CHADRON FFA SHINES AT FIRST CAREER DEVELOPMENT CONTEST OF THE YEAR
by Chadron FFA Reporter Hunter Hawk
On Wednesday January 10, students from the Chadron FFA chapter traveled to WNCC in Scottsbluff for their first CDE (Career Development Events) contest of the year. Chadron FFA, along with other District 12 FFA chapters, competed in four events: Livestock Management, Welding, Floriculture, and Ag Sales. Students have been preparing for this contest in their study groups for over a month. Chadron FFA walked away with plenty of hardware and qualifiers for the state convention in April.
Students on the Ag Sales team were Dadriana Serres, Renee Redfern, Pamela Fisher, and Shannon O’Rourke. Dadriana received an individual red ribbon. The team did not place high enough to qualify for state. We are so proud of them for competing yesterday, as this was only our chapter’s second year competing in Ag Sales!
Students on the Floriculture team were Madison Cogdill, Megan Tidyman, MiaKayla Koerber, Hailey Watson, and Evelyn McEwen. Megan received an individual white ribbon, MiaKayla received an individual red ribbon, and Hailey and Evelyn both received individual blue ribbons. Overall, the team placed third at districts and will compete at state in April! This was the first year Chadron has qualified a Floriculture team for the state convention.
Students on the Welding team were Michael Collins, Joe Matt, and Bucky Cattin. Michael received an individual red ribbon for Mig welding. Joe was the district champion in Oxy acetylene welding, receiving a purple ribbon and a welding helmet! Bucky was the district champion in arc welding, also receiving a purple ribbon and a welding helmet! The team received second overall and will compete at state in April!
Students on the Livestock Management team were Beau Jersild, Drew Jersild, Cody Madsen, Hunter Hawk, Katie Lewin, and Alexys Fernandez. The group completed seven different stations as a team. The stations were beef, dairy, poultry, horse, swine, sheep, and a test over all the species. As team, they did not receive a ribbon for the test. They were tied for fourth in sheep, but after the tiebreaker, received fifth. They received second place and a blue ribbon in poultry and horse. The team was district champions in beef, dairy, and swine, receiving a purple ribbon! The overall score is determined based on the points of the stations combined. Overall, the team was district champions and qualified for the state competition in April! Chadron FFA has been district champions in Livestock Management for the past two years, making this their third consecutive Livestock Management district championship and trip to state! Last year at state, the team received third place overall.
We are extremely excited to see how our teams will compete at state and are so proud of what our chapter has accomplished in such a short time. Our next competition will be in February, where we hope to bring home more hardware and state qualifiers! Thank you to all of the people that support our chapter and offer their expertise. We really appreciate it.
