Genoa Central FFA recently won the State Career Development Events competition at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

Junior Briley Knowles was Genoa’s highest individual winner with a sixth-place finish in Turf Grass Management. The Turf Grass Management team finished fifth overall.

The team’s other results were 12th place in nursery and landscape; 13th in wildlife management; 17th in Agronomy; 21st in milk quality and products; and 22nd in veterinary science.

“I realize these don’t look as impressive as the top eight district rankings we had to achieve to get there, but we were up against the other top 23 teams in each area once we were able to declare” said FFA adviser Kimberly Leigh. an email interview with the Gazette. “We were very proud to have qualified to compete at this level.”

Genoa qualified for the two-day state event, which ran from April 7-8, with five top-10 finishes at the Southern District Career Development Events competition on March 15 at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia.

“Our wildlife team came in second; our Agronomy team placed fourth; The nursery and landscape team placed sixth; and our Veterinary Science and Quality and Milk Products teams each placed eighth,” said Leigh.

Career development events “help students develop their abilities to think critically, communicate clearly, and perform effectively in a competitive job market,” according to the Arkansas FFA Association website. Students can compete individually or as a team in 19 categories, ranging from floriculture to mechanics.

Arkansas is organized into three CDE districts – South, East, and Northwest. Each district sends 24 teams to the state competition.