Ag skills field day
keeps students on track for career goals
IMPERIAL — FFA students from the local chapter confirmed agricultural aptitude at a skills field day hosted by Imperial Valley College on Friday.
The competition, organized by Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program had 100 students from Holtville, Imperial, Calexico and Southwest high schools’ career technical education classes, competing in a variety of agricultural disciplines. Students were judged in: best informed green hand skills (BIG) written exam, veterinary science identifying breeds, tools and parasites, a practicum on livestock handling and a skills event identifying vegetables, seeds and weeds.
At the awards ceremony, competitors received ribbons. For BIG skills, first place team was Southwest and for individual it was Madison Mills, from SHS. Finishing first in team vegetable identification was Holtville, and individual it was Sarah Grizzle of Holtville. And for team veterinary science, first went to Holtville as well and for individual it was Keeley Poloni of Holtville.
At the vegetable identification, students had an hour to record the names of 33 different vegetables. One reason to identify crops is to treat them with different pesticides noted Vanessa Sussex, a Holtville sophomore. “You got to tell the difference between cherry, Roma and market tomatoes,” said Sussex. “You also learn speaking skills to explain why you label veggies the way you do.”
Yet different vegetables can look the same such as rhubarb and Swiss chard, similar coloring but with different leaves remarked Esmeralda Caabay, an Imperial junior.
“A lot of people think FFA is all about corn and cows,” said Caabay. “But we receive career development in public speaking, finance, bookkeeping, and tech and have a computer contest.”
Testing students in a hands-on veterinary science exam was Michael Kanyi IVC Agricultural Club coordinator. Along with muzzling a dog properly with gauze, they also showed how to restrain a rabbit.
“They must approach the rabbit calmly and deftly handle it because their backbone can easily fracture,” he said. “They need to hold the rabbit from the bottom so the hind legs do not dangle because the rabbit normally sits on its sternum and needs that support.”
Turning to the App store, Autumn Bisi, Holtville senior, studied with “Quizlete” which features ready-made flash cards. She had some trouble identifying animals but did better with parasites and sutures for animals.
“I raised a pig three years and showed at the California Mid-Winter fair,” said Autumn. “In the ag environment you meet a lot of people and it keeps me attuned for academic goals.”
The fair also honed the skills of Danielle Olazaba, an Imperial senior. She won first place, showing her duck and was required to show all small animals in the round-robin.
“The field day is very competitive but our school previously placed first in team and I got second place,” she recalled. “I got accepted to Fresno State, their ag program really stood out. If I don’t become a vet, I’d like to be an ag teacher.”
The animal handling practicum was easy for Cesselie Lomeli, an Imperial senior because it was tasks they covered in class. Lomeli showed a boar goat at this year’s fair and it was fun but a challenge too. She does not anticipate pursuing an ag vocation.
“I want to be an animator/illustrator,” she said. “Imperial High School really pushes ag and everybody in it seems to be successful. I like ag, it’s always interesting. It could be a fallback career.”