Blue corduroy jackets swarmed Cheyenne during the 88^th annual State FFA Convention. Future Farmers of America members from across Wyoming met in the capital city to face off in a variety of events and meet fellow members. All of Cheyenne seemed to be involved as the Civic Center in downtown Cheyenne hosted nightly sessions, the Holiday Inn held the Career Development Events (CDEs), and LCCC hosted the judging competitions. Even Mayor Rick Kaysen made an appearance to speak at one of the nightly sessions. East High’s Frontier FFA was another big contender in the state convention as they competed in six CDEs, earning a Top Six Chapters recognition and a state title.

“The CDEs that we competed in this year were Parliamentary Procedure, Novice Parliamentary Procedure, Horse Judging, Livestock Judging, Novice Poultry Judging and Agricultural Issues Forum,” stated Frontier advisor Joe Allen. CDEs are a variety of competitions challenging FFA members on a variety of agricultural topics. This year Frontier placed fourth in both of the parliamentary procedure competitions, had the champion team in horse judging reasons, and earned a state title in Agriculture Issues Forum.

“Agriculture Issues Forum is a competition where we research a current topic in agriculture,” said sophomore Nick Hartigan. “We have to present it to judges and give both sides of the issue, so that they have a wide range of information to make their own decision on the topic.” Hartigan played the role of an expert in the team’s presentation. Frontier’s Agriculture Issues Forum team presented their topic in the form of a courtroom, where they had a judge, a lawyer for each side, an expert and a defendant and plaintiff. Champion team members were sophomores Garrett Hartigan, Nick Hartigan, Samantha Jurkowski, Sydney Miller, and juniors Savannah Birkle, Cortland Fitzgerald, and Sara Brennecke.

“We were identified as one of the top six chapters in the state, and we will be able to go to Nationals to compete in that as well,” said Allen. Out of 51 FFA chapters in Wyoming, Frontier FFA earned a Top Six Chapters recognition. The Frontier FFA officers had to work hard for weeks on the chapter application. The application showcases the Frontier FFA activities for the year, and features what they have done for the community. Their application involved several different aspects such as the Pinky Jane project and community service activities.

The Frontier FFA will be representing the state of Wyoming at the National Convention in October to compete in Agriculture Issues Forum, as well as being recognized as a top chapter in the nation. However, only time will tell if they will come out victorious at Nationals.