A groundbreaking group of storytellers added to the ever-evolving story of the S.C. Governor’s School for Agriculture recently at the 96th annual National FFA Convention in Indianapolis. Our school’s new Agriculture Communications Team piloted a new CDE for the entire state of South Carolina and received a special dispensation from the State FFA Organization to represent the state in national competition.

J.C. Chandler, Allie Gentle, Gray Gardner, and J.D. Miller made up the team. These students completed a 36-page media plan exploring the life impacts of Dr. John De La Howe, our school’s namesake. The presentation was entitled, “The Man Whose Face Was Never But Whose Impact Is Still Changing The Future.” Along with crafting the media plan, students competed in multiple practicums, including Journalistic Writing, Opinion Writing, Video Production, and Website Production. All students competed in this component virtually at the beginning of October.

In Indianapolis, the students presented their media plan to a panel of four judges. Though starting almost four months after every other state and competing in a CDE that had not been attempted before in South Carolina, the Governor’s School for Agriculture’s team received Bronze at the National FFA Convention. J.C. and Gray earned Silver individual honors.

“I have never been more humbled by a captivating group of individuals,” said Miss Kaitlyn Christenbury, the team’s FFA advisor. “There are very few young people like them who would stay late after school, practicing their parts of writing page after page of information about Dr. John De La Howe. They are genuinely some of the most hardworking individuals, and I can't wait to see what this group of seniors accomplishes after graduation.”

The Agricultural Communications Team were not the only Aggies to excel on the national stage in Indianapolis.

Our school’s Forestry Team – consisting of Emily Rodman, Hannah Mosley, Ella Taylor, and Trip Steigerwald – placed 30th out of 45 teams competing at the National FFA Convention. Emily Rodman earned a Gold level individual, placing her in the top 50 individuals out of more than 400 participants.

Our Environmental and Natural Resources Team also qualified at the State Convention in June to compete on the national level. The team – made up of Katie Ostergaard, Sam Bennett, Mya Kowalke, and Sierra Tinsley – placed 30th out of 45 teams. Both Katie and Sam earned a Silver level individual, placing them in the top 100 of participants in the contest. 

“All of these students did a fantastic job representing our school and state in their contest,” said Mr. Hunter Morton, FFA Advisor. “There is a lot of hard work and dedication put into being able to compete nationally, and we are so proud of all of our students.”