June 2011 Chatterbox - Ruston High School

ClubsChatterboxRuston High School June 2, 2011 Page 16Ruston FFA Finishes a Remarkable Yearsubmitted by Mark MilsteadFFA AdvisorThe 2010-2011 Ruston FFA chapter had an outstanding year this past school year.With over 250 students as members, the Ruston FFA chapter is the largest student organizationon Ruston High School‘s campus and also one of the top 5 largest chaptersin the state. .This was a great year for our Forestry Team, who ended up as District Runners-Up,Third and Fourth Place at Area, and ranked number 4 in the state at the State Competition.Students on the 4th ranked Forestry team were Savannah Best, Will Edmiston,Layton Richard, and Zach Hannibal.Freshman FFA members also competed in their own "Freshman Day" with competitionsin all Leadership Events. Students that qualified for State competitions in LeadershipEvents included 2nd place at Area Beau Russell in Extemporaneous Speaking, 1stPlace at Area in Creed Speaking - Rebecca Wheelis, 2nd Place at Area in Creek Speaking- Sara Jones, 1st Place in Parliamentary Procedure - Jonathan Craig, Josh Chrisman,Seth Nichols, Chris Calhoun, Ryan Dooley, and Mercedes Fife, and 2nd Place in ParliamentaryProcedure - Antonio Wilson, Savannah Best, Adam Bryant, Will Edmiston,Brandon Myers, and Seth Wells. This team went on to be named the Louisiana StateRunner-Up Parliamentary Procedure Team. All other competitions will be held in Juneat the Louisiana State FFA Convention in Alexandria.In Spring Career Development Events at Louisiana Tech University on March 25th,Ruston FFA students won four Area I Championships including: the Dairy Cattle Teamof Keirstyn Sonnier (High Individual), Jonathan Craig, Kane Killen, and SeanMcGowan; the Small Engines team of Will Edmiston and Justin Wilkinson (High IndividualTroubleshooting); the Dairy Foods team of Zach Hannibal (High Individual),Brandon Myers, Savannah Best, and Taylor Rose; and the Meat Evaluation team ofNick Liberatos, Hannah Hearne, Chad Leachman, and Robert Gilbert. Also qualifyingfor State competition was the 2nd place Nursery/Landscape team of Chelsea Williams,Farryn Cooper, and Annabelle Grossman; the 2nd place Small Engines team of DylanChandler (High Individual Assembly) and Paul Martin; the 3rd place Poultry team ofLayton Richard, Caleb Kennedy, Mercedes Fife, and Mariah Creamer; the 3rd placeElectricity team of Travis Morrow, and the 4th place Dairy Foods team of MatthewBrewer, Cristal Cano, Rebecca Wheelis, and Brandi Griffin. All of these teams qualifiedto compete at the State FFA Career Development Events in on April 26th.At LSU in Baton Rouge, twenty-eight Ruston FFA students competed in the StateCareer Development Events (CDEs). Ruston had 3 teams place in the top 4 in the Stateincluding 2 State Championships. The Small Engines team of Will Edmiston and JustinWilkinson were crowned State Champions in the Small Engines event. Justin was alsogiven State High Individual honors in Troubleshooting. Also winning the State Championshipin Dairy Foods was the team of Zach Hannibal, Brandon Myers, SavannahBest, and Taylor Rose. This team will represent Louisiana at the National FFA Conventionin October in the Dairy Foods CDE. Also ranking 3rd in the State was the MeatEvaluation team of Nick Liberatos, Hannah Hearne, Chad Leachman, and Robert Gilbert.A special "Thank You" goes out to the Ruston community for being so supportiveof our FFA members. Another special "Thank You" goes out to the voters of the RustonSchool District that voted on an extension of the tax millage that will provide atbrand-new Agriscience Department. Students will greatly benefit from your generosity.FFA‘s 28 competitors at the State FFA CDE in Baton Rouge on April 26, 2011.Area I Champions-Diary Foods Evaluation:Zach Hannibal, Brandon Myers,Taylor Rose, and Savannah BestArea I Champions in Meat Evaluation:Hannah Hearne, Nick Liberatos,Chad Leachman, and Robert Gilbert.Area I Champions inDairy Cattle Evaluation:Jonathan Craig, Keirstyn Sonnier,Sean McGowan, and Kane Killen.