The Atwater High School FFA joined nearly 1700 California high school agriculture students at the 62nd annual Modesto Junior College FFA Field on Saturday, March 28th. The contest involves high school students competing in various agriculture related application, skill and critical thinking contests pertaining to the agriculture industry. All of Atwater FFA’s six teams placed in the Top 10 with five of those teams placing in the Top 5.
The Atwater FFA Milk Quality and Dairy Foods placed 3rd overall and was led by Shoua Thao, Christina Aguilar, Daryl Dorsey, Julie Daily, and Dayana Ceja. The Atwater FFA Nursery and Landscape (Horticulture) team placed 3rd overall and included Jeff Clark, Dayana Argueta, and Juliet Montanez. The Atwater FFA Ag Mechanics team placed 5th overall and included Andrew Skidmore, Eric Favela, Kevin McCrary, and Nathaniel Cavellero. The Atwater FFA Floriculture team placed 6th overall and included Alana Widick, Goldi Vang, Luzmila Dena, and Genoveva Arias. The Atwater FFA Agronomy team placed 6th overall with a team that included Amanda Skidmore, Belinda Espinoza, Dillon Guillen, and Jasmine Flores. The Atwater FFA Small Engines team placed 10th overall and included Alberto Ramos, Blake Brigham, and Valerie Mejia. Atwater FFA also had a “B” team compete with Amajot Ganhoke, David Zuniga, and Luke van Warmerdam. The Atwater FFA Pultry team placed 15th overall with a need that included Briana Diaz, Emma reyes, Juan Hernandez, and Madison Hall.
The MJC Field Day is designed to showcase students’ “hands-on” and technical skills in various agriculture related fields. “Students apply their knowledge and skills learned in the classroom in real-life job skill environments,” said FFA advisor Kim Macintosh. “We have a group of students that take tremendous pride towards their work ethic and skill development in a variety of agricultural related skills and occupations.”
The next competitions scheduled are at Reedley College, Fresno State University, and the state finals held at Cal Poly, SLO on Saturday, May 2nd. For more information on Atwater FFA, log onto their website at AtwaterFFA.org or follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram.