Two Midland teams place nationally at convention


The Midland Ag Issues team, from left: Kole Michaud, Chiara Dusanek, Hannah Fishwild, Isabelle Ricketts, Alivia Smith and Trenton Rickels. (Photos courtesy of Jamie Christiansen, Midland High School)

The Midland Agronomy team, from left: Jared Crock, Hope Saroka, Justin Agnitsch and Coy Petersen.
NATIONAL FFA CONVENTION
By: 
Pete Temple
Express Sports/Ag Editor

     Ten students from the Midland FFA Chapter got to experience not only the excitement of competing and winning awards on a national stage, but also what it’s like to work together as a team and get to know each other better in the process.

     The chapter came home from the National FFA Convention and Expo Oct. 27-30 in Indianapolis with three prestigious awards: a fourth place finish in national Ag Issues competition, a 12th place finish in Agronomy, and being named a three-star chapter in the Growing Leaders division of the National Chapter Award.

     “It was insane, said Kole Michaud, a 2021 graduate of Midland High School who helped lead the Ag Issues team to its title.

     “I’ve been doing this for three years, and just being able to see the team evolve, and everyone advance their skills, has been pretty insane.”

     “We didn’t know what to do,” junior Alivia Smith said. “We cried, we screamed and hugged. There were a lot of emotions.”

     Directed by advisor Jamie Christiansen, who was assisted by Jen Westphal, the two FFA teams qualified through district and then state competition to reach the nationals.

     In Ag Issues, students must create portfolios, and present to area ag-related groups. The biggest part was preparing scripted arguments from both sides of a contentious ag-related issue.

     “As a group you come up with an issue that’s dividing the agriculture industry,” senior Trenton Rickels said.

     The Midland group chose: “Is our love of meat affecting the climate?”

     “I learned so much about how the industry affects the environment,” Rickels said, “and how agriculture is doing different things to alleviate some of their emissions.”

     In Agronomy, teams of four students develop a crop management plan that includes crop selection, production, problem-solving and marketing. Individually, the team members also complete an agronomic knowledge exam, identify and analyze plant and soil types, and discuss an agronomic issue important to crop production.

     By finishing 12th, Midland earned a Silver rating.

     “They were a little sad; they wanted that Gold rating,” Christiansen said. “But they were at the top of the silvers.”

     Coy Petersen, a member of Midland’s Agronomy team, said he enjoyed the experience.

     “You walk with your team members in the halls every day, but once you actually have to do a competition like this and work with them, you actually get to know them as a person.”

     Hannah Fishwild, a junior who was part of Ag Issues, agreed.

     “You get to know the people on the team on a different level than you would just going to school with them,” Fishwild said. “I think a lot of us have become a lot closer than we ever were before.”

     It took some of them out of their comfort zones.

     “I’ve never talked in front of a group of that many people before,” junior Isabelle Ricketts said. “I’ve never been to nationals (before), so going there was eye-opening.”

     Smith added: “Years ago I would not talk to anyone, and now I’m on a stage in front of hundreds of people speaking about an issue of ag.”

     The leadership of the older members played a big role.

     “I think a lot of it was just being able to work with each other to answer the questions, (determine) who would be most successful answering that question.”

     On the Agronomy team, Christiansen said, “Coy and Jared joined the team in the spring, whereas Justin and Hope had been working with me for multiple years. Justin and Hope very much took on the leadership role. They did a great job bringing the other two along.”

     Westphal said she was proud of the students – mostly chapter officers ­– who submitted the application that led to a National Chapter Award. The Midland chapter won the Growing Leaders division at the state level before becoming one of just 10 Iowa chapters to received the three-star rating at the national level.

     “Our students completely wrote their application,” Westphal said. “They all did bits and pieces of it.”

     

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