Los Banos Future Farmers of America (FFA) members traveled to Indiana to participate in the 96th National FFA Convention and Expo last November. Members of the Dairy Cattle Evaluation and “El Credo de la FFA” or known as the Spanish Creed won big placements at the national level.
Dairy Judging Team
The FFA Dairy Cattle Evaluation Team members who represented our school were Matthew Pacheco (12), Brooklyn Silva (12), Karley Rocha (10), and Zoey Wooten (10). The national contest was a two-day event that had five different components to it: Oral Reasons, Live Cattle Evaluation, Herd Summary Report, Knowledge Exam and the Team Scenario Presentation.
It has been 60 years since the Los Banos FFA represented California in this event. At this contest Matthew Pacheco was announced as the Fifth High Individual in the nation and the Dairy Judging Team was announced as the Third High in the nation. The team will travel to Scotland to compete in the world contest at the end of June.
Dairy advisor, Mr. Stuart McCullough said, “Zoey, Karley, Brooklyn, and Matthew, congratulations on your accomplishments as all your time and effort definitely paid off in Indianapolis.”
He added that the team will continue to work and study for the world competition as fundraising begins to help with the cost of the trip.
Spanish Creed Competition
Jaylene Barriga (10) competed in the Spanish Creed competition and placed into the top 12 in the nation.
Jaylene Barriga stated, “I feel like the contest was really nice. It was very well organized, and it was an amazing experience to be a part of.”
The contest consisted of orientation, quarter final room assignments, and the first draw for order. Students had to be in the top two in their respective rooms to move on to the semi-finals. Jaylene moved on into the Semi-Final round and placed into the top 12 in the nation.
Mr. McCullough stated, “I am proud to announce that Miss Jaylene Barriga’s final placement in the first ever national level public speaking contest in our nation in Spanish was 5 High Individuals in the Nation.”
The Spanish Creed joins a list of historic events in the history of the FFA: in 1965 the NFA merged with the FFA, in 1969 women were able to join the FFA, and in 2023, the FFA organization recognized the needs of its members by letting them gain the knowledge and building leadership skills through public speaking in the Spanish language.
AG Teacher Awards
One of our FFA teachers, Mr. McCullough also received an award during the National Convention. He received the Honorary American FFA Degree, the highest recognition that the association can bestow on a nonmember. One of seven AG teachers from California received this award this year.
McCullough said, “It was very humbling to be recognized in this fashion by my peers.”
He received this award at one of the general sessions in front of 60,000 + people in attendance.
Also, on November 17, Mr. Rod Hill was nominated the California Ag Teacher Association Central Region’s “Outstanding Ag. Mechanics Pathway Teacher of the Year” at the Central Region CATA Conference. In the spring Mr. Hill will be competing against the five other regional winners from all over California for this award. We wish Mr. Hill the best!
