chapter Farmer Abigail Douglas

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Alan Acasio. The team brought home several wins and high individuals throughout the season making them one of the top teams to beat. Not only did Mr. Avila express how proud he was of the individuals on the team for their noteworthy successes and top three finish in the state, they in turn thanked Mr. Avila for all he taught them with a thoughtful speech thanking him for the investment he made in them!

As if that is not enough doting about our successful individuals, there was still so much more to go.  This year?s Best Informed Greenhand (B.I.G.) Team, largely under the direction and guidance of our student teacher Mrs. Sweet, had three dedicated members Amanda Williams, Mason Reel, and Gauge McMullen. These individuals brought home high individual placing in the top ten and ended up 3rd in the section, giving them a shot at the state tit le. The Creed Speaking team made up of members Amanda Williams, Mason Reel, Gauge McMullen, Kilee Carrera-Gillard, and Olivia Ledesma participated at sections with Mason placing 9th and Amanda bringing home 10th to finish off the competitive season. These students worked with Mr. Obad and Ms. Sweet and both were proud of their accomplishments. Alongside B.I.G and Creed, Mr. Obad also coached Novice and Advanced Parliamentary Procedure. The Advanced team including Ross May, Jose Medina, Tara Bettencourt, Maddie Murphy, Stephanie Stewart, Shannon Stalnaker, Madyson Paschall, and Michaela Clark placed 5th at the Regional Competition to round off a successful run and Novice Parliamentary Procedure consisting of, Aaron Bettencourt, Heather Byus, Morgan Malone, Angelina Ybarra, Bailey Malone, and Kyle Hoffart battled through numerous rounds of competition and ended the year with a tie for 2nd in state with team member  Morgan Malone being recognized as high individual in state competition as well. All these teams honored Ms. Sweet with thanks for keeping us on track and Mr. Obad with a final thank you for all that he put into his teams.

Beyond member recognition, our chapter would not be as successful as it is, nor would it have the opportunities provided without the support of so many in our community. Our chapter chose to recognize the Sherman family for their dedication to the success of the chapter and their overwhelming involvement with the Dairy Judging team. A special presentation for our student teacher, Ms. Sweet, and Honorary Degree recipients Mr. Jose Campos and Mrs. Jill Campos was also a part of the evening in the hopes of showing our most sincere appreciation for all they have done for our chapter.

The evening was so eventful and emotional as all took the time to appreciate the successes they have achieved and spent time giving thanks for the guidance they have received, the next recognition proved to be the most emotional of all. Our chapter and advisors worked to put on a special surprise presentation for long time Ag Advisor, mentor, coach, friend, teacher and rock Mr. Obad! This year marked Mr. Obad?s 37th and final year of Ag teaching.  Mr. Obad has impacted countless lives, those of students, parents, and his fellow colleagues over the years and the good bye did not come easy.  The chapter surprised Mr. Obad with a presentation that included guest speakers and dozens of FFA Alumni that have worked with or were

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Banquet Cont inued

Community Recognition Recipients

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taught by Mr. Obad.  The special guests gathered back stage unbenounced to Mr. Obad, and when prompted poured on stage to give him a special message and share their fondest memories.  Our first speaker in the presentation, Mr. Scott Vernon, could not make it to the banquet, but filmed a special video message that was played for all to see. Mr. Vernon was  fellow Ag instructor of Mr. Obad?s in his first years of teaching at Chowchilla High School.  The next was a former student of Mr. Obad?s from when he worked at Chowchilla High School and one in which he had a profound impact on as an individual and was largely responsible for her career choice in Agriculture Education in the later years, Mrs. Anne Delay. She presented fond memories of her time spent with Mr. Obad in the classroom, on the Dairy Judging team and her FFA days to the tune of the ?So God Made A Farmer? speech by Paul Harvey.  Another former Chowchilla High student, Mike Schnoor painted a picture of how dedicated Mr. Obad was when it came to his students, his school and the success of all!  Finally the days he taught at Chowchilla High School were concluded with memories from when he taught alongside Darol Fishman. Mr. Fishman talked fondly about when Mr. Obad started teaching and how he was one of the best Donkey Basketball players there ever was, Fishman named himself and Obad as members of the ?Chowchilla Deserters Club?. Graduates from our own ag program also came back to honor Mr. Obad. Allison King, one of Mr. Obad?s former BCHS students, and member of his Creed speaking and Parliamentary Procedure teams talked about how Mr. Obad can bring out the best in someone because even if they don?t see their potential, he always did. He pushed her to be her best in Creed Speaking as a timid and unsure freshman who then went on to win the      National competition.  Erica Stewart talked about how he could connect with students, he could always be someone to go to for a pep talk or advice, but could also bring a lot of fun and excitement to a room. Sarah Reel, talked about how he was always there for the student and their family, through the good times and the tough times both in and out of the classroom, something she will always treasure and someone who?s heart and dedication she admires. The presentation concluded as  Mr. Obad gave his heartfelt good bye message and passed on all his beloved staplers he has acquired over the years to each of his colleagues- Mrs. VonAllman, Mr. Avila and Mr. Mancebo.

With the conclusion of the retirement presentation, the end of the banquet was nearing and it was time for us to yet again retire another hard working individual. Mrs. Madison Homen, the retiring 2015-16 Chapter President gave her speech and inspired all in the room as she spoke of what she has learned from freshman year all the way to her final stance at the podium that night.  She took time to thank the advisors for all they have done to help along the way, and reached out to her fellow officers thanking them for a year of the most amazing memories. And then, in conclusion, reminded each of us all of what the FFA and Agriculture Education is about and offered words of encouragement for all of the continuing members. Finally, Amanda Williams, a first year FFA member and member of the Creed and B.I.G. teams, presented the FFA Creed and gave an amazing presentation to bring us all back to the reality of what agriculture and the FFA foundation is truly built upon.        

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Banquet Cont inued

Retirement Presentation for Mr. Obad, the stage is full of Buhach Colony FFA

and Chowchilla FFA alumni

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The final, and most anticipated event of the night was the announcement of the new 2016-17 Chapter Officer team. Our chapter proudly welcomed eight new individuals to lead its members in the upcoming school year and installed Stephanie Stewart as President, Brittany Perry as Vice President, Abigail Douglas as Secretary, Kristina Ramos as Treasurer, Shannon Stalnaker as Reporter, Chase Williams as Sentinel, Amanda Williams as Historian, and Morgan Malone as Parliamentarian! We thank each and every one of you who spent the evening with us and congratulated the great accomplishments of our members and advisors and can?t wait to see what next year has in store for everyone!

Banquet Cont inued

Pictured Right: 2016-17 Officer Team. Stephanie Stewart, Shannon Stalnaker, Amanda Williams, Brittany Perry, Abigail Douglas, Kristina Ramos, Chase Williams, and Morgan Malone

BC FFA Wins BIG at t he Merced Count y FairThe 2016 Merced County Fair turned out to be nothing short of spectacular for the Buhach Colony FFA. Each of the students involved not only learned so much about their projects, but showed they knew there stuff with numerous awards and recognitions throughout the week.

In total fourteen students showed market goats including Camille Silvera, Abigail Douglas, Olivia Ledesma, Brittany Perry, Kristina Ramos, Clayton Sardella, Lesley Santos, Madison Murphy, Morgan Malone, Cassidy Stone, Rachel Estrada, Bailey Malone, Macie Harmon and Megan Pacheco were hard at work and really brought home the blue and overall was awarded 1st place Market Chapter Group. Individually, Clayton Sardella exhibited the FFA Champion Market Goat and Abigail Douglas the Reserve Champion FFA Market Goat. Both Abigail and Clay also had a stellar day in the breeding show being awarded the Reserve Champion Junior doe as well as Junior Champ and Supreme Champion Buck, Senior Champion doe and Reserve Supreme doe. The winning didn?t stop there. In the showmanship division, Madison Murphy placed 3rd overall with Kristina Ramos a close 4th place in Novice Showmanship.  Finally, in the advanced division, BC FFA really made their presence known with Clayton Sardella placing 1st, Camille Silvera 2nd, Abigail Douglas 3rd and Brittany Perry 7th place.  Beyond that, given Clayton Sardella?s first place advanced showmanship finish that  earned him a spot in the Round Robin competition to be held later that week, where he prepared all week to demonstrate his talent in the ring showing all 6 of the species, earning another 1st place finish in that competition.  Clayton will now go on to compete at the State level during the CA State Fair in Sacramento in mid July looking to earn himself a Golden Bear!

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Across the grounds, the hog show team, with an impressive 30 members also represented BC FFA very well. Cassie Smith exhibited the Reserve Champion York with her 250 pound Yorkshire hog. Paige Rahn also received recognition for her Crossbred hog, being named the Reserve Champion Cross and later the overall FFA Reserve Champion.  All in all our chapter received some awesome championships and many other class winners were exhibited in the champion drive as well and in the end we were awarded 1st place Market Hog Chapter group and we couldn?t have been more proud.  In the showmanship portion of the day, the swine show team worked really hard in the extreme heat coming out with Sadie Montague, Nichelle Lawler, Cassie Smith, Paige Rahn and Erika Ewing all a part of the final drive.  In the end Paige Rahn earned a 2nd place finish and Cassie Smith 4th, congrats to all!

Across the way in the Dairy Cattle barn, 15 exhibitors did a phenomenal job representing our chapter both in the showring and out. Not only did they receive many awesome compliments regarding the quality of their projects from the judges in the ring, but were also awarded the overall clean barn award for FFA, a tough task to accomplish!

Once again the Beef show team dominated not only being one of the largest group exhibiting Beef cattle at the fair that week, but were able to take home numerous class winners and championships. Scott Avila showed the Reserve Champion Angus Female and was named Overall Outstanding Beef Exhibitor. Michaela Clark, a Buhach senior, had one of the most impressive county fairs of her showing career as she exhibited the Champion FFA Steer that went on to be named the Overall Supreme Champion Market Steer, the Champion Angus Bull and Supreme Champion Bull.  Beyond that she was also the Advanced Showmanship winner and along with Clayton, earned a spot to compete in the Round Robin (Master Showmanship) competition  and ended an impressive 3rd in that competition! In addition, in the beef bred heifer show Sophomore Shelby Rolfe also represented our chapter well exhibiting the Champion Beef Bred Replacement Heifer.

Rounding out the livestock show, the Sheep show team ended with Joslyn Campos and Jon Buttrey making it into the final champion drive selection but fell just short of the FFA champion or reserve champion title with some stiff competition. And finally in the rabbit division Brittany Perry was the champion novice showman and Abbey Douglas received 5th place overall after being afforded the opportunity to compete in the final round!

Not only are we proud of the livestock exhibitors at the Fair, but the Ag Mechanics exhibitors as well. Numerous BCHS FFA students exhibited various small and medium sized projects that they had created in one of their Ag Shop Skills, Welding or Woodshop classes. The projects are all one of a kind and hand made with each individual student?s own personal touch.  Many of the projects sell privately or are taken

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Pictured Left: Paige Rahn and her FFA Reserve Champion Crossbred Market Hog

Pictured Left: Cassandra Smith with her Reserve Champion Yorkshire Hog at the auction

Merced Fair Cont inued

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California St at e FairBuhach Colony FFA had a spectacular run at the 2016 California State Fair. Each student involved has gained much valuable knowledge of their projects and earned awards and recognition for all their hard work.

In the Beef Barn Michaela Clark was exhibiting her Angus Bull where she placed 3rd in her class.

The swine team had two members present at the fair, Erika Ewing and Kilee Carrera-Gillard. Erika Ewing exhibited her Hampshire Hog in Market Class, receiving 5th in her breed. Kilee Carrera- Gillard showed a Breeding Swine project.

Across the way Abigail Douglas and Clayton Sardella were exhibiting in the goat barn. Clayton Sardella exhibited his Wether Dam breeding project in which he placed 1st in his class, with Abigail Douglas following that with a 5th place class ranking for her Wether Dam. Showmanship for the Wether Dam class ended with Abigail Douglas taking home 4th. Clayton Sardella was the Round Robin winner from the Merced County Fair and Abigail Douglas was the winner from the Chowchilla-Madera County Fair earning them a spot to compete in the State Fair?s Best of Show. Rounding off a successful fair season.

Nat ional Jr . Angus Show

This year a Buhach Colony FFA member, Michaela Clark, had the opportunity to travel to Grand Island, Nebraska for the 2016 National Junior Angus Association Showmanship Competition taking place July 3-9. The National Junior Angus Association is about providing opportunities to teach and develop the youth involved in the beef industry so they can be successful.

In order to make it to the National conference, Michaela Clark had to first compete at the state level. In May of this year she competed at the California Angus Field Day showmanship competition in which youth from all over the state are competing for the chance to represent the state of California at the national conference. Only two people are eligible to compete from each state and Michaela was one of the two California winners.

At the National conference Michaela competed in the Semi-Final competition in one of four heats for 5 judges to be one of the top fifteen to move on to the final round. At this conference Michaela represented the best beef exhibitors in the state of California.

home by the students as a testament of excellent work! There were many different top honors awarded to our mechanics exhibitors and we look forward to presenting more next year along with some larger projects!

All students worked hard and did very well as well as learned a lot from their experience at the Merced County Fair. As you can see many of our students were honored with a variety of recognitions to award their dedication and determination and we are so proud to say that as a chapter, Buhach Colony FFA, for the seventh time in a row, was awarded the John & Julia Thurman Sweepstakes award for our overall superb representation.   We are very proud of all of the BC FFA exhibitors and are so grateful for the support of our Ag teachers, parents, friends and community members.

Merced Fair

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P.O.A. Tr ipWhen we look back at all our accomplishments from the 2015-16 year all the fundraisers,

conferences, and field days it 's the member involvement that really stands out. Every month students have the chance to fill out a Point of Award (P.O.A.) sheet that will document what they have done with the chapter. Each event is given a specific point value, and placings at fair, field days, and competitions are awarded extra points. By adding up the point values that correspond to each event totals are given for the month and all are added for a grand total at the end of the year. The top 24 are then given the opportunity to attend the P.O.A. trip. This year the trip took our advisors and members to Knights Ferry for some white water rafting! Taking 3 rafts down the river for 8 miles took nearly 6 hours! This was not all relaxing down time, our rafters were pushing each other off and splashing each other as they went by. Overall, it was a fun memorable day to reward our hard working members. Our P.O.A. trip this year will be to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. We urge all our members to get involved and start earning those points!!!

The Of f icer Team Kicks Of f t he Year w it h t heir Of f icer Ret reatThis next school year is gearing up to be an exciting one with the plans our newly elected officer

team has in store! The 2016-17 Chapter Officer Team consists of our President Stephanie Stewart, Vice President Brittany Perry, Secretary Abigail Douglas, Treasurer Kristina Ramos, Reporter Shannon Stalnaker, Sentinel Chase Williams, Historian Amanda Williams, and Parliamentarian Morgan Malone. Refreshed from a short break the team met up at the school on the 29th of June to plan out ideas for the year including this year 's theme, "Building a Future, Leaving a Legacy", which will hopefully inspire members to get involved and stay active in the FFA.

With all they accomplished on their first day together the team then undertook an adventure to San Francisco for some team bonding. Traveling on BART into the city and then navigating their way from the financial district to Pier 39 for a couple hours of food, games, and shopping before heading to the Oakland Coliseum to watch the final Battle of the Bay game. All together the officer team can't wait to kick off the year and are excited to see what 's in store!

Pictured on the right:

Mrs. VonAllman's rafting group: Brittany, Michaela,

Abbey, Cassie, Ross, Gauge, & Maddie

Pictured on the left:

Our P.O.A. winners summer 2016

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Redwave Livest ock Judging Cam p

This summer Buhach Colony FFA sent the five returning livestock judging team members to the Fresno State campus to attend the Redwave Livestock Judging Camp. The camp is split into 3 divisions adult, novice, and advanced. Abigail Douglas, Brittany Perry, Madyson Paschall, and Kilee Carrera-Gillard participated in the advanced group, while Gauge McMullen was a novice participant. Everyone built up their judging skills through the critique and advice from industry leaders and show feed representatives in their classes. Each day they watched videos of four species of livestock, beef, sheep, goats, and swine being presented and judged the animals. They then proceeded to give their sets of reasons to their teachers, giving four sets per species. On the last day of the livestock judging camp a mock competition was held for each level and Gauge McMullen placed 1st overall in the novice competition. The livestock team looks forward to great year, implementing all they have learned!

Buhach Colony FFA Livestock Judging Team Members: Abigail Douglas, Brittany Perry, Gauge McMullen, Kilee Carrera-Gillard, and Madyson Paschall

Participants watch 4 pigs shown for them to judge and give reasons on

Ice Cream Social Meet ingOn August 24th Buhach Colony FFA held their first meeting of the year. Over 200 members were in attendance and enjoyed the Ice cream social after. During the meeting we focused on our past achievements and looked to our future opportunities. Our Point of Award System was discussed and members are encouraged to stay involved to keep racking up those points, for a goal of attending the POA trip in June to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Alexis Machado and Nichelle Lawler Cassidy Stone, Kara Boone, Gianna Pareira and Chase Thomas

The toppings array for the student 's to enjoy

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Greenhand Leadership Conference

Each year our greenhands, first year members, have the opportunity to participate in the Greenhand Leadership Conference (GLC), held at the Modesto Ag Center. On August 30, 2016 twenty-five excited and eager greenhands loaded a bus early in the morning to head on their way. GLC is a conference put on by the National FFA Organization which helps our first year members to explore their leadership skills and works on team building. With a glamorous Hollywood theme they split into different groups with greenhands from all different chapters in the Central Region FFA to participate in team building activities and leadership training sessions. For further motivation throughout the day, BC FFA had some older members who had previously attended the conference during their own freshman years,  make some snack bags that included a special note of encouragement for each freshman attending. It is our sincere hope that they have learned a lot about what FFA has to offer and look forward to seeing all they can achieve in the upcoming years!

Our greenhands in their groups and all together at the start of their adventure

Get Your T-Shir t s and Sweat shir t s!

Not only are we selling Relay for Life team shirts, but we are also selling our club shirts!

Relay for Life:

- If you raised a minimum of $50 you can purchase a shirt for a discounted price of $10- Any person who has not yet reached that mark, or isn't on the team, but would like a

shirt the full price is $15

Club Shirts:

- See Mrs. VonAllman in D11 or Ms. Hitchcock in D19 to pre-order your club shirt today!

Sweatshirts will be available for sale later in the year so keep an eye out!

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Follow Us on:

@bchsf fa @Buhach Colony@buhach_colony_f fa

September 9: Temple Grandin @ CSUF

September 12-16: Club Week

September 13: Merced Mariposa CATA Meeting

September 15: FFA Meeting at Lunch

September 16: Food Fair at school

September 17 &18: Relay for Life Atwater

September 22: Parent Exhibitor Meeting @ 6 p.m.

October 1-2: COLC

Sept em ber :