We had a great group attend National Holstein convention this year in Wisconsin. We filled a junior dairy bowl team with Roper Voskamp, Sophia Geppert, Colton Kleiboeker and Ada Bluel. Alternate was Amanda Brooks. Our Dairy Jeopardy contestant was Blake Wright. Missouri had three public speakers: Sophia Geppert, Roper Voskamp and Blake Wright. Colton Kleiboeker and Tina Wilson made the banner for Missouri.

Missouri also had a Distinguished Junior Member Semi-Finalist as Lora Wright competed. Lora also competed for a National Holstein Women's Scholarship and ran for the National Junior Advisory Committee At-Large Candidate. Keep reading to see how Missouri competed! The group participated in a variety of tours and events throughout the convention.

Distinguished Junior Member

2019 Dairy Jeopardy Contest

Monday morning came early enough and we had to be in the Jeopardy rooms and wait until our contestants were called. First order of business was that we had to make sure our banner made by Colton Kleiboeker was turned in. We also turned in a folding display made by Molly Melzer.

2019 National Prepared Public Speaking Contest

Missouri had three contestants in the Prepared Speech division this year. in the Junior Division Sophia Geppert gave a speech on 'Farm Accidents' and Roper Voskamp gave his on 'The Adversity in the current Dairy Industry'. In the intermediate division, Blake Wright competed and gave his speech on 'Alternative Dairy Beverages'.

None of our speakers placed in the top three, but they each improved from last year. Congratulations to each one for stepping out and doing a great job representing Missouri!

Host Day & Other Tours

There was a wide variety of events and tours for convention attendees to choose from this year. Family Night is always a big hit as guests toured Green Bay's Lambeau Field!

Junior Mixer Fun
Ada Bluel, Sophie Geppert and Amanda Brooks had fun at the game night.

2019 National Holstein Convention Report by: Sophie Geppert
Missouri Jr. Holstein Reporter, NE District

I just got back from the 2019 National Holstein Convention in Appleton, Wisconsin.

The first night there was a junior welcome. Steve Jones coach of the Kimberly Papermakers was our speaker. He was a very successful high school football coach. After that we had Culver’s ice cream and the states exchanged things. Missouri handed out squishy cows that asked juniors to vote for Lora Wright for At-Large JAC.

On Monday, Blake competed in Jeopardy, and Roper and I competed in Prepared Speech. That night was the mixer at Badger Sports Park. I played laser tag with Ada, Amanda, and Colton. We also played arcade games, Virtual Reality games, and Go-Karting. On the bus back to the hotel, we met kids from Wisconsin and New Jersey.

For Host Day, I went on the Farm Wisconsin & Zoo tour with my mom, my friends Lilly from New York and Connor and Jarred from Illinois. The Farm Wisconsin was built to show off agriculture to other people. They had a display that let us churn butter. It was really hard. The North Eastern Wisconsin Zoo was very cool. Since it was hot most of the animals couldn’t be seen or were asleep. There was one otter that was doing tricks for people all by himself. He was funny. We got to do something with zoo keepers. They took us to see some big turtles. We didn’t think the turtle would move, but then the female hissed at Connor. Then our bus dropped us off at Family Night. We walked to Title Town, which was not too far away. We all threw a football around and tried to play bocce ball. Lilly, Mom, and I went on the Lambeau field tour. We went into the suite that the Packers use, walked around the field and learned about the Green Bay Packers.

On Wednesday, the Junior Dairy Bowl team competed. It consisted of Ada, Amanda, Colton, Roper the captain, and I. We may not have made it very far, but we made many new friends. Ada, Amanda and I went to the dance that night. Ada and I met Allison from Illinois. We hung out with her a lot that night.

Missouri’s Junior Delegates were Blake and I. Lora won and is now an At-Large JAC. At the Awards Ceremony, Colton’s Banner got 2nd. They also showed a video for next year’s convention in Pennsylvania. Bye Bye convention see you next year.

Sophie

2019 Junior Dairy Bowl Contest

Junior Forum

We always encourage our juniors to attend the finals and Junior Forum. It is the finale and they can see how it could be if they were in the finals. At the forum, each state had two delegates-- Blake Wright and Sophia Geppert represented Missouri. This is a chance for all the states to bring up ideas and any changes they have to the floor. This is also where Junior Advisory Committee (JAC) members are elected.

The JAC is the governing body of the Junior Association and oversees the organization’s activities. Youth committee members are elected by the Junior membership at the National Junior Forum, and members serve two-year terms. The committee experience helps youth learn more about their Association, while strengthening leadership skills.

It has been a while since Missouri has had a representative on the youth board. This year Lora Wright ran for the At-Large position on the JAC committee. All other non-elected youth that run for a specific region placed their names in the hat for the At-Large bid as well. So, total youth running for at-large was around 11. Lora won the position and is now part of the youth governing body. Congratulations and way to represent Missouri!

2019 Banner Contest

2019 National Folding Display Contest

The Folding Display contest has been opened up to unlimited entries from each state. The contest has been divided up into two divisions: Scientific and Creative. The entrant must choose their division and the displays are judged accordingly.

Missouri had one junior who entered this contest: Molly Melzer. Molly entered the scientific display explaining how much milk it took to make different dairy products. Anyone can send a board and not have to actually attend the convention.

2019 National Women's Scholarship Contest

The National Holstein Women's Scholarship Organization hosted interviews for scholarships. They awarded three winners. One with a $5000 scholarship and two with $2500 scholarships. Lora Wright, Verona, MO received one of the $2500 scholarships. Congratulations, Lora!

Thank You!!

It was a great overall convention. Thanks to the coaches, parents and volunteers who helped us get to Wisconsin and have a great time at convention. A big THANK YOU to the Toecky's for donating a raffle calf to raise extra funds for all of the juniors who attend conventions!

Photos from Convention
See farms visited and junior events!
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