National FFA Organization Competition Triumph

On September 24th, Walnut Grove High School FFA organization competed at Banks County High School for Area Floral Design and Environmental and Natural contests. These students put their best effort in the two competitions and a student qualified for the state competition in December.
by Ansleigh Hester and Rylee Watson

Senior Area Floral Design Contest

Eleventh grader Maddie Glaze, the vice president of the Walnut Grove FFA community, placed second in the Senior Area Floral Design contest. “We are only allowed one person from the school to compete in this division. I have been training since the sixth grade, so I have been competing since then,” Glaze explains. Since she has been training for years, she’s been able to pass on her skills in Area Floral Design to the younger generation of FFA members. 

The junior and senior Area Floral Design contests are similar in design. “...the students had to make a design like a floral arrangement, and it took thirty minutes to complete it. They also had to ID plants and tools used in floral design,” Mrs. Kelly Shaw, who is the sponsor of FFA, states. At the senior level, the horticulture contestants were required to take a test, unlike the junior division.
 
Glaze is confident in her ability to place well in the state competition because she knows that she is proficient in horticulture. “I know floral design, I enjoy it because I do like to work with plants. I got to learn a lot from doing it, and it’s something I can have a job doing after high school,” Glaze concludes.

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​Junior Floral Design 

Marleigh Compton and future WGHS FFA member Ashlyn Wood participated in the Junior Floral Design contest. “The area staff surprised us by picking a very difficult design for the juniors that we usually don't see at the area level. These two ladies did a wonderful job navigating a design that we did not practice,” Mrs. Shaw says. 

Compton shares that at FFA meetings they worked on boutonnieres for the competition, but the judges decided to pick a different topic. “So, this year we made a tabletop arrangement, which is used for seniors I’m only in the junior division, so I didn’t know what I was doing but it made me realize that I should practice more on that topic,” Compton expresses.

Environmental and Natural Resources Competition 

Tenth graders Boston Yoder and Jaxon Channell participated in the Environmental and Natural Resources contest. They placed 11th in the competition, where they were required to solve a problem as a group, use a GPS to find locations and identify objects in the woods. 
“In ENR [Environmental and Natural Resources], we had to put coordinates into compasses and go find specific places. We also had to ID certain things. I don't think I did the worst, but I wouldn’t say my group did the best either,” Yoder shares. 

Channell explains that in the competition he felt secure in the waypoints, but he struggled with finding different objects in the woods. 

Overall, these two students did their best in the competition and made WGHS proud. 

​What is FFA to You? 

FFA is an organization that provides students with opportunities to develop leadership skills, gain agricultural knowledge, and build friendships within the program. It serves as a platform for students to explore interest and step out of their comfort zone. Maddie Glaze  has overcome many challenges, but “One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is don’t be afraid to put yourself out there because you really don’t know who you're gonna meet or what you're going to be able to learn.” 

Boston Yoder and Jaxon Channel both agree that the people involved in FFA are what makes the program so favorable. Glaze adds, “FFA is really just a big community, It's just people who support agriculture and who have many different backgrounds. So, It’s really cool because you get to meet a lot of people who also have the same values and the same drive as you.”
Being involved in FFA helps students develop many various skills, Marleigh Compton expresses, “I get to be a leader and watch other leaders to see how they work, and improve myself as a student and a person.”

Mrs. Shaw shares a deeper view of her journey of choosing agriculture, “Growing up I always knew I wanted to be one of two things, either a veterinarian or a teacher. I wasn’t introduced to the world of agriculture until I was in college. When I got into the agriculture class and FFA and it was like the best of both worlds now because I get to teach about the animals and the plants while being a teacher. It was like both of the things I wanted to do came together and made this one awesome adventure.”


The FFA organization here at WGHS competed for Area Floral Design and Environmental and Natural resources divisions.These students are provided with opportunities to develop leadership skills, gain agricultural knowledge, and build friendships within the program. FFA continues to progress in competitions and contests, while expanding students' knowledge and encouraging members to grow their comfort zone.

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