By: Elizabeth Bok
To start the school year off many chapter members competed in various contests. Freshmen and sophomores had the opportunity to be a part of the rural or urban soil judging teams.
The rural team consisted of Owen Speiser, Kaitlyn McCord, Brooke Pollard, Althea Spangler, James Smith, Riley Schindler, Kalvin Woodring, and Timothy Ankney.
The urban team consisted of Ethan Guilford, Samantha Mavis, Kaylee Beam, Marissa Retcher, Hayden Bok, Jersey Cooper, Adalyn Zeedyk, and Brooklyn Zeedyk.
The two teams went to Pemberville to judge 3 soil pits and took two general knowledge tests. The rural team placed 11th out of 22 teams and the urban team placed 5th out of 16.
The top two individuals from the rural team were Owen Speiser who placed 28th and Kaitlyn McCord who was 61st out of 157. From the urban team, Ethan Guilford was 16th and Samantha Mavis was 18th out of 93. Some of the junior members got to attend the floral contest.
The floral team comprised Kayla Mavis, Cheyenne Zeedyk, Kortney Grinnell, and Summer Hiler. At this contest, they were asked to make bud vases and corsages and identify flowers, bugs, and tools. The team placed 9 out of 11 teams.
The most recent contests that members competed in were the Dairy Cattle and Dairy Foods contests.
On the Dairy Cattle team were; Elizabeth Bok, Kalvin Woodring, Brooklyn Zeedyk, Owen Spieser, Ethan Guilford, Riley Schindler, Renee Bok, Hayden Bok, Olivia Childress, Rachel Haver, Kadince Sauber, Audrey Crites, Cheyenne Zeedyk, and Emma Zeedyk.
The Dairy Foods team was; Althea Spangler, Miguel Gracia, Brooke Pollard, Alex Garcia, James Smith, Kaitlyn McCord, Timothy Ankney, and Ruby Elston. At the Dairy Cattle Judging contest, participants got to judge three classes of dairy cows, one class of dairy heifers, placed sires, and pedigrees, as well as taking a general knowledge test.
The Dairy Foods Judging contest required members to taste/identify cheese and tainted milk along with a general knowledge test. The cattle team placed fourth.
The top two individuals for the team were Elizabeth Bok who placed 12th and Kalvin Woodring who placed 14th out of 181 total participants. The food team was seventh and the top two individuals were Althea Spangler and Miguel Garcia who placed 7th and 26th out of 52.
