West Liberty FFA walked away with gold from April 14-16 during the state competition in Ames, Iowa, at the Hilton Coliseum, a part of the Iowa State University campus.
“We had five teams compete,” said FFA Director Zach Morris. “All of them earned gold and placed in the top four.”
That included both middle school teams, Ag CSI and Ag Impact, along with three high school teams: Ag Issues, Program of Activities and Parliamentary Procedure.
In fact, both middle school teams were state champions. That hasn’t happened since 2016 for West Liberty, although this is the fifth year that Ag CSI has won it all.
“We spend a ton of time with the students in eighth grade,” says Morris. “Then as they get older, we begin to challenge them more on different stuff.”
The Ag CSI team included Kylee Daufeldt, Emmee Wiele, Mikaela Escobedo, Avalynn Miller, Andrea Aleman and Tenley Murphy.
The Ag Impact team included Elle Iske, Camden Crees, Alice Thrasher, Johnny Stultz and Gabe Nebergall.
To top it off, the West Liberty FFA was awarded the 2024 Models of Excellence State Winner award, meaning they were the top-performing program in the State of Iowa.
The local chapter was the overall winner in Growing Leaders, the overall winner in Strengthening Agriculture, and had three members (now graduates) complete their Iowa FFA Degrees: Paige Werling, David Mahoney and Addyson Lehman.
“We have a lot of students that are active in a lot of different things; I think our students do a really good job of balancing that,” says Morris about the success.
As for the three high school teams:
The Ag Issues team earned State Runner-Up, consisting of Cael Daufeldt, Seth Axsom, Ava Morrison, Ryan Cassady, Cole Daufeldt and Mia Gingerich.
This year, the team discussed immigration and agriculture, specifically how important immigration is in maintaining and growing the agricultural economy in Iowa.
Before the state competition, the Ag Issue team actually traveled to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and presented in front of Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig.
The Program of Activities team took third place. Its members included David Mahoney, Paige Werling and Mya Elizondo.
The team covered all of the activities that West Liberty FFA has been involved with during the last year. They highlighted almost 50 different activities in front of the judges.
Finally, the Parliamentary Procedure team took fourth place, consisting of Owen Daufeldt, Mallory Wulf, Jayleen Kivi, Katherine Barten and Mercedes Brockert.
The team demonstrates how a public meeting should be held in the state, from leading a meeting to voting, and all the official language used in between.
Overall, West Liberty FFA sent 28 members to state, otherwise known as the Iowa FFA Leadership Conference. Chapter delegates included Stella Elder, Kenley Harned and Hailey Yoder.
In order to qualify for state, all the teams succeeded in District Competition at the FFA District Leadership Conference on Saturday, March 9, at Louisa-Muscatine High School.
All the teams have been working diligently for months, having assembled near the beginning of spring. Members volunteer for events that fit their strengths.
“I’m a firm believer in focusing on what you can do well and using that to really carry you,” says Morris. “What we want to do is keep building that confidence.”
“I always say 90 percent of their success is based on preparation, what they do every day between classes and events in order to succeed,” he says.
“That’s the hardest part, balancing your time and learning what preparation looks like,” he adds. “We really emphasize good study habits and good preparation habits.”
This marks the end of the 2024 competition season for West Liberty FFA. Middle school teams don’t compete at nationals, and the Comet high school teams fell just short.
However, they’ll continue to stay busy during spring and well into the summer. The FFA plant sale is about to occur, while the Muscatine County Fair will give students another chance to shine.