The Zane Trace FFA was honored over the weekend as a Gold rated chapter at the Ohio FFA Convention. This award is bestowed upon the top 10 percent of FFA chapters in the state. Several Zane Trace students also receive individual awards at the state convention.
Six members were recognized as proficiency finalists based on their project work outside of class. They included: Mariah Cox - 1st place in Integrated Research, Olivia Pflaumer - 1st place in Animal Research, Ann Shelby - 1st place in Food Science, Cody Clark - 2nd place in Plant Research, Cole Fyffe - 3rd place in Ag Mechanics and Alanee Fannin - 4th place in Home and Community Development.
Seven students participated as Agriscience fair finalists and four were named first place winners. They included the team of Julia Everidge and Olivia Pflaumer in Social Science and the team of Gabby Wycinski and Katie Shelby in Food Science. Olivia Pflaumer was also honored as a star finalist in Agriculture Science and received a $300 award for her efforts.
Pete Dunkle, a longtime supporter of the Zane Trace FFA, was awarded the Honorary State Degree and eight members received their own state degree, which is the highest degree the state can bestow on an FFA member. They included: Mike Bell, Olivia Congrove, Cassidy Corcoran, Kylie Lathey, Brittany Lott, TJ Pack, McKenzie Ray and Alexis Waltz . In addition to this, Alanee Fannin, Ann Shelby and Sky Graves received gold officer pins and the chapter was recognized for donations made to Children’s Hospital and CROP/Church World Services through charity fundraisers throughout the year which include the sausage breakfast. Kurumi Yamada and Micah Kelley represented the chapter in the Ohio FFA Band and twenty members participated in a service activity to pack meals for the Mid-Ohio Food Bank during their time at the convention.
The chapter also competed in the “Food For Thought” contest sponsored by Ohio Corn and Wheat growers. In the contest the members presented the work the chapter had conducted throughout the school year related to whole grain and healthy lifestyle education as part of the $500 Food for Thought grant program. The chapter placed 3rd overall out of 10 teams in the state contest. In between the award sessions members toured the agriculture career show which included booths from agriculture colleges and businesses from around Ohio.