Garrett Craig 2017-2018 District Vice President

Hello, everyone! I am Garrett Craig and the 2017-2018 North Central District Vice President. I live in Clay County and really enjoy living in a rural area. My family consists of myself, my sister Maddison who is a freshman, my brother Owen who is a fifth grader, my mom Erica who is a substitute teacher and my dad Brent who works for a company called "ESPi" in Clay Center. The saying goes, "it takes a village," so I must have been trouble because I've had more extended family members around me as I've grown up than I care to count.

I am a senior at Clay Center Community High School and enjoy many activities there. First and foremost, FFA (of course). Since entering the FFA as an eighth grader, my life has been influenced not only by the great people I've met but also the wonderful, tangible skills I have acquired. Without FFA being in our school system, I would have never discovered one of my true passions in life, which is agriculture. Through the help of my advisors, fellow members, parents, and friends, I have grown to appreciate the different aspects of agriculture in my daily life. I notice them, especially when working on my SAE (supervised agriculture experience). Mine is under Diversified Agriculture Production. My grandparents own a small farm and a fairly large cow-calf operation. To say it was a large part of my childhood is an understatement. Receiving my first cow at the meek age of 3 months, I have come to love beef cattle. Bundled up in a car seat, 3 month-old me sat crying my eyes out in the calving barn for 2 hours while my grandparents pulled a heifer calf. Feeling pangs of guilt from the little guy in the corner, Grandpa broke down and said "Here, have her. You waited long enough." Now a much older, I work with them to manage their herd and get a lot of excitement out of making genetic decisions as well as the keep/cull process of saving replacement heifers. I work for a swine production operation last summer, so I have a diverse back ground in some aspects of animal production. My grandparents are tremendous role models, especially my grandmothers. One is a nurse who devotes countless hours to helping people feel better again. The other is farm wife who doesn't like to stay in the house. As a child, I thought this was the normal way grandmothers were. I soon discovered, however, that not all grandmothers give people shots and administer medicine, and not all grandmothers chase cows and run chainsaws.
Outside of FFA, I keep a pretty busy schedule. I play football and am a three-year varsity letterman. Being my senior year, it made me realize how much I'll miss it after I graduate. I compete in powerlifting and placed 3rd in 4A 198lbs men last spring. Music is another huge part of my life. I am in my school's show choir, "Tiger Chorale," and although I may not be a great dancer, enjoy being in the group and performing for people. Speaking of dancing... I will be the first to admit that I am not a good one. Someone should have told me that before I accepted the role of Ren McCormack in the CCCHS production of Footloose. I'm no Kevin Bacon, but I hope I will enjoy the show as much as the audience will! As the year goes on, it will be my privilege to get to work with the members of the North Central District. Our members are truly the best and I can't wait for what is to come this school year!


Garrett Craig
2017-2018 NCD Vice President

Lauren Simmons 2017-2018 District Treasurer

My name is Lauren Simmons and I am going to be a Junior at Washington County High School. I am your North Central District Treasurer. I have three siblings. Jefferson is the oldest and will be graduating from Kansas State University this upcoming year. Tyler is a year younger than me and will be a Sophomore at Washington. Mandy is the youngest and will be an 8th grader at Washington. My parents are Bruce and Kathy.

I have been around animals ever since I was a little girl. I remember my first pet was a pygmy goat named Gerdie. Eventually that goat, along with some cats and a dog, lead to what our friends and family called the "funny farm." As the years passed by, we added pigs, sheep, ducks, chickens, rabbits, calves, and three horses. One horse was a miniature horse that led to many stories we now laugh about. My dad was so excited about buying us this horse that was NOT broke. You may think how can a miniature horse be scary? It was. After many tears had been shed one night, my younger brother was up next to take his turn on the horse. Things were not going so well and my dad decided to slap the horse's butt. My brother was still in the saddle and the horse took off. My 45 pound brother fell out of the saddle, but his boot remained in one stirrup. The horse drug him around the arena and when his boot finally came loose, half of my little brother's face was completely scraped up.

Today we only have sheep, pigs, and a dog. My SAE is Swine Production Placement. I help my family raise show pigs. In this operation, I work for my dad by helping administer shots, feeding pigs, and cleaning pens. My payment is getting two pigs to show throughout the spring and summer. The remaining pigs will be sold on an online auction. After the state fair, the best gilts will go back to the herd and the barrows will be sold to market. The money earned will return to the operation.

FFA is a huge part of my life, but I also enjoy many other activities. I am involved in FBLA, FCCLA, CYO, 4-H, volleyball, and track. Hopefully everyone is off to a great school year. I look forward to meeting all of the FFA members throughout our district.



Lauren Simmons
2017-2018 NCD Treasurer

Breanna Schroeder | 2017-2018 District Reporter

One of my earliest childhood memories was learning how to ride. I’m almost positive I sat on horses before I could walk. There was a combination of two things that always made riding unforgettable. The first is obviously horses, but the second is my grandpa. My grandpa introduced me to agriculture the second I was allowed to leave the house. Our trips consisted of everything from feeding cows to traveling to horse sales. Countless life lessons were learned in those trips, even though we are so alike and stubborn that a lot of them involved shouting before any learning took place. However, through it all, I’m so blessed that he planted the agriculture seed in my life.

My name Breanna Schroeder, though everyone calls me Breezy, from the Beloit FFA Chapter and I’m proud to serve as your 2017-2018 NCD Reporter! I was born in Hays, KS and was quickly moved to Manhattan, KS where I began to grow up. My childhood consisted of visiting my grandparents farm, attending KSU basketball and football games, and playing any and every sport that was thrown at me. I have two little brothers that are my world. Brodie is 11 years old and going to be in 6th grade and Brevin is 5 and going to be starting kindergarten. I live with my brothers and my mom and dad Brent and Heather Schroeder.

I began first grade attending Riley County Elementary School. Those years flew by until 5th grade when my life started to take shape. My family decided to move out to my grandparents farm to live with them until we began to build our house next to there’s. This is why 5th grade was the best year of my life. I loved the farm more than anything, but of course with ups there are downs.

My nurse and I after finishing my first ever treatment in the hospital

My 6th grade year was the hardest year of my life. In August of 2012 I was diagnosed with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, or ITP for short. Basically what that means is my platelets are low and we still to this day don’t know why. Platelets are the blood cell that clots your blood so not having enough would mean you are more susceptible to internal and external bleeding. There is no cure for ITP, but there are treatments. I monitor my platelet count by getting blood drawn about every month and my treatments consist of IV’s in the hospital with a medicine called WinRho only when my platelets get low. Since there is no cure for ITP my body has to fix itself so I am currently living with chronic ITP and am handling it extremely well.

My 7th grade year my family once again decided to pack it up and move. My dad started working for Hardman Wholesale in Osborne, KS so we moved to Beloit, KS. I know it doesn’t make sense. The reason for living in Beloit is we are living right between both of my grandparents, one set in Osborne and one in Riley. My dad has now switched back to his old job which is being a sales rep for Standard Beverage, but we still live in Beloit. My mom sells Premier Designs Jewelry and is a transcriptionist for a couple of doctors.

I attend school at Beloit Jr. Sr. High School and am involved is several different clubs (of course FFA) and play volleyball, basketball, and softball. In my free time, if I ever have any, you can usually find me at the ball fields playing softball or hanging out with family. I travel back to Manhattan a ton for football games and to visit the farm.

My summer softball team after we won state last year

My SAE is in specialty animal production. I raise a special type of quail called coturnix quail. Coturnix quail are extremely special, especially in my life. They contain high concentration of minerals, protein, and good cholesterol. For me personally, coturnix quail eggs have had a significant impact on my autoimmune disorder. It has allowed me longer time between treatments which means the world to me. Not only has my SAE taught me life skills but it has improved my life as a whole, which makes it extremely important to me.

A few of my coturnix quail on the farm

The biggest thing I look forward to this year is getting to meet all of you guys! I’ve told you so much about me but I really want to learn about you! I hope you’ve all had a fantastic summer and are ready for the best year ever because it’s coming fast! See you all very soon!

Breezy Schroeder

2017-18 NCD Reporter

Peyton Horn | 2017-2018 District Sentinel

Kicking off the year we are going to continue to do weekly blog posts. Our first six will tell everyone a little bit about the 2017-2018 NCD Officer team. 

My name is Peyton Horn and some of you may know that I went to Blue Valley, however, this upcoming year I will be attending Chapman. My SAE is in Poultry Production Entrepreneurship where I raise 30 laying hens and sell or give away the eggs to family, friends, and neighbors. Some of my favorite CDEs & LDEs include, Job Interview, Nursery and Landscape, Discussion Meet, and Extemporaneous Speaking. I've got three younger brothers that my mom had with my stepdad that I love to hang out with, even though they can annoy me at times. Some other things that you may not know about me is, I love to play football, I'm a huge Broncos and K-State Fan! I'm so excited to be able to connect more with the members of the North Central District and look forward to seeing the strides towards success the members of our district continue to make.