The Southmont FFA Floriculture judging team recently competed in the State Floriculture Judging Contest at the Central Nine Career Center in Greenwood.
The team of Cole Rhoads, Caden Sixberry, Levi Brush and Gabriel Little placed first in the contest for the 14th year in a row giving the school its 25th state title in Floriculture Judging. The team of Kelsey Thompson, Alex Doyle, Lauren Tricker and Jacob Pike placed second in the state.
There were 12 teams and 45 individuals competing this year. Each member of the state champion team will receive a $500 scholarship given by the Southmont FFA Chapter.
The Southmont team had seven members in the top 10 at the contest. Individually, Rhoads placed first, Sixberry placed second, Brush placed third, Little placed fourth, Thompson placed fifth, Doyle placed sixth and Tricker placed ninth.
This year’s floriculture contest was competitive and tested the contestant’s knowledge and skills. The activities in the competition included a general knowledge exam, demonstrating plant growing procedures, a problem solving exam, identifying 40 common house plants from a list of 125 and making a corsage. These members also had to make a floral arrangement, complete a media selling activity and conduct a team activity.
