Nelson FFA team sixth in national event

From staff reports

Published: October 29, 2008

The Nelson County High School National FFA Organization team placed sixth out of 35 states in the agronomy career development event at the 81st national FFA convention.

The team members were David McCann, Sergio Sanchez, Rebecca Carter and Meredith Carter and were coached by Scott Massie.

McCann placed second nationally. Meredith Carter placed 69th, Rebecca Carter placed 31st, and Sanchez placed 26th. The awards were announced Friday.

McCann was recognized for his national second place on the stage of the national convention on Saturday afternoon in front of more than 16,000 FFA members in the Conseco Field House in Indianapolis.

The Agronomy Career Development Event is a competitive activity that allows students to apply classroom knowledge to real-life situations. Participants’ knowledge of agronomic sciences was tested through several levels of competition, including developing solutions for problematic scenarios, identification of seeds, insects, soil and crops and other management practices.

The Agronomy Career Development Event is sponsored by Bayer Crop Science of Research Triangle Park in North Carolina as a special project of the National FFA Foundation.

The National FFA Organization, formerly known as the Future Farmers of America, is a national youth organization of 507,763 student members — all preparing for leadership and careers in the science, business and technology of agriculture — as part of 7,439 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

The National FFA Organization changed to its present name in 1988, in recognition of the growth and diversity of agriculture and agricultural education.

The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.

For more information, visit http://www.ffa.org.