By Ramil Lorenzo Gonzalez
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The year started off well for Future Farmers of America (FFA) students with their successes at the 2013 FFA Oahu County District Conference held on Jan. 5 at Monsanto Hawaii in Kunia. Eleven students participated in seven different categories, most of them placing in the top three, with eight moving on to the state convention.
“I felt ecstatic. Our team was cheering for us and it was a great feeling of accomplishment,” expressed first-time FFA participant Senior Cindy Ann Andres, who placed first in the Ornamental Plant Identification category with partner Senior Kira Hamamura.
FFA students prepared for various competitions that tested skills ranging from memorization to public speaking through dedicated practice. “We just kept doing (our project) over,” said Junior Jaimelyn Buenaventura, “I know my topic really well now, and I can come up with answers that I guess are smart enough for the judges.” Buenaventura won first in Agriculture Demonstration with her partner Junior Joshua Carter, with their presentation on homemade fruit fly traps. Andres, who had to identify the three names of 100 plants, explained, “I would also quiz myself during class by going into the garden and write down as much names I could remember for each plant.”
It was this practice that earned the students their wins. “In the end, I found out that my score was better than I thought it would be,” said Andres. Buenaventura expressed, “I was really proud of us because we just, I don’t know how to put it. I just thought we did really good, we tried our best, and that’s all I cared about.”
Aside from student effort, a recent decline in FFA participation may have made it easier for students to win, with only four schools and around 50 students participating in districts. “Chapters that had normally had FFA that have participated in the past for various reasons stopped participating —Waianae, Nanakuli, Campbell, Pearl City, Kahuku,” remarked FFA adviser Jeff Yamaguchi, continuing, “So you know just by sheer numbers our chances are better to do well. “
Nevertheless, with the eight first and second place winners advancing to the state competition in Hilo, preparation has begun anew. “(I’ll) just probably (be) doing more research and trying to memorize it more, because during districts I missed a whole paragraph, and I was surprised we did first,” said Buenaventura. “Hopefully we can do just as well,” added Yamaguchi, continuing, “I expect us to do well in the (Agricultural Demonstration) and (Plant Identification) because we always do well in that, and I guess if we can do well in the others then it’d be considered a success.”
Yamaguchi and the other FFA students are eagerly awaiting and preparing for the 2013 FFA State Convention to be held at the University of Hawaii at Hilo from Feb. 28 to March 2.
