Moapa Valley High School teacher and adviser Craig Wolfley and his wife Lynnette, far right, get the royal treatment in Sugar’s Home Plate Restaurant last Thursday from FFA members, from left, Darci Davis, Brianna Davis, Kaley Sproul and Brooklynn Shotwell.

By Mike Donohue

Moapa Valley Progress

Six Moapa Valley High School members of Future Farmers of America (FFA) are in Oklahoma City this week competing in the 60th Annual National Land and Range Judging contest.

The six students, including Brianna Davis, 18, a senior; Darci Davis, 17, junior; Kaley Sproul, 17, senior; Brooklyn Shotwell, 18, senior; Trista Palmasano, 17, junior, and Klint Cardinal, 16, sophomore, earned the right to compete in the nationals by winning the state land judging contest.

Craig Wolfley, Moapa High School agriculture teacher and FFA advisor, explained that soil judging is very complex.

“Basically, during competition, judges dig a 4X6X10 foot pit and the student teams go out and take a sample of the soil and make all kinds of judgments,” Wolfley said.

FFA member Brianna Davis explained that based on the sample and investigatory observations the students determine the water holding capacity of the soil, the slope of the ground, necessary amendments, soil texture and the best use of the soil — is it acceptable for structures such as houses, crops or whatever.

The students are judged how accurate and insightful their determinations are.

While the state competition was relatively small, about 50 student competitors from eight Nevada schools, the national contest involves several hundred competitors from schools all over the nation. Last year more than 500 students competed.

Although winning the state soil judging contest gave Moapa Valley students the right to represent Nevada at nationals, they had another hurdle to cross before they could get there – they needed the money to travel and stay in Oklahoma City.

Wolfley said the trip costs approximately $6,000 and the students were still a little light last week.

Some ingenuity, a willingness to work and some help from a local business, however, helped make the trip a reality for the six Nevada teens.

After being approached by members of the FFA team, Judy Metz, owner of Sugar’s Home Plate Restaurant, agreed to let the students work the afternoon shift last Thursday and in return, donated 15 percent of the night’s gross receipts to the trip.

“It’s neat to see kids succeed after putting a lot of work, time and effort into something,” Metz said. “When they came in they said they wanted to work and that impressed me. They weren’t asking for a donation.”

Four of the teens, Brianna, Kaley, Darci and Brooklyn worked at Sugar’s greeting customers, filling water glasses and busing tables among other things.

Waitress Aurora Evans laughingly said she appreciated the help.