The East Knox FFA recently represented the state of Ohio and competed in the National FFA Environmental/Natural Resources Career Development Event at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis in conjunction with the 95th National FFA Convention on Oct. 26-28.
Andrew Poff, Hailey Frazee, Dustin Springer and Dylan Springer placed 13th out of a field of FFA teams from across the United States. Each state plus Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands may have one team in the event. Individually, Dustin Springer placed 34th in the nation with a gold rating and Poff, Frazee and Dylan Springer each received a silver rating on a gold-silver-bronze scale. The team also finished with a silver rating, narrowly missing gold as the top 11 teams in the nation were ranked gold. The teams and individuals received awards for their ranking at the ceremony held on Friday at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis.
The team qualified for the National CDE by placing first in the State Environmental/Natural Resources Career Development Event hosted by Hocking College and Central State University in a competition last April in New Lexington. The teams that participated in the state event were selected by invitation coming from the top five places in the earlier-conducted state career development events in the areas of forestry, agricultural soils, urban soils, nature interpretation and wildlife management. Each school that qualified in these five areas could only have one team from their school. East Knox qualified in forestry, where they placed second (and competed in the Eastern States Exposition in September, where they placed third) and agricultural soils, where they were the fourth place team in the state last October (and competed in the national event last May in Oklahoma).
The National Environmental/Natural Resources Career Development Event is divided into three parts. On Oct. 5, the team completed the first phase, which was the online portion of the event that was completed at school with a proctor. They completed a 50-question multiple choice test on the environment and natural resources; identified 50 mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians, plants and invasive species and equipment used in environmental and natural resources activities; and completed a data analysis practicum that included finding soils information from the web soil survey. The next part was the fieldwork that was completed on the first day of the National FFA Convention at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Teams completed a GPS practicum, evaluated a soil pit for agricultural purposes and conducted water quality activities where they performed tests for nitrates, phosphates, temperature and pH. The last component of the competition took place on the second day of the convention. The members completed a team activity where they were given the topic of “Wildfires” and had an hour to develop a written document and then had to do an eight-minute team oral presentation and respond to questions from the judges.
The Environmental/Natural Resources Career Development Event is an educational activity designed to assess a student’s knowledge of environmental management and to provide recognition for those who have demonstrated skills and competencies in the area of natural resources.
Picture (L to R) - Andrew Poff, Dustin Springer, Hailey Frazee and Dylan Springer at the National Environmental/Natural Resources Career Development Event awards ceremony at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.
