Lomira FFA and Dan Robinson are Fabrics of the Lomira Community

The Lomira FFA started as the Lomira Future Farmers of America, with the chapter chartered in 1967 with FFA advisor Bill Cummings.
The chapter will be celebrating its 60th FFA banquet this spring on April 12. The hope is to have a reunion at the banquet for those members.
The Lomira FFA has had many American and State FFA degree members, with Jason Laudolff being named the Wisconsin Star in Ag Placement.
The chapter has had four State FFA officers: The late Jeff Hicken, Betsy Wagner, Katie Kindschuh, and Parker Litterick. The chapter has had one national winner in the HO Sargent award – that being Joel Bernhard.

Matt Ries was a national winner in swine placement and was also a star American Placement finalist. The chapter has won at the state level with our FFA quiz bowl team and will be represented at the National FFA extemporaneous speaking contest this year by Ellie Rhodes.
“The Lomira FFA is an integral part of the Lomira community because during the year, it’s not uncommon to find Lomira FFA members delivering donuts to farmers’ doorsteps, gathering up food items for the local food pantry or even running events like their nature walk/run to promote community health,” said Lomira FFA alum and former State FFA officer Parker Litterick. “Through all of these activities, the Lomira FFA not only gives back to the local community but also strengthens it by bringing people together. The Lomira community is incredibly supportive of the FFA, and so, the Lomira FFA loves to help give back whenever possible.”
The agricultural education program has grown from one instructor to two instructors at the present time, with Dan Robinson and Paige Petersen.
The Lomira FFA is advised by Mr. Dan Robinson and Miss Paige Petersen, with the assistance of Mrs. Robinson on many activities.
“The community of Lomira has been built on agriculture and collaboration. Working together with local businesses, non-profits, and the community is one of the focuses of the FFA,” said Lomira FFA advisor and Ag Teacher Paige Petersen. “Students enjoy our activities that focus on working with local community members to better both groups.”
“I feel the importance of the Lomira FFA to our community starts with the premise for the FFA Premier Leadership, personal growth, and career success,” said Lomira FFA advisor and Ag Teacher Dan Robinson. “The Lomira FFA has and still promotes premier leadership to our school, community, and at the state level. Our students travel to leadership conferences, experience national speakers and leaders, and promote leadership at our local school.”
The members participate in many activities in the classroom and at state and local events that help to develop the leadership skills that they will use in the future.
The ability to grow into individuals and develop into successful students is also a part of the FFA program.
“We have many opportunities to see this growth at the conferences that we attend, such as the State FFA convention, the National FFA convention, and the sectional activities,” said Robinson.
The students have the chance to increase their skills at career development events and leadership development events.
“We also work at many local activities such as Breakfast with Santa, Lomira Chamber Appreciation days, and other community events, with all of these opportunities helping our students with developing their personal growth,” said Robinson. “Career success is shown in the skills they gain in the high school agricultural program by creating unique classes and situations that students may take advantage of to increase their career success.”
The Lomira FFA works with the local businesses of the community and the area chamber of commerce. The chapter is very active in the Lomira Appreciation Days. The students help with the collection of items for the FFA and FBLA scholarship silent auction.
The FFA chapter, with the Lomira alumni and supporters, helps to promote scholarships for its members to help them with their career and college readiness.
The students work with many of the local businesses with their activities, such as the creation of corsages for the Veteran’s Day celebration, the Knowles parade, and with the football concession stand.
The chapter is well supported by our local community and businesses with its steak fry and the Fond du Lac and Dodge County Market Livestock Auctions.
The Lomira chapter has even more activities that they participate in throughout the year, like the fruit sale, the community food drive for the food pantry, the greenhouse plant sale, monthly meetings, career development events, leadership events, and the State and National FFA conventions.
The FFA hosts multiple events throughout the year to spark the interest of various students and community members. A few to keep an eye out for are the annual fruit sale happening in November, Breakfast with Santa at the beginning of December, Day on the Farm happening in May, and the annual food drive taking place in November. Make sure to follow the Lomira FFA Facebook page to stay up to date with times and dates.
“The FFA has been part of the students’ lives by giving them the opportunities to explore the great world of agriculture, which has allowed many students from different backgrounds to develop into great individuals,” said Robinson. “The students have seen our chapter grow and evolve to meet the needs of our present students, and I hope that the students see the opportunities for them to develop.”
“The Lomira FFA has had an incredible impact on my life. Being a Lomira FFA member has opened the door to so many incredible opportunities,” said Litterick. “Through the Lomira FFA, I was able to compete in speaking contests across school districts, attend leadership development conferences throughout the state, travel to the National Convention in Indianapolis, and even spend a year serving Wisconsin as a State Officer.”
“However, my Lomira FFA blue corduroy jacket gave me much more than just all of these awesome experiences to look back on...it gave me a future, too,” said Litterick. “My time spent in the Lomira FFA is what initially gave me a seat at the table and has since inspired me to pursue a career in agriculture. I certainly owe a lot to Mr. Robinson, Ms. Petersen, and the Lomira FFA and its supporters.”
The addition of foreign travel has been a great addition to the students’ growth, with the FFA traveling to Ireland in 2024 and planning a trip to Italy in 2027, with the trips based on sustainable agriculture in these countries.
“The Lomira FFA has meant a great deal to me over the past 40 years of my educational career here at Lomira High School, which has allowed me to work with many great individuals in our community,” said Robinson. “The individuals were students, fellow ag teachers, Lomira FFA Alumni members and supporters, local businesses, and great farmers, and I still remember the great class that I had during my first hour of my first year with the great students of the class of 1985.”
“The members of that class have become the local agricultural leaders of today, with many of them serving on boards, volunteering on local committees, and serving our community in leadership roles,” said Robinson. “I was very fortunate to have them in my class, and I am still very proud of their success in our community.”
“I am also very proud of the support the FFA has received from our school board, community members, and parents,” said Robinson. “I also had the special privilege of having my family members as students in my class and FFA.”
“Lomira FFA is a great organization that has a very special place for me and my family,” said Robinson. “My wife, Jackie, and I are very proud to represent the Lomira FFA at many activities and to see the success of our students.”
“Lomira FFA would not be what it is today without the strong leadership of Dan Robinson, who is a Lomira celebrity and is truly the best agricultural teacher and mentor that anyone could ask for,” said Litterick. “Mr. Robinson has managed to put Lomira FFA on the map countless times by earning awards and helping many Lomira FFA members earn their State and American degrees.”
“He reels students into his classes with his humor and love for agriculture, and the next thing you know, those same students are wearing blue corduroy jackets and learning how to recite the FFA Creed,” said Litterick. “I believe that the Lomira FFA has found so much success because of Dan Robinson. He makes the Lomira FFA and Lomira School District a welcoming, supportive environment that I know many, many people appreciate.”
“I was a very active member in high school, being the FFA president my junior and senior year, as well as very involved in multiple leadership activities,” said Peterson. “It was what the FFA did for me that drove me to choose Agriculture Education as my career choice.”
“When it came time to student teach, I knew right where I needed to be: Lomira. I knew that learning from Dan Robinson was going to be the most beneficial part of my learning experience,” said Petersen.
“Why, though? I knew of Dan in high school and was familiar with the FFA he advised here in Lomira, and the success he brought to Lomira was something I had admired, and I knew I had to learn his tricks. From my time student teaching with him, I had learned a few tricks from him, but what I also learned was that Dan was only as successful as his students.”
“It was always about the students and what their passions were, the connections he had with students that sparked those interests in them, and he guided them to amazing heights in FFA,” said Petersen. “He had all students in the room, not just a few, interested in something in FFA that they were able to grow somehow in his classroom.”
“Dan has built one of the best FFA programs in the state by putting the students first and guiding them to access their true potential with his passion for agriculture. The students and the community are truly admirable,” said Petersen. “I am so honored to be able to work with Dan Robinson still today to continue to build the program he made a legacy out of.”
“I would say the one thing that I could personally lend about Dan Robinson is the fact that, aside from all the awards and recognitions that he has received, I believe him to be the epitome of an agricultural advisor,” said Lomira FFA Alumni Past President Vicki Thomas. “Not just in his knowledge and how he speaks of the agricultural industry and the education of students, but in every facet of organizations he belongs to.”
“He doesn’t just know agriculture and understand it, he truly lives it because he believes it. The success and longevity of our FFA program at school, and its growth, is due in part to the belief he embodies,” said Thomas. “Through his passion for agriculture, he easily encourages students to want to be a part of FFA and gives a clear understanding of the bigger picture of what FFA means.”
“The entire Lomira area is so blessed to have Dan Robinson in our community, with his dedication to students, learning, the agricultural industry, and lifestyle. It is kept alive and celebrated in large part because of the work that Dan does,” said Lomira High and Middle School Principal Deb Janke. “He not only shares the necessities and benefits of the agriculture industry, but he demonstrates to everyone around him how to live joyfully and with gratitude.”
“He models how to fully appreciate all that the earth has to offer us if we take care of it appropriately and how to be a leader for the greater good in farming and beyond,” said Janke. “Dan is just a light to everyone he interacts with. You know Dan is coming down the halls of Lomira High School when you hear his upbeat whistling around the corner. I can only hope that we keep Dan here for another 40 years!”
“Mr. Dan Robinson has provided decades of outstanding service as an FFA teacher and advisor, but he has shaped not only the agricultural skills of countless students but also their character, leadership, and passion for service,” said School District of Lomira Administrator Ty Brietlow. “Through early mornings in the barn, countless hours at competitions, and steadfast guidance in and out of the classroom, Mr. Robison has planted seeds of knowledge and responsibility that will grow for a lifetime.”
“His commitment to students and agriculture education stands as an outstanding example of dedication, excellence, and heart,” said Brietlow.
“While Dan Robinson has built the Lomira FFA into what it is today, it certainly was not done without the help of Lomira’s second agricultural teacher and FFA Advisor Paige Petersen,” said Litterick. “Dan and Paige are the dynamic duo that the Lomira FFA never knew it needed.”
“Paige works hard to recruit and prepare FFA members for leadership development contests and has found great success with having had multiple students compete at the State and National level under her guidance,” said Litterick. “Additionally, Paige is the go-to livestock helper at the fair for members. She truly puts in the hard work and does it all with a smile on her face, a cup of coffee in her hand, and a funny joke waiting to be heard.”
Current officers of the Lomira FFA are President Dylan Ryan, Vice Presidents Klair Grinstead and Cameron Ryan, Reporter Madi Hahn, Treasurer Brock Breitlow, Secretary Hanna Faber, Sentinel Kylian Laubenstein, and Parliamentarian Ava Filber.
“The Lomira FFA is a part of our students’ lives in multiple [traditional] aspects, [such as] agricultural-based activities like working on a farm, showing cattle at the county fair, or planting crops,” said Petersen. “FFA is also in students’ lives in a non-traditional aspect, like through leadership and teamwork.”
“The FFA thrives on building the leadership abilities of students through multiple agricultural-related topics,” said Petersen. “This is key to the success of the Lomira FFA because we are helping students build their ‘tool box’ so they have the skill set to be proper employees and young adults in the future.”
The Lomira FFA alumni and supporters are represented by President Ron Ries, Vice President Ed Schrauth, Past President Vickie Thomas, Secretary Evie Flasch, and Treasurer Jeff Faber.
The chapter is supported and promoted by the Administration and School Board of the School District of Lomira.
“The future goal of the Lomira FFA is to continue to be one of the outstanding chapters at the state and local level with the promotion of a solid agricultural curriculum that offers classes that meet the needs of our student body,” said Robinson. “We look forward to the future with great expectations to develop members who have career success, personal growth, and premier leadership.”
“There truly is something for everyone in the FFA, from plants to cattle to public speaking about your favorite topic; there is surely something for everyone,” said Petersen.
“We highly encourage everyone to take an ag class and see what agriculture and FFA are all about,” said Petersen. “We teach various classes, so there is something to spark your interest.”
“Students should join FFA because it gives them great opportunities to be successful, and we have many diverse programs that can meet the needs of today’s students,” said Robinson. “Plus, we have a lot of fun at our events. So if you’re looking for something fun and exciting, the FFA is for you.”