On Wednesday, March 30, 2022, thirteen Olympia FFA members competed at the Section 9 FFA Dairy Cattle Judging Career Development Event (CDE) at two farms near Flanagan and Pontiac, IL.  The team placed 2nd out of 7.  Junior Isabelle Forrest led the team by placing 3rd overall individual.  Other Olympia FFA members in the top 10 included:  Paige Finchum (5th), Libby Shaffer (9th) and Tarah Hilt (10th).  Other team members included Rylee Robb, Anna Sanders, Brooke Rogers, Kendall Leimbach, Shelby Lynch, Blake Buatte, McKenna Lally, Nick Siebert, and Anna Kindred.  FFA members judged six classes, three of which were cow classes.  The other three classes were judging heifers.  “I’m really proud of how all of our FFA members competed.  They did a really good job and didn’t let the poor weather conditions affect them,” stated Mr. Hoffman.   

The Olympia FFA horticulture team took home second place and consisted of Kendall Leimbach (5th place individual), Kaitlynn Whitecotton (8th), Kari Simpson (9th), and Anna Sanders.  Each participant in this CDE completed a section on plant identification and took a written test about the different aspects of the horticulture industry.  Other components to the contest included judging rings and a landscape practicum.  Kari Simpson reflected on the CDE saying, “My favorite part of the Horticulture CDE was the judging rings.  I felt confident on how I placed the different classes of plants.”  The section contest was hosted by Tri-Valley High School.  The horticulture team will compete at the State competition on April 22nd, 2022.