Press release
On Thursday, May 4th the Buckeye Central FFA had two teams of four students competing at the National Land and Range Judging Contest in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The homesite team consisting of Kendra Stahl, Mason Stahl, Makayla Aichholz, and Jared Clark took 4th place in their respective division. This is the highest placing for an Ohio team in over five years. The land team consisting of McKennah Corfman, Brandon Mann, Madi Diesch, and Alivia Niese placed 27th at Nationals.
In order to qualify for the National Land Judging Contest the teams competed last fall in county, district, and state FFA land judging contests. The Homesite team won the Ohio FFA Contest and the Land team placed 5th in the state.
The Homesite contest allows students to evaluate the soil conditions and make recommendations pertaining to the construction of building foundations, lawns and landscapes, septic systems, as well as sewage lagoons. The Land contest allows students to evaluate the same soil conditions and make recommendations for cropping systems, conservation methods, and fertilizer applications.
The week long trip started on Monday, May 1st with flights out of Columbus and into Oklahoma City. On Tuesday, the group of eight students along with their advisor Mr. Pope and chaperone Mrs. Diesch connected with the Woodward County Extension Agent Ms. Dana Bay to conduct a day of community service in the wildfire stricken area of northwest Oklahoma. The group worked on a local rancher’s property cleaning up cedar trees along a hillside that were burned during the wildfires of early March.
On Wednesday the group worked through a total of eight practice pits honing their skills and preparing for the contest the following day. Finally on Thursday the contest was among them and they were ready to put their best foot forward. Thursday night at the award ceremony held in the National Cowboy and Western Museum, Buckeye Central was called as a top 5 team in the homesite division. The homesite team’s fourth place ranking, and the land team’s 27th place ranking in the national contest  caps four months of hard work these you individuals put in working and studying for the contest.
The complete results of the two teams included, Homesite Team 4th place of 50 teams from 33 states. Mason Stahl 14th, Kendra Stahl 25th, Makayla Aichholz 35th, and Jared Clark 116th out of a total of 196 individual participants. The Land Team placed 27th of 92 teams from 33 states. Alivia Niese 60th, Madi Diesch 90th, Brandon Mann 112th, and Kennah Corfman 153rd out of a total of 363 participants.