On Monday, May 4, the Adair County FFA began their journey to compete in the National FFA Land Judging and Homesite Evaluation contest in El Reno, Oklahoma.
The team qualified to compete in the homesite division of the contest based on their outstanding achievements at the state level. Team members were Ethan Wooten, Addie Baker, Isabella Harvey, and Katie Kean. All team members performed well. Adair County was the 3rd highest ranked team from the state of Kentucky in the homesite division.
The national contest is much different from what the team is used to here in the bluegrass state. Students are expected to evaluate four unique sites, complete with soil pits and slope markers, to assess an area for aspects of home construction.
They must determine how the soil qualities could affect future foundations, septic systems, lawns and even sewage lagoons, which were a brand-new concept to the Adair County students.
This contest does an excellent job of preparing students to be future home buyers that know how to predict issues before investing in a home. In addition to that, students learn how to read a landscape and prepare for life far beyond the classroom.
They are gaining skills related to soil conservation that will benefit them in multiple career pathways.
While preparing for and participating in the contest, they made room in the schedule to visit historic sites along the way. Students were able to visit the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial, Stockyard City, and Express Ranch in Oklahoma.
On the way home, they made time to stop by Big Springs, Missouri and even spent a night in historic Branson, Missouri before returning home from a week of hard work and competition.
The success of this team would not be possible without their many supporters. The students would like to thank the many farmers and agriculturalists that allowed them to practice on their land or provided soil cores to study.
