FUTURE FARMERS: High School Officer Biographies

    Nathan Potts, the 2008 Northern Burlington FFA chapter treasurer, said being an FFA member is a family thing. He has been active with the Northern Burlington Chapter since elementary school because his mother is one of the chapter advisors. Nathan said learning is so easy in the ag classes and the FFA because everything is real and provides great experiences. “The leadership opportunities; Career Development Events; travel opportunities; and the Community Service activities the chapter participates in give us the chance to use what we learn and gain more experience to use later on,” he said. “College is definitely in my future, and I know what I take from the FFA will help me along the way.”
    Julianne Robinson is a junior at Northern Burlington High School and also the vice president of Northern Burlington’s FFA Chapter. She lives on a small farm in Ellisdale. Her SAE is small animal maintenance and care, she breeds rabbits to sell during the spring and also is a beekeeper. Julianne loves spending her time outside with her family and friends fishing, hunting, “muddin’”, and relaxing around a campfire. She recently traveled to the FFA National Convention in Indiana where she participated in poultry judging and received a silver medal. Julianne is also a junior volunteer firefighter and in the Science Club. One of her career goals is to expand her beekeeping business. Julianne has been an FFA member since seventh grade and she claims that without FFA, she wouldn’t be the girl that she is today. FFA has helped Julianne gain desirable leadership skills, public speaking skills and above all, self confidence.
    Scott Gangel, a junior, is parliamentarian for the Northern Burlington FFA Chapter. He earned his Greenhand Degree in the FFA as a freshman and is currently working on his Chapter Degree. He is ranked as an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America; the highest ranking level in Boy Scouts. The classes he enjoys the most are those related to agriculture or mechanical things. Favorite foods include venison, and chocolate-covered cherries. “One of my favorite things to do is be with my best friends,” said Scott. “I like to go mudding with my buddies and horseback riding when we can’t take our trucks.” Future plans include going to college for agricultural engineering, finding a great paying job and owning a farm house or a log cabin. He dreams having a farm somewhere near the mountains where he can go horseback riding and go on hunting trips.
    Alan Stevens, a member of the Executive Committee for Northern Burlington FFA, has been involved throughout high school. His favorite classes are Agriculture classes with Mr. Hlubik and Mr. Hilgendorff.
    Since taking their classes, Alan said he has learned skills such as how to successfully take apart an engine and put it back together again so it is like new, and “how to weld confidently enough to weld my own things without worrying about the weld being insufficient.”
    He is currently looking forward to competing on the Ag Mechanics team, and hopefully winning the state competition, then going on to nationals, with hopes of high placement. When not in school Alan enjoys working in his shop and playing with his dirt bike and jeep. “I have been riding dirt bikes since I was 5 and still enjoy riding for fun,” he said. He has spent the past two years working on a Jeep Cherokee that was given to him by a friend. The two-door Cherokee is now ready to go “wheelin,” having been lifted eight inches and been fitted with 35-inch tires. Alan’s love of hunting has him spending all his free time after school and on weekends in search of the game in season with his dad, and close friend. He commonly hunts for deer, turkey, ducks, geese, and upland birds.
    Future plans include college. He knows that whatever he decides to do, he knows that being in the FFA will have helped prepare him to take a leadership role, keep a timely schedule, and be prepared for many different situations.
    Gillian Armstrong is the recording secretary for Northern Burlington’s FFA Chapter. She enjoys going out with her friends and having fun on the weekends. She loves showing and judging cows; and won first place in the 2008 NJ State Dairy Judging Contest. This enabled her to travel to Massachusetts to compete at the Eastern States Exposition (Big E); and to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for the All American Dairy Judging Contest where she placed 10th individually. The next step was competition at the National FFA Convention in October where she earned a National Gold Medal. She considers the National Convention one of the best experiences of her life because she got to meet a lot of new people and make a lot of new friends. Other interests include playing field hockey and going to the beach. She spends her summers preparing for the Burlington County Fair; the NJ State Holstein Show and visiting Long Beach Island. She loves riding quads and listening to country music. She is a very active girl and loves to get involved with her community.
    Heather Shinn, a sophomore at Northern Burlington, is serving as the 2008-2009 FFA Chapter corresponding secretary. Other activities that keep her on the move include the Renaissance Club, Klassic Kows 4-H Club, Burlington County 4-H Teen Council, and the Burlington County Farm Fair Junior Board. The fall season of each year finds Heather playing goalie for the Northern Burlington Field Hockey team and during the spring playing catcher for the Softball team. A great deal of Heather’s time involves activities related to her FFA Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE). She owns and provides the daily care for six cows. Heather is responsible for feeding, grooming, training and developing the breeding plan for each animal. Her future plans involve applying for a NJ State FFA Officer position; attending Delaware Valley College as a Dairy Science Major; and Cornell University Veterinary School with a specialty in large animals. Her ultimate goal is to own a dairy farm and be a successful large animal veterinarian.