North Fork Local Schools student Amanda Annett has earned the first-place title in the National FFA Organization Beef Placement Proficiency national competition, after placing first at the state level.
The project was a multiyear work in progress. After judges disqualified Annett’s initial application during her junior year, she revised her entry and tried again as a senior, placing third in the state. This award was based on application scores only, though interviews would be held in a non-pandemic year.
The following year, she took her last opportunity to apply being a first-year graduate of North Fork High School. She took part in Zoom interviews for the award in March before learning she had won first place at the State FFA convention earlier this year.
“This is a huge achievement in FFA,” Annett’s adviser, Gina Neff, told the Mount Vernon News. “This shows that Amanda is the best of the best and she is a great representative of the beef industry. I am very proud of her accomplishments as an FFA adviser – this is something I have hoped I would have a student achieve at some point in my career, and I can't think of a more deserving individual to win this award.”
After being selected as a state finalist, Neff said, Annett put a lot of extra work into practice interviews and continued to do so even after winning the state title. Following her win, Neff attended a critique where she received feedback to use on Annnett’s application before sending it off to the national judging competition in July.
One month later, Annett was announced in the top four in the nation among more than 700,000 FFA members. She took part in multiple practice Zoom interviews before her official interview last September. Annett was later announced the national champion at the 94th National FFA Convention.
“It was very surreal being on stage and a big honor to be able to stand by Amanda when we found out she was the National Winner,” Neff said.
Annett is attending Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute, majoring in beef production.
