American Falls School District #381

The American Falls High School FFA Chapter traveled to Indianapolis, IN, during the last week of October to represent the state of Idaho at the na- tional level. The chapter earned a three-star ranking (the highest ranking possi- ble). Leila Jackson, Wyatt Hunt, Alexia Medel and Kamri Hillier attended the convention to accept the prestigious award.
The state winning Mar- keting Plan CDE and Flori- culture CDE teams also at- tended to compete against the other state winners from around the country.
The Floriculture CDE Team has come a long way in the last 11 months to prepare for this event. This competition was very important to the team since floral design has impacted their lives. The students were very nervous, but their advisor, Bret Kindall, assured them throughout the event.
The students completed plant identification, prob- lem solving, a knowledge exam, and disease/pest identification in August. At nationals, they completed
a one-on-one sales practi- cum, plant potting, a floral vase arrangement, and a team activity where they were asked to design both modern and traditional sets of corsages and bouton- nieres.
They asked Kindall what was his favorite part of nationals as an advisor. He replied, “being able to see the students happy and excited for the competition and the National FFA Con- vention and Expo.”
With all the hard work they have done, the rookie team placed 18th out of 43, earning a silver ranking. In- dividually, Katie Bischoff and Damaris Ortiz ranked gold and Aurora Ortiz and Jessica Hernandez ranked silver.
The Marketing Plan CDE Team competed virtu- ally in August by presenting their presentation, turning in their written proposal, and completing a live ques- tion and answer session. Macy Winder, Aunnika Al- len, and Fernando Monte- longo were the three mem- bers on the team. The team advanced to the semi-finals which took place in-person at the convention. At con-
vention, they are randomly assigned a room to com- pete against other teams. They competed against Kentucky, Arizona, West Virginia, and Georgia.
The team’s presenta- tion was phenomenal, but they fell short to Georgia and did advance to the fi- nal round. The team ended with a sixth place national finish in the event.
“Nationals was an ex- perience that I will never forget. I met so many peo- ple, and learned so many lessons that will stay with me forever,” said Macy Winder.
Traveling across the country was a first for many of the students and an experience that can’t be replicated elsewhere. Members of the FFA Chapter thank Ford, Allen Farms, Hunt Electric, J.R. Simplot, Petersen’s Manu- facturing, Idaho Ag Credit, Northwest Ag Credit, Stotz Equipment, Double M Ag & Irrigation and Valley Ag, all whom sponsored meals or state champion jackets.
They also extended a special thank you to Lance Funk Farms, County Line Farms, Gehring Ag, K Bar K Farms, Tiede Farms, Koompin Farms, Diamond K Farms, Richie Toevs, Dr- iscoll Farms, Allen Farms, Will Rowe, Andrew Porath, Neibaur Farms, Wild West Farms, Ruff Times Farms and Wada Farms (Shane Tilley) for their continued generosity in making travel and life changing experi- ences like this available to all of their members who put in the work and effort to qualify to compete at the highest level.