By MAGGIE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
A group of Moapa Valley FFA students traveled to Bunkerville earlier this month to compete in the annual Southern Zone Competition. This event is held as a qualifier for the state competition that is coming up in March. The event was hosted by the Virgin Valley FFA chapter. In attendance were FFA students from Moapa Valley, Virgin Valley, Pahranagat Valley, White River (Lund), and Lincoln County.
The event offered a host of competitions. These included judging events, speaking events, and event workshops.
Speaking events were the most competitive. The number of speakers participating at the state level is limited so the zone competition narrows down who will compete at state.
The Creed category, limited to first year FFA members, have students reciting the FFA creed. This year’s creed winners were 1st: Kate Hatch, Pahranagat Valley; 2nd: Carla Buccicardi, Virgin Valley; and 3rd: MaKenzie Kephart, Moapa Valley.
In this year’s Extemporaneous speaking category the winners were 1st: Will Meldrum, PV, and 2nd: Brent Thatcher, PV.
The zone winners in Prepared Public Speaking were 1st: Cassidie Jones, MV; 2nd: Shayla Matthews, Lincoln County; and 3rd: Logan Ohl, PV.
There were also competitions in horse judging, meat judging, floriculture, vet tech, employablity skills, and others. Many of these competitions have real life applications.
“This is a great skill for kids to learn because it is something they are going to use their entire life,” said Mike Ray of Pahranagat Valley who was running the meat judging competition. “If you know your cuts of meat and how to prepare them, it will help you feed your family.”
Workshops were also held to prepare students for more involved competitive events. for those events.
Moapa Valley FFA advisor, Kevin O’Toole worked with the Ag Mechanics competitors. Using several electrical boards he taught a hands-on workshop about electrical currents.
And Environmental and Natural Resources workshop was taught by Tim Moser from Lund. He taught about water quality testing, ph testing, and testing for oxygen saturation in a water sample.
Rachel Cook, FFA Southern Zone President, explained the purpose of zone. “We have zone competition to unite ourselves as Southern Zone and to prepare ourselves for state competition in Reno,” she said. “I think it’s awesome to come together as an FFA organization. It’s something that is worth the effort.”
Local FFA Adviser Denise O’Toole was pleased with the day. “It is great having the competition this close,” she said. “It is great practice to see where we stand for state. Our students have been practicing and preparing after school and we’re glad for this opportunity.”
