Dalani Beuthein received first gold at the district competition and advanced to state for the chapter website competition.
First impressions are everything, especially when it comes to a website. No one knows that better than DeWitt Central FFA member Dalani Beuthein.
Beuthein recently competed in the chapter website competition at the Iowa FFA State Leadership Conference held April 13-15, 2025, where she received a gold rating for her work on making improvements to her chapter’s website. She has learned a lot through this competition, which also doubles as her Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE), and she’s excited to continue working on the website.
No Bugs in Sight
During her freshman year, Beuthein took on the responsibility of updating the DeWitt Central FFA Chapter’s website for her SAE. After two years of updating and making improvements to the website, she decided she wanted to compete in the chapter website competition at the Iowa FFA Southeast District convention.
“Before I could even start writing my script [for the competition], I had to make sure the entire website was up to date,” Beuthein says. The website has information about all of the chapter’s activities and history, and Beuthein had to make sure her information was correct. “I had to go through many documents to find past state and American FFA Degree recipients,” she adds. “I also spent a lot of time digging through social media to find pictures.”
The competition requires participants to give an eight-minute presentation to three judges about the website and answer questions for two minutes. Once the website was updated, Beuthein had to prepare her presentation for the Iowa FFA Southeast District Convention on March 1.
“I practiced twice a week to prepare,” she says. “I also presented the website to the middle school agriculture class and the high school admin to help me prepare.”
Beuthein’s hard work paid off, and she received a gold rating ahead of 15 other teams. This advanced her to present the website at the Iowa FFA State Leadership Conference, where she competed against the best in the state. She received sixth place and a gold award at state.
Not Lagging Behind
Since the website is also her SAE, her work has also prepared her for a future career. “I am preparing for my future career by developing and strengthening key skills that employers look for like communication and problem solving,” Beuthein says.
Given how hard Beuthein works, she has the drive to be successful.
