MUSCATINE, Iowa–At the first FFA National Convention since 2019, Muscatine students on the nursery landscaping and the poultry evaluation teams both met great success placing third and 15th in the nation respectively. Senior Belinda Brian also distinguished herself by placing as the nursery landscaping individual national champion.
In years past, students competing at the National FFA Convention completed both the written and practical portions of their contests during the convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. However, to limit the number of attendees out of concern for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the written portions of each contest served as an additional qualifier, with state champion teams having to place highly, typically at least in the top half of teams, in order to move on to the in-person competition. Though Muscatine’s ag mechanics team placed first in the state over the summer, their written scores did not get them one of the top 12 spots needed to advance to the in-person competition.
Before the nursery landscaping and poultry evaluation teams competed, they spent the beginning of the week working with industry professionals to prepare. The nursery landscaping team visited Perennials Plus, a garden center, where they practiced potting and other practical skills with the help of a Muscatine High School Graduate. They also visited the Missouri Botanical Center, where they toured its many greenhouses and worked on identifying plants, many of which they had never had the chance to see in person before.
Meanwhile, the poultry evaluation team visited Iowa State University to view their state-of-the-art poultry farm. While there, they got to practice identifying some of the different products they would later identify during their actual competition.
The Muscatine FFA poultry evaluation team placed 15th nationally. -
The Muscatine FFA nursery landscape team placed third nationally, and Belinda Brian (second from right) earned the individual championship.
For the actual competitions, the 15 competing students, along with their advisors Ashley Wiebe and Dave Tometich, traveled to Indianapolis. They competed on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29 and also spent some time visiting exhibits and attending workshops.
Following their competitions, all of the students took pride in their accomplishments. “It’s still a little bit of a shock, but it’s an awesome opportunity,” said Belinda, reflecting on her national championship. After graduating from Muscatine High School, Belinda hopes to attend Iowa State University to study public horticulture, and her experiences in FFA have already given her a head start in that field.
Emily King, a junior who competed on the poultry evaluation team and who earned a silver rating individually, shared Belinda’s excitement. “I’m happy with it–I think we did really good.”
As a longtime FFA advisor, Tometich felt pleased with the performance of all the students who went to the national convention this year. “It’s really neat when all the students in nursery and landscaping earn gold. It’s neat to have a first place champion. It’s just a good to see them be consistent he said,” noting that every competitor earned either a silver or gold rating.
