By: Ainsley Hall
SPRING MILLS — Spring Mills High School's Future Farmers of America (FFA) Livestock Judging Team participated in the National FFA Convention October 23-26.
This was the second time in three years that the school sent a team to nationals. A group of students traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana, to participate in competitions and workshops to continue developing their skills.
The team included 10th-grader Grant Bolyard, 11th-graders Shyanne Stickles and Paige Knott and 12th-grader McKenzie Phebus. Their competition included evaluating livestock, such as sheep, cows and pigs, and then explaining their reason for rating the animals as they did.
This Career Development Event prepares students to select and market livestock while satisfying both consumers and producers. In the state competition, Bolyard won first place overall, while Knott won sixth. Stickles and Phebus also placed in the top 20.
Each of these students grew up around animals and has worked with them for many years. Through their experiences working with livestock and participating in FFA, they’ve all become passionate about the program. They shared that it has helped them grow, while preparing them for future careers and creating scholarship opportunities for the future.
“FFA helps you grow as a person,” Stickles said. “It creates good opportunities to practice speaking. Our generation is really used to technology and talking to people behind a screen. FFA allows us to get out and talk to people face to face.”
The team members will compete in the next big competition in October of next year. Until then, they will be working hard to practice and get experience participating in other livestock judging competitions.
One of the main things they hope to improve going forward is their reason portion. They want to work on explaining their reasoning for placing the animals through practicing and talking with each other. Some of the other ways they practice is by looking at practice evaluations online, where they can put their skills to the test.
During the National FFA Convention, another FFA student, Makenzie Stout, won bronze in the Employment Skills competition. Other students who attended the convention included Reagan Barrett, Amelia Dugan, Brenna McTighe, Karcallia Kennedy, Mya Stine and Hayley Silkworth. The Spring Mills High School FFA was recognized as a two-star chapter for its impact on many of these students.
Stickles encourages others to give FFA a try. Like many others who joined FFA, Stickles has made many new friends and become more confident in herself.
“Anyone thinking about joining FFA, I highly recommend it,” Stickles said. “I’ve grown a lot through FFA. When I first joined, I was really shy, so don’t be afraid to try new things.”