By MINDY POEHL | Central Texas Edition

High school students compete in the poultry judging contest during the FFA Invitational Career Development Events held at Tarleton State University on March 23. Above, the poultry projects are being judged. — Photo courtesy of TSU

April 4, 2006 - Each spring, thousands of high school students gather at Tarleton State University’s College of Agriculture and Human Sciences in Stephenville to participate in Agriculture Career Development Events. Four major events  take place; some of which date back to the 1930s in certain parts of the state, and take place from late March and into April.

"Every spring semester is an exciting and busy time for the College of Ag and Human Sciences,” Don Cawthon, Ph.D., dean of the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences, said. “Accommodating 10,000 high school students on campus during the contest season requires year-round planning and assistance from all of our faculty and staff, and many of our students. Yet, what makes it all worth while is knowing that many Texas high school students get their first exposure to a college campus right here at Tarleton, and will feel more comfortable thinking about and planning their own college experience. And of course, we hope that many of them will choose Tarleton as their future college home, whether they major in agriculture or not."

This year’s series of contests began Thursday, March 23 with the Statewide FFA Invitational Career Development Event, which offered students a "practice round" in preparation for team judging in a variety of categories. The 12 categories included team judging in dairy cattle, dairy foods, entomology, farm business management, horses, land, wildlife, horticulture, livestock, meats, poultry, and range. 

As the largest of the four contests hosted at Tarleton, the Invitational Career Development event attracted approximately 6,000 students and sponsors to campus during the one-day event.  High schools from across the entire state were represented at this contest. 

The top 20 individual finishers in each of the 10 judging categories were recognized during an awards ceremony and presented with a plaque, a cap and other prizes. A sweepstakes award, which includes scholarship money, was presented to the school earning the most points through an accumulation of the top individual scores.

The upcoming Area FFA Career Development Event started Wednesday, April 5 and includes judging teams from Areas II, III, IV, V, VII and VIII. Friday, April 7, 4-H clubs from area counties have the opportunity to compete in judging contests with team prizes and high individuals honored in junior and senior divisions. Some 3,000 students participate in these contests with awards going to the top teams and high individuals in a number of categories.

The State FFA judging contests in the areas of forage, land, range, dairy cattle, and dairy foods will also be held Thursday, April 27 on the Tarleton campus. Top finishers from across the state in the area contests earn the right to compete on the state level with awards going to top teams and high individuals. An estimated 1,500 to 2,000 students and sponsors visit Tarleton for this event each spring.