A donkey walked off with one of the plant tags that belonged to the Edna High School range team at the Prairie View A&M invitational. FFA advisor and ag teacher Kristan DeBord said not only that, the team and herself laughed so much at trying to find their site, and to say it was cold that day was an understatement.
“The range team was super bundled up,” she said. “Last year they were rained on, and I don’t mean a little rain, I mean drenched to the bone. So they’ve had some adventures and have some stories.”
The EHS range team and floriculture team began their spring competitions at the invitational, which leads up to the area competition in April, where the teams get one day to earn a spot for state. Range placed third out of eight teams and floriculture placed eighth out of 17 teams.
DeBord said it’s a great start to get to where they want to be, which is earning the Gulf Coast District Career Development Education Sweepstake Championships for the fourth year in a row. With the help of the ag mechanics team coached by Kurtis Koop, and Savannah Depine with the animal projects, the goal can become their reality.
Now with EHS for 18 years now, DeBord spoke of how there’s never a dull moment in the ag department and they, including herself, Koop and Depine, are always on the move.
“There’s a baby goat down the hall and baby chickens outside, and now with the invitationals beginning, our schedules are chaotic,” she said. “But it’s worth it. Living those moments was my favorite part of being an FFA member, and now I get to do it as a grown-up.”
Due to the amount of teams competing, and events being held simultaneously, DeBord has to rely on the strength of her upperclassmen to guide and train the underclassmen competing. The seniors are the ones who prepare the team’s clipboards, and take the team back to the site so they can see how they did and what they missed in order to learn from it.
“Shayla Calzada-Alba and Kelly Laredo, they’re senior members on our vet science, while Shayla is also part of my range team, and Jackie Avalos, our FFA president, she’s the only returning student on milk quality, and this year we have 10 kids in that. One senior and nine freshmen, so I call them her little ducklings.”
Range Team The range team identifies pasture plants, grasses, forbs, trees and shrubs. They must pinpoint the plant, tell whether it’s annual or perennial, warm or cool-seasoned plants, native or invasive, beneficial or non-beneficial, and evaluate pastures for beef cattle production.
The team also has a side evaluation, where they have two sites and determine whether it would be hospitable for cattle, what maintenance needs to be done, is there a prescribed burn, if there needs to be a water source available, and more.
All second-year students, the range team consists of juniors and seniors, and this was their second invitational of the year.
DeBord pointed to a bucket. “That is full of dead plants they study, which normally happens after a freeze. We also prepare by watching as many videos as we can, taking notes, and participating in online competitions,” she said. “Usually the plants are back by the area contest, but leading up to it we’re looking at dead stuff to identify so it’s really hard.”
High schools all over Texas are invited to the invitationals, and DeBord reminded the team they beat everyone who didn’t show up. She said they’re starting from scratch and the team hasn’t been at it as long as some other chapters.
Senior Teresa Andrade has been on the team for three years, and is looking forward to being able to showcase her dedication and commitment to the team this season. Her goal is to be first place overall, plus her team also placing first.
“Being able to represent my school in these upcoming months will allow me to show my knowledge and skills I have put into this team, not only to make myself proud but also for my school,” she said. “I’m striving to become better than I was before, achieving greater things than last year, and improving the mistakes I did in the past. Then I can grow my skills and knowledge for our success.”
Floriculture Team The Prairie View A&M invitational was the first chance for the floriculture team to attend, because all five girls, ranging from freshman to seniors, are also on other teams, etymology and milk quality.
The team identifies plants, keep and cull (where they have to keep four of something and get rid of four), place four identical arrangements from best to worst, plus a written exam, and a math portion. The math part is using a formula to price out arrangements and figure out the cost from wholesale to retail.
“We’re stronger in the floral world than the landscape world,” DeBord said. “It’s easier for several reasons, there’s more opportunities to compete, and the plants are usually in good shape so they’re not out in a pasture.
“The problem is, they can give you any part of the plant, so if you memorize it by its flower, and then they cut the head off of it, you’re stuck with a stem, and we’ve had bulbs, stems and leaves we’ve had to identify,” she continued. “The math can also be very challenging, it’s not difficult, you just have to follow a procedure so it can get a little tough not getting lost in the numbers.”
Senior Sheila Calzada- Alba has been on the floriculture team for four years. This year her goal is to achieve first place in either an online competition or in-person contest, or both if possible.
“Representing my school in this way over the upcoming months will allow me to showcase my skills and dedication to the floriculture field while also making my school proud,” Alba said. “I’m aiming to improve way more than last year’s performance, accomplish something even bigger than before, and most importantly, push myself further to outdo myself.”
Overall, DeBord stressed what a student can gain from being a part of these teams, because it gives them organizational skills, critical thinking, and a possible future.
“I’m trying to convince some of them that they can pursue a degree in this and already have some background experience from high school,” she said. “Kurtis Koop is a whiz at ag mechanics, they’re always going to state, and things are just getting going with Savannah Depine, it’s a slow train, but once it takes off it barrels down the track. It’s going to be a great season.”
As the interview was finishing up, a soft bleating could be heard down the hall.
“The goat is awake,” DeBord sighed, as she prepared herself for the day to continue in chaos and smiles.
FFA Range team
The range team, from left, Austin Sommerfeld, Teresa Andrade and Morgan DeBord.
