Competitiveness was in the air as multiple high school organizations took part in the State Fair of Virginia. Cosmetology, Media, Envirothon, Future Farmers of America (FFA), and Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) all took trips to compete at the fair.
The groups were included in the student organization called SkillsUSA. According to SkillsUSA.org, it’s a student-driven supporter of industry and education that helps prepare students for graduation.
Since 2008, Cosmetology teacher Tammy Brown has been taking students to compete in contests at the State Fair. Students either take place in the Nail Care Look or the Total Fantasy Look.
“For the total look team, there’s a team of three,” Brown said. “One person is responsible for doing the makeup for the look, one is the hairstylist and she’s responsible for doing the hair, and one is the model and models for the total look. For the nail team, they have to do a design on all 10 of the nails.”
Both teams have to create and complete their looks in a certain timeframe. They were given an hour to two hours to create their looks then they were judged by their entry.
“There were no limitations on what the students could come up with or do,” Brown said.
Students placed highly over 25 other schools who were competing. They won 1st and 2nd place plaques at the competition in Nail Care Look & Total Fantasy Look.
For the first time ever, the TV/Media class took part in competitions at the State Fair. However, unexpected weather conditions challenged students to make good videos.
“It was a little bit nerve wracking because one, the conditions down there were horrible,” Media teacher Kenneth Kilinski said. “The ground was wet, it was muddy. It was disgusting. So it just was not an atmosphere that’s conducive to putting together good videos.”
The teams had two hours to take footage and edit a two minute promotional video for the state fair. They were judged by their message, technical skills, video, audio, editing, and more. Teams had the ability to score up to 240 points and the difference between first place and tenth place was only around 15 points.
“Everybody that was down there competed very well,” Kilinski said. “The difference [between first and tenth] could have been camera movement on a tripod, or someone not using a tripod. So it was a great competition. It was challenging, and the kids did a great job.”
Three media teams placed in the top ten spots, despite all the challenges. Placing 4th were Tanner Dumin and Noah Gallagher, 7th were Hayden Carter and Benjamin ‘Cole’ Pittman and placing 9th were Brayden Jones and Amaiya Jagoda.
Envirothon was tested on their knowledge and tested by the high competition from other schools.
“[The competition was] strong as usual,” Envirothon Advisor Kimberlee Jancaitis said. “Many schools have strong FFA forestry teams. Many teams start training as middle school teams as well so they have years of experience.”
The team fundraised for the state fair with funnel cake sales at the Lion’s home football games.
“The funnel cake [fundraiser] is completely student run,” Jancaitis said. “Mr. Isenhour provides the materials and the techniques, but if you peep our station during a game, you will see that even students are mixing, prepping, making, and serving funnel cakes. I am really proud of each student that volunteers to help run the funnel cake stand because I know that they are missing the experience of the football game.”
The funnel cakes provided all the students with free admission fees to the State Fair competitions and paid for the lunch for all Louisa competitors.
Individually, multiple students placed highly in the competition.
“Bryce Snyder placed sixth individually while Brandon Wallace placed tenth,” Jancaitis said. “Isaac Capozella placed sixth individually in the Junior division.”
For the team, they placed fourth even against high level FFA competitors.
“The LC-A team placed fourth. That team is composed of Bryce Snyder, Ryan Malcolm, Anna Pencak, and Sawyer Harris,” Jancaitis said. “Sometimes they ran 4H and FFA teams separately, this time they did not. So knowing that we placed fourth overall even amongst the FFA teams means we had a really strong showing.”
FFA students competed in a majority of competitions ranging from tractor safety to tire display contests. FFA Advisor Mackenah Roberts planned and organized the trip for the students to compete.
“From the advisor/coach perspective, it is quite a stressful experience to coordinate so many different students and teams,” Roberts said. “However, it is so rewarding to see the results when students get to showcase their skills and plans that they have been working on for many weeks.”
All the contests students competed in took different steps for getting ready.
“Some contests require a lot of preparation beforehand like the Agriscience poster contest or demonstrations contests while others require a lot of practice and studying so you can showcase your knowledge,” Roberts said.
The competition this year for FFA was very close. In one contest, the top six scores were only separated by 4 points.
“It seems like everyone wanted to bring their A-game,” Roberts said. “In the student garden and the tire display contest, there are times your jaw drops seeing what others have created and brought.”
The top places for FFA were; second place in the Lawn Tractor Operations Safety Contest by Henry Osborne, second Place in the Agriscience Poster Contest by Emma Alpern, fourth place in the Agriscience Demonstrations Contest by Lily Hix, fifth place in the Horticulture Demonstrations Contest Category E by Keira Beck and A’mya Barbour, and sixth place in the Horticulture Demonstrations Contest Category D by Sydney Wills and Grace Vanderploeg.
Twenty-nine students from the high school along with two students from the middle school competed in FCCLA contests at the state fair.
“The state fair is the best day for FCCLA because it is the one time out of the school year where we are all together,” FCCLA instructor and advisor Nicole Lohr exclaimed.
The FCCLA contests had over 600 submissions for contest entries.
“Everyone has to design something to promote the FCCLA brand,” Lohr said. “The categories were to design a poster, accessories, clothing, or for the home.”
FCCLA had a first place win in the home category contest.
“Kaylee Keller was our winner! She brought home the trophy,” Lohr said.
