The past few weeks in the ag department have been very soil-packed. The Lewis Cass FFA has been practicing left and right for the upcoming competition which is State Soils. The two teams qualifying are the Red Clay Strays, with members Michael Myers, Cole Rush, Brystalin Gillem, and Alyssa O’Neill. The second team is the Convoys, with team members Colton Copeland, Maddy Willis, Isabella See, and Daniel Guijosa Manzano. Currently, to minimize mistakes, the rosters are being adjusted based on scores, to maximize our chances of a team qualifying for the National Competition in Moore, Oklahoma.
Throughout the past weeks, the teams have been practicing pits, applying rules, learning how to find drainage, erosion, and learning basic things that most people make mistakes on. To kick off the soil journey, the Natural Resources, Principles of Ag, and Horticulture classes attended the county competition in Miami County on September 19, 2024. On September 28, 2024, North Miami hosted an invitational in Roann, Indiana. Only three students attended this invitational. Juniors Lily Yax, Michael Myers, and sophomore, Maddy Willis. This invitational was five pits when the normal competition is four, so these students were able to see what the area competition may look like and learned a lot of skills based on mistakes. Next, the top four senior teams and the top two junior teams advanced to the area competition at North Manchester on October 3, 2024. That competition would decide if any teams would advance to the State Competition. As mentioned earlier, two senior teams advanced to the State Competition at Vevay, Indiana, on October 11, 2024.
Lewis Cass Ag teacher, Mike Appleton, has been preparing the two teams for what is to come at these competitions. Appleton has taught soils since he came to Lewis Cass. Appleton was asked about how he feels about having two teams advance to the State. He said, “I am very happy that the second team worked hard enough to make it to state. I figured the first team would.” At first, we thought only one team made it out, but after receiving news that there was a scoring mistake, the second team actually placed and was able to advance. When asked about his expectations, Mike said, “I expect everyone to pay attention to normal soil differences of the Switzerland County area, so they can be prepared for what they will see Saturday.” In the past, multiple teams have competed for the National and State titles. Mike was asked how many people have advanced to the state in the past. He said, “We have had at least one team advance to state for the past twelve years. More exciting is that we have had a team advance to Nationals for the past four years.” The Lewis Cass FFA is hoping to continue its tradition of advancing to Nationals.
Out of all the people competing at State, there is only one senior who has not been to Oklahoma before. Alyssa O’Neill has this opportunity as a senior is very exciting and Alyssa was asked about how she feels having the opportunity to make it to Oklahoma this year. She said, “I always wanted to be able to go to Oklahoma ever since I joined FFA in eighth grade. As a senior, I decided to put in the work to learn the properties and rules. In previous years, I never qualified for the area contest, but now I’m heading to the state contest and hopefully the National Contest in Oklahoma.” Being an FFA member for so long and just starting a competition as a senior can be stressful when you are going against people who have been competing since their freshman year. Going into such a big competition can be nerve-racking but also can have exciting aspects. O’Neill was asked what she is most looking forward to at the State Competition, she said, “I’m most looking forward to learning more about the contest and spending time with fellow classmates outside of the classroom. There always seem to be many memories and laughs made on each trip I go on.” As you spend time learning the rules, skills, and basics of soils, you make some good memories with your team members and classmates. Alyssa was asked what one of her favorite memories was from the soil learning process. She said, “One of my favorite memories in soils was whenever we would compete against each other in class. It made learning and practicing soils fun. It also gave us different ways to practice while making it more entertaining.” As time counts down to the competition itself, students will keep practicing and learning with every mistake, making memories as they move forward.
As Mike Appleton mentioned earlier, in the past four years, a team has qualified for the National Competition. Last year, the team that qualified for Oklahoma consisted of four team members. Lily Yax, Trinety Gillem, Riley Johnson, and Allara Henry. Lily Yax was a sophomore when she made it to Oklahoma. Lily Yax was asked about what she is most excited about as we get closer to the competition. She said, “As someone who has been to national soils, I’m really looking forward to getting a chance to go back to Oklahoma. I’m also looking forward to getting a chance to see the senior teams have a chance to show off what they know and the hard work they have put in to get to where they are.” As someone with past experience in soils, she can see the improvement that each person experiences. As a “coach”, Yax gets to help others when they are going through rules and help teach others. Lily was asked how she hopes to help others prepare for the competition and how she will prepare herself. Yax said, “Personally I prepare by spending my free time reviewing rules as well as practicing pits. I also researched common soil types for the area the contest will be in. As a group we discuss research we have done independently and Mr. Appleton makes us practice pits to do.” Multiple years of attending Oklahoma creates traditions. Lily Yax was asked her favorite traditions that have developed over the years. She said, “One of my favorite soils traditions is having Trinety stay the night before State Soils Competitions, as well as listening to the song Chicken Train before every soils contest. My favorite activity at a soils contest is when we finish the contest and Mr. Appleton takes us through the pits and goes over answers and teaches us about the pits.”
As Friday nears closer, the two teams are continuing to mentally and physically prepare for the competition and what they will see at the pits. The nerves will continue to climb, but so will the excitement. After the practice day on Friday, the two teams will get a glimpse of what they might see at the real deal. We are wishing the two Lewis Cass FFA soils teams the best at the State Competition!
