PC Chapter makes history at National FFA Convention
The Perkins County FFA class, along with advisors Mr. Seth Burge, Mr. Doug Babbitt and coach Julie Ferguson had a lot to celebrate this weekend following their successes at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis.
The Boys Marketing CDE team comprised of Trevor Laber, Colton Kroeker, and Cooper Kroeker took a fourth place finish on their marketing presentation on Tjaden Ranch.
Senior Eric Gonzalez was a ninth place finalist with his Agriscience Fair project titled “Utilization of Algae in a Lab-Scale Photobioreactor for Nitrogen Wastewater Treatment,” making him the first individual gold medalist from Perkins County at the National FFA Convention.
MARKETING TEAM
Kroeker, Laber and Kroeker say coming from agriculture backgrounds at home and a desire to be involved in extra curricular activities at the school is what encouraged them each to join FFA, something they’ve all been apart of since their freshman years.
Laber, Kroeker and Kroeker have each been to state FFA multiple times, they explained, “we all also compete in a variety of other competitions such as agronomy, livestock judging, and ag mechanics,” they said..
The team said they enjoy the competitions and meeting other chapter FFA members the most.
The team earned the right to represent Nebraska when they won the state competition this past spring. When the team won at state, it was the first time that Perkins County had a team win an LDE/CDE event.
The market plan competition requires the team to write a market plan for a local ag business that adds some sort of value to that business. The team choose Tjaden Ranch as their local business and added value by beginning sales to local restaurants. The team wrote an eight-page written plan and then created a fifteen-minute presentation that they would give to Tjaden Ranch to encourage them to execute their plan. The judges of the event act as Tjaden Ranch and are allowed seven to ten minutes of questions depending on the level of the competition.
The team started this plan last fall during one of their classes. After winning at state, the team took a few months off and then began practicing every week during the summer.
When school started again in the fall and national competition drew closer, additional practices were done in the mornings and on weekends. This team spent a lot of time researching, learning, writing, and practicing. Most of all, they didn’t give up when it became hard, they pushed through. Before leaving last week, the team was asked how high they were moving the bar.
“They broke the glass ceiling, and it was now up to them on how high they wanted to place the bar,” Ferguson said.
The market plan competition requires the team to write a market plan for a local ag business that adds some sort of value to that business. The team choose Tjaden Ranch as their local business and added value by beginning sales to local restaurants. The team wrote an eight-page written plan and then created a fifteen-minute presentation that they would give to Tjaden Ranch to encourage them to execute their plan. The judges of the event act as Tjaden Ranch and are allowed seven to ten minutes of questions depending on the level of the competition.
The team started this plan last fall during one of their classes. After winning at state, the team took a few months off and then began practicing every week during the summer.
When school started again in the fall and national competition drew closer, additional practices were done in the mornings and on weekends.
This team spent a lot of time researching, learning, writing, and practicing. Most of all, they didn’t give up when it became hard, they pushed through. Before leaving last week, the team was asked how high they were moving the bar.
“They broke the glass ceiling, and it was now up to them on how high they wanted to place the bar,” Ferguson said.
On Thursday morning of last week, Perkins County was one of thirty-four teams competing at the national level. The team had a fan base consisting of their parents, advisors, and fellow Perkins County FFA members that watch them compete during the week. In the first round of competition, the team was in a room with Connecticut, Michigan, Oregon, and Delaware. To advance into the semi-finals Nebraska had to be one of the top two teams in the room. The teams advancing to semifinals were announced shortly after lunch. Oregon and Nebraska advanced to the semi-finals and the competition was now a field of sixteen teams competing in four rooms. Nebraska had to be the top team in their room to advance to the final four. Semifinals were held Thursday afternoon and Nebraska competed against West Virginia, Idaho, and Arizona.
An award ceremony was held Thursday evening where the team would learn if they were able to advance on to the final four. The teams who did not advance out of the first round were given bronze awards and the rest of the teams were either given silver or gold. Only those who received gold in the semifinals would be eligible to continue to the final four.
Idaho and Arizona both received silver awards which meant that West Virginia and Nebraska would receive a gold award. After the gold awards were presented, the final four were announced, California, NEBRASKA, Oklahoma, and Texas.
The finals were held at noon on Friday. Nebraska was able to present second in the final competition. The team gave their best presentation on that stage and were excited about how they did, Ferguson said.
During the Friday evening general session, the team was able to walk onto the national stage and find out how they placed. They were hopeful for first place but instead received fourth place. The team has MUCH to be proud of. This is the first time in 94 years that a team from Perkins County has received a Gold Award at the National FFA convention. I would say they moved that bar pretty high.
For those who were not able to attend the convention or watch any of the live events, the recordings can be found at FFA.org. The awards ceremony on Thursday, the final four stage on Friday afternoon, and the sixth general session on Friday evening can all be located there.
“Congratulations and Job Well Done to Cooper, Trevor, and Colton,” Ferguson added.
“One of our best memories is winning state and then seeing our project grow to become a national gold medalist,” the team said.
Their presentation was enough to earn the PC boys’ marketing team the fourth place finish, and now they say they are “just embracing the journey of the project. We worked on it for over a year and we each grew a lot in that time.”
The boys attribute their motivation to this level of success to their parents, advisors: Mr. Burge and Mr. Babbitt but “most of all, Coach Julie Ferguson.
“While Mr. Babbitt and I (FFA co-advisors) assisted in preparing the team, Coach Ferguson was the force behind getting them to the level they reached. Mrs. Ferguson volunteered countless hours to coach the team over the past year and deserves to be recognized with the team!” Burge said.
In looking ahead the boys said they all plan on some sort of college, “whether 2/4 year or tech school. We are all interested in AG but also have some interests in other fields.”
“FFA provides a lot of opportunities and gives you the chance to try new things but also get started in your future career. FFA will open a lot of doors for me in the future and leads to a lot of new people,” Colton added.
GONZALEZ
Perkins County Senior Eric Gonzalez was a 9th place finalist in the National FFA Agriscience Fair - Environmental Services and Natural Resources Division 5 according to Mr. Burge.
Burge said Gonzalez competed in his first FFA Agriscience Fair at the Nebraska FFA State Convention in 2022, although he was involved and successful in many other science fairs before this.
Burge said Gonzalez has won his division of the State FFA Agriscience Fair in 2022, 2023, and 2024. All three projects have gone on to compete at the national level. Eric’s projects in 2022 and 2023 received bronze medals at the National FFA Convention.
“This year Eric was able to break into the top 10 finalists with his Agriscience Fair project titled “Utilization of Algae in a Lab-Scale Photobioreactor for Nitrogen Wastewater Treatment.”
“Eric was interviewed via Zoom by a panel of National FFA judges in September and displayed his project at the Indiana Convention Center last week during the 97th National FFA Convention and Expo. He placed 9th, being the first individual national gold medalist for the Perkins County FFA chapter. Eric has been supported and mentored in the FFA Agriscience Fair by his mom, Jennifer Gonzalez, who was able to join him on the National stage last week to receive his gold medal,” Burge explained.
Gonzalez says he has been a member of the Perkins County FFA since his freshman year.
“I like the family aspect of FFA. All of our members are like family. I love the opportunity to compete in events and create memories with other FFA members. My favorite trips in FFA were definitely the ones to nationals. This year was my third trip to Indianapolis, all three trips have been very memorable,” Gonzalez said.
As for the lessons learned throughout his FFA career, Gonzalez said, “The biggest take away for me was the ability to work hard. With FFA contests we don’t have time in school to prepare for them in school most of the time. So I often found myself after school or before school working hard to prepare for these contests. One of the biggest motivators for me was being able to have the opportunity to attend the national convention.”
Looking ahead as a senior, Gonzalez says he plans to attend MPCC to study criminal justice “and then hopefully attend a state patrol academy and become a state trooper, if I will stay in Nebraska or not is unknown at this point. Attending the national convention is a surreal experience, and I encourage everyone to work hard in an attempt to have the opportunity to attend the convention.”