FFA students win awards at PA Farm Show in Harrisburg

Tyrone FFA students find success at the PA Farm Show.

By Carly Crofcheck, Social Media Director|January 16, 2014

Mrs. Tiffany Hoy

Back row, Stevie Colyer, Gage Light, Diamond Russell, Dakota Fink, Wyatt Yazzie, Brandon Decker, Justin Bickel, Brandon Harpster, and Wyatt Hoff. Middle row, Corey Hunter, Sarah Wilson, Shaye Loose, Kaitland Lynch, Katrina Hagenbugh, Emily Long, Baylee DelBaggio and Leah Chronister. Front row, Jake Fetters, Gavin Crispell, Jack Murtagh, and Mikey Cherry.

Thirty Tyrone Area High School FFA students competed against students from across Pennsylvania at the 2014 Pennsylvania State Farm Show in Harrisburg. Ten of these students won awards.

“I was amazed at how well we did, very proud,” said FFA Advisor and ag teacher Mrs. Tiffany Hoy.

The team of freshman Michael Cherry and Jack Murtagh won 1st place in Plant Systems, grade 9.  Their project was about cover crops and how they affect the nurturance in the soil.

“I was not expecting to win, [and] there was good food there and we didn’t have to work, a free day,” said Cherry.

“I thought [the Farm Show] was pretty interesting, there was many manufacturers there,” added Murtagh. “I was happy, I congratulated my fellow comrade Mikey.”

Corey Hunter won 1st place in Engineering, grade 9.  His project was about bacteria growth on plastic water bottles.

The team of Wyatt Yazzie and Wyatt Hoff also won 2nd place in Engineering, grades 10-12.

Brandon Decker won 2nd place in Environmental Sciences, grades 10-12.

Gage Light won 3rd place in Animal Systems, grade 9.

Kaitland Lynch won 3rd place in Environmental Sciences, grade 10-12.  Lynch’s project was on how cigarette smoke effects house plants. She learned that many house plants can get diseases just like humans, including cancer.

Dakota Fink won 3rd place also in Environmental Sciences, grades 10-12.

In Fink’s experiment, he tested three different compost bins to see which breaks down organic matter the fastest. He didn’t expect to win, but was very happy with the outcome.

“I was shocked because talking to the one judge, he didn’t seem too interested,” said Fink.

Leah Chronister won 3rd place in Animal Systems, grade 10-12.

This was the Tyrone FFA’s first trip to the farm show in recent memory. Many of the schools they were competing against have multi-teacher agriculture education departments. The Tyrone FFA program was the only single-teacher department competing at the farm show this year.

Hoy says that though winning is great, she was even more satisfied to hear the positive comments that came back from the judges. According to Hoy, the FFA students were great interviewers and looked professional.