Whiz Kids: Woodbury FFA Going to Nationals

They are at it again. 

The winning chapter of the For the Future of Agriculture, or FFA, at the Ellis Clark Regional Agriscience and Technology Program at Nonnewaug High School will send 11 state-winning teams to the National FFA Convention in Indiana on Tue., Oct. 18.

There are 44 FFA students going to nationals -- about 20 who hail from Woodbury, Middlebury, Southbury and Bethlehem -- and this year, the kids take pride in a new benchmark to add to their list of ever growing milestones.

• They are the only FFA in the country to be sending 11 teams to the national competition from one chapter in the same year.

"The Woodbury FFA chapter is the only chapter to ever accomplish this feat in the 84 years since the National FFA competition has existed," said Bill Davenport, the advisor for the FFA program.

There are more than 7,300 FFA chapters and over 500,000 individual members nationwide.

The Woodbury FFA members won first place in 11 different state Career Development Event, or CDE, judging contests during the past school year, enabling all the students from the 11 teams to attend nationals. 

The FFA members will don their official dress -- blue corduroy coats and black slacks or skirts -- and head to Indianapolis this week and compete against other state winning FFA teams from across the country.

The state-winning teams that are going to nationals are Agricultural Mechanics, Agricultural Communications, Forestry, Farm Business Management, Livestock Evaluation, Poultry Evaluation, Nursery/Landscaping, Floriculture, Meats Evaluation, Food Science and Job Interview.   

For Agricultural Mechanics Team leader Chris Laurentus, a senior, the chance to head to nationals again is an awesome experience.

"It’s amazing," said Laurentus, whose Ag Mechanics team goes into nationals with a win at the state level in May and the top spot as well in the regional competition at the Big E earlier this fall. "There are so many people. So many other blue jackets. It brings it all home."

Last year, his team came home from nationals with an 8th place in the overall competition.

This year, he said there are very few nerves.

"We are pretty well-prepared," Laurentus said.

Abby Ray, last year’s FFA president, said she and her fellow teammates practiced hard for the national competition.

"I speak for my team as a whole when I say that we are both excited and nervous about competing," Ray said. "We are definitely looking forward to it."

Ray, a senior, is competing with her four-member Farm Business Management Team. They have been practicing their individual and team events that consist of general knowledge about their field and the answering of questions about potential scenarios they could encounter while in the field.

The Big E was the group’s regional contest and they placed fifth overall, with Ray taking an individual award of first place.

"I am honored to be representing my chapter and state at Nationals," Ray said. "It's a very big deal and it isn't an opportunity that everyone gets."

Like her fellow FFA members, Ray said that seeing more than 50,000 FFA members from across the nation in blue corduroy jackets is inspiring. She said that the chance to meet other students from across the country is a plus.

"There are people there who share your interests, but also those who don't," said Ray. "However, everyone is united by agriculture."

Ray, who has been to the national competition before, said being there and talking with other students from other FFA programs makes her more aware of what a fantastic program Woodbury has.

"Whereas some schools have maybe 40 members and one teacher, we have 330 members and seven teachers," she said. "It really makes you appreciate what you have and you realize how lucky you are to be in the Woodbury FFA.

Davenport said he and Nonnewaug High School staff are proud of the students as they prepare to compete against some of the best Agriscience students in the country in Indianapolis.

"Not only do we have more teams from one chapter than any other FFA chapter in the country competing, we are confident that our kids will bring home several national gold medals next week," he said.

In 2002, the Woodbury FFA chapter set a new national record of having 11 state-winning teams competing at nationals in the same year from the same chapter. Last year, they broke their own record by having 12 teams win state championships and compete nationally last October.

The Ellis Clark Regional Agriscience and Technology Program at Nonnewaug High School is one of the largest and most successful agriscience programs in the state. The Woodbury FFA chapter has a long history of being one of the largest and most successful FFA chapters in the country. 

The program enrolls more than 300 students from area towns including Woodbury, Southbury, and Middlebury as well as Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Bethel, Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Danbury, Derby, Naugatuck, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Oxford, Prospect, Roxbury, Seymour, Sherman, Washington and Watertown.

The competitive Ag-Science program receives between 150 to 175 applications submitted for 100 openings each year.