The Apex Friendship High School chapter of FFA (Future Farmers of America) would like to recognize their members who competed in the 2023 North Carolina FFA State Dairy Evaluation Career Development Event on April 14, 2023, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Team members included Alia Beck (who placed first in the individual state rankings), Claire Tian, Savannah Snyder, and Miller Browne. Our senior dairy evaluation team, which consisted of Hayden Hunkele, Vivien Cantrell, Anneliese Prusik, Ashtin Smith, and Lila Buzzell, placed 3rd in the Wake County Federation and 5th in the East Central Region. They were led by their FFA Advisor Keonte’ Edmonds.
At the state event, participants are scored based on how well they apply dairy cattle evaluation skills learned in the classroom. Each team evaluates classes of dairy cattle and defends the reasoning behind their evaluations to a panel of judges. Participants also complete a written test and work collaboratively to select appropriate herd composition. Completing these activities successfully requires a good understanding of both animal science and herd management skills.
We would also like to recognize our parliamentary procedure team—Connor Allen, Jillian Szemereta, Ashtin Smith, Jacob Marsh, Ashley Halsey, Vivien Cantrell, and Brianna Spero—for placing 2nd in the Wake County Federation, and creed speaker Hasna Salahudeen who placed 4th in the Wake County Federation. Both the creed speaker and parliamentary procedure teams advanced to the Regional Rally on April 20 at Nash Community College and placed 6th for parliamentary procedure and 2nd for creed speaking. Creed speaker Hasna Salahudeen will advance to the North Carolina FFA State Convention taking place June 27-29.
The highest-scoring team in the state event is eligible to compete in the National FFA event at the National FFA Convention in November 2023. The top three teams and high-scoring individuals will be recognized during the North Carolina FFA State Convention in Raleigh on June 27-29, 2023.
North Carolina FFA is a youth organization of 32,597 members preparing for leadership and careers in the science, business, and technology of agriculture with 355 local chapters across the state. FFA makes a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education. Visit www.ncffa.org for more information.
