East Panhandle Times

Spring Mills High School's Future Farmers of America (FFA) Livestock Judging Team recently participated in the National FFA Convention held from October 23 to 26. This marks the second time in three years that the school has sent a team to nationals. The event took place in Indianapolis, Indiana, where students engaged in competitions and workshops aimed at enhancing their skills.

The team consisted of four students: Grant Bolyard, Shyanne Stickles, Paige Knott, and McKenzie Phebus. They competed by evaluating livestock such as sheep, cows, and pigs and then explaining their reasoning for their assessments.

This competition is part of a Career Development Event designed to prepare students for selecting and marketing livestock to meet the needs of both consumers and producers. In state-level competitions, Bolyard achieved first place overall while Knott secured sixth place. Stickles and Phebus also ranked within the top 20.

All team members have grown up around animals and have extensive experience working with them. Their involvement in FFA has fueled their passion for the program, helping them grow personally while preparing them for future careers and creating scholarship opportunities.

“FFA helps you grow as a person,” said Stickles. “It creates good opportunities to practice speaking. Our generation is really used to technology and talking to people behind a screen. FFA allows us to get out and talk to people face to face.”

Looking ahead, the team will participate in another major competition next October. Until then, they plan to continue practicing through various livestock judging events with a focus on improving their explanation skills during evaluations.

During the convention, Makenzie Stout from Spring Mills High School won bronze in the Employment Skills competition. Other attendees included Reagan Barrett, Amelia Dugan, Brenna McTighe, Karcallia Kennedy, Mya Stine, and Hayley Silkworth. The school's FFA chapter was recognized as a two-star chapter for its significant impact on these students.

Stickles encourages others to consider joining FFA: “Anyone thinking about joining FFA, I highly recommend it,” she said. “I’ve grown a lot through FFA. When I first joined, I was really shy, so don’t be afraid to try new things.”