The East Knox FFA recently represented the state of Ohio and competed in the National FFA Nursery/Landscape Career Development Event held in conjunction with the 96th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana on October 31-November 3, 2023.
Dylan Springer, Hayden Baker, Dustin Springer, and Jon Cisco placed 26th out of a field of teams from across the United States with a team rating of Silver. The top 10 teams in the nation received a Gold rating, the next 18 teams finished with a Silver ranking, and the final 12 teams received Bronze ratings. Individually, each student is rated Gold, Silver, or Bronze. Dylan and Dustin Springer each received a Silver rating and Baker and Cisco were awarded a Bronze rating. The team received a plaque for its placing and each member received medals for their individual national ranking at the awards banquet held on Thursday in the Indiana Convention Center at the National FFA Convention.
The team advanced to the National contest after placing first in the State FFA Nursery/Landscape Career Development Event finals held at Delaware Area Career Center on March 29. In the State event competitors had to program an irrigation control panel, repair an irrigation line and install a sprinkler head, calculate a landscape maintenance estimate, lay sod, operate zero-turn mowers, plant and stake a tree, and operate commercial mid-size walk behind mowers. Individually, Dylan Springer placed first, Baker finished second, Dustin Springer was third, and Cisco placed sixth out of 273 competitors. The first and second place students in each of the hands-on event finals were also recognized with East Knox contestant Dustin Springer placing first in both the zero-turn mower and the commercial walk-behind mower with a perfect score of 100 out of 100 on each.
The National Nursery/Landscape Career Development Event is an activity designed to demonstrate students’ skills in the area of Nursery and Landscape Management. In the event the students completed hands-on activities of tree planting, irrigation zone installation and repair, plant layout, and installing and programming a basic irrigation program controller. Students also took a general information test; completed estimation problems; did a verbal customer relation situation; identified various trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, groundcovers, weeds, and physiological problems of plants; and completed a propagating activity. The National Nursery/Landscape Career Development Event is sponsored by STIHL Incorporated, Haviland, and Kubota Tractor Corporation.
This is the eighth time that an East Knox FFA Nursery/Landscape team has represented Ohio at the National event.
The National FFA Organization is a national youth organization of 945,988 student members as part of 9,163 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands."
Article courtesy of Tom Holton
PICTURE (L to R) –Dylan Springer, Dustin Springer, Hayden Baker, and Jon Cisco at the National FFA Nursery/Landscape Career Development Event at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.
