Members of the Mt. Vernon FFA Chapter recently demonstrated their forestry skills at the annual Timber Cruise Competition on September 4, 2025. The event took place at Garrett and Linda Swendal's property in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Participants were tasked with identifying tree species by leaf and bark and calculating timber volume and value.
The team from Mt. Vernon High School achieved third place overall in the county-wide competition. The team was led by Zeva Sheets, Ryan Fletcher, and Koby McClain. Notably, Zeva Sheets secured second place individually.
Stephanie Plumly, the Mt. Vernon FFA Advisor, expressed pride in her students' achievements: "We're proud of how hard our students have worked to develop their forestry knowledge and skills," she said. "Their dedication is paying off, and we're excited to see what they’ll do at the next level."
The team will advance to compete in the District 7 FFA Forestry Contest on September 9.
Mount Vernon High School serves grades 9 to 12 with an enrollment of 1,157 students during the 2019-2020 school year according to Illinois Report Card data (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). The school had a diverse student body comprising predominantly white students at 72.7%, followed by black students at 13.7%, Hispanic students at 4.9%, and Asian students at 1.1% (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
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