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Students win awards in their school FFA program
Posted on 08/13/2019
Students win awards in their school FFA program

With a growing United States population and lack of additional farmland, as well as an unpredictable climate, experts believe traditional farming needs an overhaul.

Unlike agriculture classes of the past, that focused on cows, pigs and traditional farming practices, students in FFA, formerly known as Future Farmers of America, programs are learning and exploring modern agriculture methodologies. FFA students live by the motto “Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live and Living to Serve,” to guide them through the various avenues available in the program.

Orange County Public Schools’ Career and Technical Education provides opportunities for students grades 6-12 to explore the various avenues within FFA that build leadership and career and personal growth through agriculture education. The career development events competitions expand students’ classroom knowledge by assessing an individual or team’s application in a multitude of categories.

Proving these programs are successful, students and teams throughout the district earned a variety of awards from the Nation and State FFA organizations.

Check out all these Career Development Events winners:

Bridgewater MS FFA

  • Horse Evaluation State Champions - team members: Madison Charron (the State high scorer), Madison Strain, Peyton Calloway and Karla Snyder

Colonial HS FFA

  • Food Science CDE team State Champion and earned fourth place in the nation - team members: Camile Mason (who was also fourth highest scorer in the nation), Elenna Vias, Sophia Vasconez and Emily May
  • Agriculture Mechanics Award State Champion - Brandon Banks
  • Vegetable Evaluation State Champions - team members:  Siena Gonzalez (the state high scorer), Gabriel Gonzalez, Camile Mason and Iverson Alfaro
  • Aquaculture State High Scorer - Adriel Diaz
  • Environmental Science State High Scorer - Myzell Amaro
  • Veterinary Science State High Scorer - Carmen Burner
  • Small Animal Production & Care Award State Finalist - Elenna Vias
  • FFA Nursery/Landscape Career Development team national representative

East River HS FFA

  • Meats Evaluation State High Scorer - Bailey Lavender
  • State Courtesy Corps

Ocoee HS FFA

  • State Cooperative Award Winner

Piedmont Lakes MS FFA

  • Alumni Essay Award Winner - McKenzie Eckart

SunRidge MS FFA

  • Opening & Closing Ceremonies State Champions - team members: Sarah Redditt, Sean Lewis, Adrianna Loper, Angela Pardo, Chloe Bauer, Melanie Smith and Kamryn Poole
  • Agriscience Fair, Social Systems Division -  team members: Payton Moore and Raquel Colby. This team also earned the national championship.

Windermere HS FFA

  • Agriscience Fair, Environmental Sciences Division - team members: Alex Reyes and Melody Raynor. This team also placed fifth in the nation
  • State Courtesy Corps

Wolf Lake MS FFA

  • Livestock Evaluation State High Scorer - Garrett Hebert

These five FFA chapters received a top FFA chapter on the national level:

  • Colonial HS FFA
  • East River HS FFA
  • Ocoee HS FFA
  • University Senior FFA
  • University Junior FFA, which also earned a national finalist award in the national premier chapter program.

The following FFA chapters and members earned state and national achievements in areas other than career development events.

  • SunRidge MS FFA - Agriscience Fair National Champions
  • Windermere HS FFA - Agriscience Fair Fifth in Nation
  • Colonial HS FFA - 3 Star National Chapter Award
  • Apopka HS FFA - 2 Star National FFA Chapter Award
  • Ocoee HS FFA - 2 Star National FFA Chapter Award
  • University Sr. FFA - 2 Star National FFA Chapter Award
  • University Jr. FFA - 1 Star National FFA Chapter Award
  • University HS FFA - Fresh from Florida Advocacy Award- Fourth in State
  • Ocoee HS FFA - State Cooperative Award Winner
  • Colonial HS FFA - State Proficiency Award Winners: Brandon Banks & Luis Borges

The following middle schools earned second through fifth place in the state career development evaluations:

  • Bridgewater MS FFA - Second place in State Floriculture
  • Bridgewater MS FFA - Fourth place in State Vegetable Evaluation
  • Ocoee MS FFA - Fourth place in Extemporaneous Public Speaking
  • Piedmont Lakes MS FFA - Fifth place in State Citrus Evaluation
  • Piedmont Lakes MS FFA - Fifth place in State Land Judging
  • SunRidge MS FFA - Second place in State Agriscience Fair:  Plant Systems Division
  • SunRidge MS FFA - Second place in State Food Science
  • SunRidge MS FFA - Third place in State Agriscience Fair:  Animal Systems Division
  • SunRidge MS FFA - Fourth place in State OH Demonstration- Marketing
  • SunRidge MS FFA - Fourth place in State OH Demonstration- Landscaping
  • SunRidge MS FFA - Fifth place in State Forestry
  • SunRidge MS FFA - Fifth place in State OH Demonstration- Production

The following high schools earned second through fifth place in the state career development evaluations:

  • Apopka HS FFA - Third place in State Floriculture
  • Colonial HS FFA - Second place in Agriculture Education
  • Colonial HS FFA - Second place in State Nursery and Landscape
  • Colonial HS FFA - Second place in State Environmental Science
  • Colonial HS FFA - Second place in State Aquaculture
  • Colonial HS FFA - Second place in State Safe Tractor Operations and Maintenance
  • Colonial HS FFA - Third place in State Employment Skills
  • Colonial HS FFA - Third place in State Forestry
  • Colonial HS FFA - Third place in State Agriculture Sales
  • Colonial HS FFA - Fourth place in State Land Evaluation
  • East River HS FFA -  Second place in State Meats Evaluation
  • East River HS FFA - Fourth place in State Livestock Evaluation
  • Ocoee HS FFA - Fourth place in State Environmental Science
  • Ocoee HS FFA - Fourth place in State Vegetable Judging
  • University HS FFA - Fourth place in State Meats Evaluation
  • Wekiva HS FFS - Fourth place in Extemporaneous Public Speaking
  • Windermere HS FFA - Fourth place in State Aquaculture