This year’s Wellsville-Middletown FFA Supporters Breakfast on Feb. 23 was definitely an event Helenea McKenzie was looking forward to when she first got out of bed at 4:45 a.m.

“I really like the breakfast because we ask a lot for our community with the fundraisers and they are very helpful with that,” the W-M sophomore said. “I think it’s awesome that we give back to them and I like to see everyone who shows up.”

For two hours, McKenzie and several other FFA members helped serve a complimentary breakfast that included pancakes, eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy at the W-M Ag Room. The breakfast, which began at 6 a.m., was part of FFA Week at W-M.

“I love it,” said McKenzie, who is the chapter’s vice-president. “It’s really fun to work with my team, not only with the officer team, but with the other FFA members. They all come together at 5:30 in the morning to get up and make breakfast.”

W-M had plenty of other activities during FFA Week on Feb. 17-24, such as visiting Trinity Lutheran Church, driving their tractors to school and having dress up days. W-M was one of many schools around the country to celebrate FFA Week, honoring an organization that focuses heavily on agriculture.

“It means tradition,” said senior Jenelle Boeckelman, who helped cook sausages at the breakfast. “We do the same things every year. The community loves what we do. They love coming to our breakfast.”

Boeckelman, Bethany Slovensky, Meagan Cripe, Caden Gilbert, Kristi Hager and Shelby Frank make up the senior class of the FFA group. Cripe is a reporter and Gilbert is the sentinel.

“I’m definitely going to miss it a lot,” Boeckelman said. “It has done a lot for me and it taught a lot of leadership and stuff.”

The other officers on the W-M FFA chapter are Maddi Poage (president), Rachel Davis (secretary) and Abbie Freie (chaplain).

McKenzie, who is an FFA officer for the first time this year, said her group had a successful year. Earlier this year, Slovensky placed second in the forestry category at the Missouri Forest Products Association FFA Public Speaking Contest at a winter meeting in Jefferson City. Poage had a second-place finish in the pork producers category in districts and Freie (cooperatives), McKenzie (sheep producers) and Kylie Allison (pet breeders) had third-place finishes in their respective categories in a speaking contest.

“We had a lot of participation this year,” McKenzie said. “Maddie is an amazing president. I love working under our amazing advisors (Emily Holbert and Audrey McDowell).”