The Cookeville High School FFA Agricultural Communications Team won first place at the State FFA Convention and will advance to the national competition this fall.
Cookeville Agriculture Teacher Danielle Johnson said the students began preparing for the intensive competition as early as December. The team previously placed second at the middle Tennessee regional event before securing the state title.
“Oh they are so dedicated and it’s so exciting to see when those lightbulb moments happen and we always talk about that wins aren’t necessarily first place wins but being the best that you can possibly be on that day and when that comes out and it’s an actual first place just seeing the light and how excited they are,” Johnson said. “I mean as a teacher I couldn’t be more proud of the work that they put in.”
Johnson said the competition requires a four-person team to attend a simulated press conference, which focused this year on a hurricane in east Tennessee. The students take notes and ask questions before dividing into individual roles to produce a 60 to 90 second broadcast video, a seven day social media plan, a feature story and a magazine layout.
“I tell everybody I’ll put my kids up against somebody any day,” Johnson said. “I think we’re one of the best ag programs in the state and ag-com wasn’t the only contest that they won this past week.”
Johnson said the Cookeville program also saw a student win the prepared public speaking contest with a speech about bio-terrorism in agriculture. Lily Upchurch and Blake Johnson also secured proficiency awards for their supervised agriculture experiences outside of the classroom.
“So I feel like our agriculture program at Cookeville High School definitely combines all of those things what we’re learning in the classroom, how they’re able to apply that to real life situations and career preparation moving forward,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the state winners will represent Tennessee at the national FFA convention in October. The program has a history of producing successful alumni, including a graduate from a decade ago who now runs communications and a magazine for the Farm Bureau.
“I’ve been really blessed to have really good kids in the program and you know it’s not necessarily me, I haven’t won or done or achieved anything but to see what all the kids have achieved both in their careers what they’ve done in the classroom I mean it’s amazing for me to be able to see those kids be successful,” Johnson said.