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 Left to right: Kyle Dresback, Kayleen Faine, Kyle Gravatt and Matt Ross. Rural Soils Team Places Third in District Classroom knowledge was put into practical use at the District Urban and Rural Soil Career Development Event. In the Agricultural Education class students were taught the ideal soil properties for farming and building homes and how to evaluate different plots of land. North Union FFA members competed in Champaign County at the district contest along with 29 other schools.
The rural soils team consisted of Matt Ross, Kyle Gravatt, Kayleen Faine and Kyle Dresback. They placed 3rd (out of 29 teams) in the district and advanced to the State competition. Kyle Gravatt placed 4th in the district and Matt Ross placed 6th. There were 111 contestants at the district contest. The team advanced to Smeck Farms in Baltimore, Ohio for the State competition where they placed 18th out of 55 teams.
The soils career development event is a complicated contest that requires students to synthesis properties of soil to determine limitations that would need to be overcome to build a house or use the property for agricultural purposes.
Soil evaluation ties many aspects of education together. The education components of the Soil Career Development Event included competencies in Science, Math and Reading and their relation to Agricultural Science.
Rural soil evaluation is the analysis of four soil pits examining the plots for slope, erosion, surface texture, depth of soil, and natural drainage. Once students have completed the initial evaluation they determine the best agricultural practices to use on the land. The team also applied the knowledge gained in the classroom at the Hardin Northern Invitational.
This rural and urban soils contest is a great way for students to apply knowledge learning the Agricultural Education classroom to the FFA contests. There are more than 457,000 FFA members across the country. Student members belong to chapters that are organized at the local school level. Agricultural education instructors serve as chapter advisors. FFA members develop leadership skills and are preparing for one or more of the 350 careers in the science, business and technology of agriculture. FFA programs allow members the opportunity to practically apply the knowledge they gain in the classroom to real-world experiences. They also measure their expertise through local, state and national competitions. |