News-Current Report

XENIA — For the second straight year members of Xenia and the Greene County Career Center have done well in FFA Career Development events, placing two teams among the top five in Ohio and earning a pair of banners.

After having two top-five banner winning teams in 2015, the Xenia students in 2016 matched the 2015 pace with a fourth-place finish in poultry evaluation and a fifth-place finish in cooperative education.

Members of the 2016 cooperative education team included Allison Rapp, who was the third highest individual in Ohio; Sarah Harner, who placed fifth individually in Ohio; plus team members Olivia Vanhoose and Morgan Donini. In competition, members reviewed agricultural business practices and were given a test including math problems to evaluate business practices and problem solving.

During the invitational judging season of events at Mt. Gilead, Marysville, Miami Trace and Ashland schools, members of Xenia were among the top 10 teams and individuals at each event.

During the Ohio FFA semifinals. members had to evaluate and grade eggs, select past production hens, judge market broilers, grade processed poultry products and take a written exam. Qualifying for the Ohio FFA finals for the second straight year, the four team members were asked to prepare two sets of oral reasons and prepare a team-solving problem on a specific poultry problem. Members of the team who placed fourth included Rapp, third highest individual in Ohio; Harner, 17th highest individual in the state finals; Jordan Gerhart, 22nd in Ohio and Mya Lockhart.

For Brad Lokai, coach of the FFA poultry team, this year’s poultry team is the fourth top-five Ohio FFA poultry team to win a banner under his supervision. In 2014, members from Cedarville/Greene CCC were fourth in Ohio and members of Yellow Springs/Greene CCC were second and state runner-up qualifying for the Big “E” national event in Massachusetts. In 2015, Xenia/Greene CCC members were third in Ohio as a team.

Submitted photo Banners commemorating the Xenia FFA’s accomplishments.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/49/2016/08/web1_IMG_20160516_112800411_HDR.jpgSubmitted photo Banners commemorating the Xenia FFA’s accomplishments.

Gazette news report compiled by Scott Halasz.