Pontiac, Normal FFAs travel east

PONTIAC – Members of some area FFA chapters traveled to Massachusetts and other points out east over the weekend.

The Pontiac FFA dairy team and Normal FFA food science team both placed in the top five of their respective state contests last spring and received an invitation to compete at the Big E National Competition.

“Both chapters and the students have done a lot of projects together over time and this is great and helps out with the travel portion of it too,” explains Jesse Faber, Pontiac FFA advisor.

Students were able to visit Penn State University which has a dairy unit that they practiced with. The food science team worked with a professor and received a tour. The group then headed up to New York state and attended the Agri-Tech Research Station for Cornell University.

“The dairy team is able to get on-farm experience and the food science team is going to network and experience the research station there,” noted Faber.

Faber considers it a couple of unique opportunities to connect with higher education at land grant universities prior to the judging trip in Massachusetts.

“Our team has been practicing a lot for this and I’m really excited to see how we do,” said Normal FFA member Lilly Garcia.

Alexa Hiddle from the Pontiac FFA enjoyed visiting the college campuses and seeing what their programs have to offer.

“Also, I’m excited to get the experience and opportunity to judge these cows and heifers at this big national show.”

Normal FFA advisor Liz Harris was glad to have a few days together with the other chapter as a fun way to collaborate.

“I think giving our students the opportunities to see some of these colleges is valuable,” said Harris.