Stuart FFA Chapter Enjoys Success at District X Career Development Event

 

On Wednesday, March 2nd, Stuart FFA Chapter members boarded the bus for an early morning trip to the District X Career Development Event in Northeast Community College.

After an early morning stop for breakfast, the FFA members arrived in Norfolk eager to start the day with a plethora of contests ranging from Welding to Floriculture to Livestock Management.

Following a long day of testing and competing the Stuart FFA Chapter earned the District X runner-up sweepstakes award as a result of the fine showing by the Agriculture Education students in the various contests.

The Stuart FFA Chapter had several state competition-qualifying teams.

The individual and team awards are as follows:

The Welding team kept their streak of district championships alive by winning the Oxyacetylene and the MIG competition. The team of Zach Kunz, Dalton Schafer, and Curtis Kubik qualified for state by winning the team competition and placing highly in their respective competitions with Dalton placing first in MIG welding, Zach placing first in OA Welding, and Curtis Kubik placing fifth in Arc Welding.

The Ag Mechanics team consisting of Trever Thompson, Travis Wallinger, Devan King, and Aaron Ammon finished as district champions and state qualifiers.

Those placing in the individual portions of the event were Aaron Ammon earning an individual district champion title in the Environmental and Natural Resources component, Trever Thompson and Devan King earning district runner-up titles in Structural and Machine Systems respectively, Travis Wallinger rounded out the scoring with a third place finish in the Energy Systems component.

The Meat Identification and Evaluation contest saw several Stuart contestants place high in individual competition which allowed them to win the district team championship for the second consecutive year. The team consisted of Andrew Broders, Nick Kunz, Devan King, and Allaura Luebbe.

Placing individually were Andrew Broders as the district champion individual, followed closely by Nick Kunz in fourth place, and Devan King in 7th place.

The Agriscience team consisting of Samantha Sattler, Kayla Bouska, Trevor Ramm, and Brandee Murphy finished in third place.

Placing individually were Samantha Sattler and Kayla Bouska tying for 10th place, Trevor Ramm in 15th place, and Brandee Murphy in 25th place. These students will be competing at the state level on April 7th.
The Nursery and Landscape team also had a third place finish. Those on the team were Elana Kaup, Ben Kaup, and Emily Kaup. Elana, Ben, and Emily placed 6th, 9th and 10th respectively in the individual competition.
The Farm Management team earned a district fourth place finish for their efforts in the Farm Business Management contest.

Doug Larsen led the team with a fifth place finish, while Ryan Larabee finished in 9th place, Garrett Farr placed 21st and Elana Kaup placed 23rd to round out the scoring.

The livestock management team competed in the highly competitive livestock management contest placing fifth.

The team was the top swine management team, second place poultry team, the third place dairy team, the fourth place beef, and sheep team and the sixth place horse team.

There are no individual placings for this contest as all work is a team activity. The team consisted of Ben Kaup, Doug Larsen, Garrett Farr, Nick Kunz, and Andrew Broders.

The Food Science team also earned a fourth place finish and will have to wait to see if they qualified for state by scoring enough points to earn a wildcard spot. Those individuals on the team without individual results at this time were Kassidy Paxton, Megan Riha, Jordan Paxton, and Shelby Paxton.

The Floriculture team made up of Taylor Kunz, Caitlin Kunz, Allaura Luebbe, and Kassidy Paxton were the 7th place district team.

The Stuart FFA Chapter had a very successful day at the District CDE contest, but many of these accomplishments could have not been possible without the assistance from local businesses and individuals who have helped the students prepare for these contests.