Local Vo-Ag Students Win Awards

Middletown Agriculture Students Qualify for National Competition

    MIDDLETOWN – The National FFA Association recently announced that ten area students enrolled in the Agriculture Science & Technology program at Middletown High School qualified to compete at the upcoming National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Members of the Mattabeset FFA 2012 State Champion Livestock Judging Team.  Pictured from left to right: Amanda Thomson, Teacher; Casey Nielsen, Middletown; Jaimie Simmons, Middletown; Kacey Reinholtz, East Hampton; Nathaniel Trojanoski, East Hampton.

Students were invited to represent the state of Connecticut in the Livestock Evaluation Career Development Event, which requires students to analyze and evaluate livestock animals and management scenarios.  Team members include junior Jaimie Simmons from Middletown, senior Nathaniel Trojanoski from East Hampton, and 2012 graduates Casey Nielsen from Middletown and Kacey Reinholtz from East Hampton, both currently freshmen at Delaware Valley College.  

Five students were also named National Finalists in the Agriscience Fair competition, and are invited to defend their thesis and conclusions in an interview and poster session at the convention.  Finalists included junior Morgan O’Sullivan from Killingworth for her project comparing the relationship of a horse’s shoulder angle and stride length; senior Liam Mellaly from Clinton for his analysis of the energy availability of certain fuels; senior Alyssa Annino from Middletown, who investigated outdoor recreation preferences of youth; and 2012 graduates Anna Pettengill and Lydia Brodeur for their research concerning agricultural literacy.  

The students, along with junior Bailey Basiel of Durham, winner of the 2012 Melzmuff-Varratto Leadership Scholarship Award, will travel to the National FFA Convention this October in Indianapolis, Indiana along with an anticipated 60,000 youth from across the country. There, not only will the students compete in their respective areas but engage in the many other opportunities offered at the convention, including a career show, leadership workshops, and agricultural industry tours.  

All students are members of the Mattabeset FFA Chapter, the youth leadership organization associated with the Middletown Agriculture Science and Technology program based at Middletown High School. The Middletown Regional Agriculture Science & Technology Program is available to high school students from Chester, Clinton, Clinton, Deep River, Durham, East Hampton, Essex, Guilford, Haddam, Killingworth, Madison, Middlefield, Middletown, Portland, Rocky Hill, Old Saybrook and Westbrook.  The National FFA Organization is the nation’s leading agricultural youth leadership organization with over 7,000 FFA chapters in the United States, serving 540,379 FFA members.  For further information about the program, please call (860) 704-4599 or on the web at www.middletownschools.org