Steinbrenner’s FFA competed at the 2018 Florida State Fair from Feb. 8 to 19. Throughout the month, students competed in many classes such as rabbits, poultry, dairy goats, dairy cows, steer, beef, dogs and horse judging.
Many Steinbrenner students placed very highly this year, including the horse judging team which placed fifth in the state, allowing them to move to the state competition in April, as well as several students winning a “champion of champions” title. Junior Kayleigh Fredrickson received the title for poultry, and the FFA President, junior Stephanie Shimer, won the title for all of FFA. This means that out of fourteen-hundred exhibitors, Shimer was number one.
“The champion of champions program is something that the State Fair started a number of years ago. Basically you get a certain number of points for everything that you do and Stephanie scored the most points for her rabbit and then she was third place points in her steer. Then when they pick the top four exhibitors for each species, those exhibitors go in and do a round robin competition so that they have to know information about every single species.This year there were 27 kids that competed against each other for the champion of champions title and out of those ones she was first place. So she is classed as the number one exhibitor at the State Fair for 2018,” said FFA sponsor Jessica Switzer.
Shimer won this prestigious award through hard work and dedication, doing a fantastic job in presenting her knowledge and being professional during her competitions. Shimer left the fair with about $4,000 in premiums from competing.
Students were held to a high standard, with a dress code and behavioral expectations. Barn courtesy was imperative and animals needed to be well kept and payed attention to. Despite the high expectations, students excelled and their animal care and behavior were on point.
The FFA students showed their professionalism and responsibility during the opening day formal breakfast, and meeting with members of Florida’s government.
“Some of our FFA officers got to meet Adam Putnam who is our current Ag. commissioner and who is running for governor. They also met Pam Bondi who is the attorney general for the state of Florida, and they met Governor Rick Scott.” said Switzer.
“I think they all were very respectful, and they all handled themselves very well. We had expectations for our students going into it and they really upheld that,” said Switzer.
Maeve Campbell // Graphics Dept.
