El Capitan FFA Members Succeed at National FFA Convention

By Branyon Bliss, El Capitan FFA Chapter Reporter

Students of the El Capitan FFA Chapter attended the 95th Annual National FFA Convention & Expo held in Indianapolis, Indiana from October 23rd-30th. The convention coincides with the National FFA Career/Leadership Development Event Finals which is held for teams/individuals to compete for the National Championship. Contestants and teams that attended The  National FFA convention were already selected as national finalists after winning the State FFA Championship last May. 

In the CDE portion of the conference, El Capitan FFA was represented by the Agricultural Communications team and the Floriculture team. Team members of the Agriculture Communications team included Autumn Miller, Adrian Miao, Copeland Camp, and Nikolas Williams. This contest required students to create a media plan for a local community garden. Each team member also had to complete a communications related practicum. Autumn Miller wrote an opinion article, Adrian Miao wrote a feature story, Copeland Camp created a video advertisement, and Nikolas Williams created a website for an agricultural business. The team was selected as Reserve National Champions, with Autumn Miller receiving the highest score for her practicum category. Autumn received a scholarship for her accomplishment. 

The Floriculture team consisted of Annika Cook, Angela Diaz, Julianna Contreras, and Samantha Wade. Team members were required to create various floral arrangements and price them out for retail sale. They also had to complete various tests and practicums. Lastly, the team participated in a team activity and created media advertisements. The team received a Silver Award.

Jiashee Thao in was a National Proficiency Finalist in the area of Vegetable Production. This meant that Jiashee had one of the best vegetable related Supervised Agricultural Experience Projects in the nation. Jiashee works on her family farm helping her family grow Asian vegetables and selling them at farmers markets around the state. 

Connor spurlock also represented the El Capitan FFA Chapter by receiving his American FFA Degree, which is the highest achievable degree in the National FFA Organization. Spencer Wolf also received his American FFA Degree this year. 

We congratulate our amazing attendees this year for their amazing work ethic, and dedication put into their skill/team. Their time into their skill/team has built them to become better, well rounded individuals in many different aspects of their lives. We look forward to what next year will look like, and who will represent El Capitan FFA at the 96th Annual National FFA Convention & Expo.