Ava FFA Competes In Proficiencies & Degrees

Ava FFA recently competed in Area Proficiency Awards and reviewed applications for Area and State FFA Degrees.

A proficiency award recognizes a member based on their SAE or Supervised Agriculture Experience Program and is broken into 45 different categories. At the area level, 1st 2nd and 3rd are recognized. If an application is selected as the area winner, it advances to state for competition at State FFA Convention in April.

Members must have at least one full year of records and may continue to apply until the first year following their graduation.

Winning 1st place in Beef Placement was James Elijah, senior, and Colton Hall, junior, in Ag Processing. They both advance to State. They will be recognized on stage at State FFA Convention in Columbia and could win State in each of their categories.

Also placing that night were James Elijah – 2nd in Beef Ownership, 2nd in Dairy Placement, and 2nd in Diversified Livestock; Cody Bellman-Hart, junior, also placed 2nd in Forestry; and Ciara Fossett, sophomore, placed 3rd in Equine Ownership and Equine Placement.

Also, James Elijah was selected as both Star Area Farmer and Star Area Placement for his SAE. He works at Grison Dairy Farm, Elijah Farms, and 4M Vineyards, and owns beef cattle and horses. He can only compete at state in one Star Division, so he elected to compete in Star Placement as he would be more competitive. At State, the committee will review James’ recordbook and he will interview for Star State Placement. James, his parents, and FFA Advisors will receive recognition at State Convention.

Applying for their State FFA Degrees are Abby Dean, James Elijah, Cody Bellman-Hart, Colton Hall, and Taylor McDonald. They will receive notification in March if they received their State FFA Degree. If they are selected, they will receive their golden charm of the State FFA Degree at State Convention in April.

Receiving Area FFA Degrees are Kayla Dougherty, Katie Hicks, Melissa Coonts, Julia Spurlock, Abby Cooper, Alicia Morpeth, Ashton Davis, Katy Russell, Taylor McDonald, Colton Hall, Cody Bellman-Hart, Deana Cathcart, Derick Downs, Hannah Phinney, Kendra Schuster, Rebecca Neal, and Kendra McCleary. They will receive their degrees at Area Banquet on April 10 at College of the Ozarks.

The advisors congratulate all the  students who worked hard with their SAE to earn these awards!