The FFA has been on a steady push to accomplish as much as they can before the year comes to a close.

Three students attended the Agriscience Fair at UMD on April 26. All three students walked away with first place gold medals in their division and some overalls.

One of the students, freshman Josee Cantin, took her supervised agricultural experience project to the fair and took first place in her division and fourth overall. She displayed a poster that featured her experiment and explained it to the judges.

“I wanted to challenge myself right away,” said Cantin.

Her project included testing the water quality of lotuses in the school’s pond to lotuses found in areas without vegetation and another one with bay grasses or SAVs, which can be found in the shallow waters of the Chesapeake Bay and its streams, creeks and rivers.

“The fair was really fun. It did not really set in that I won until the next day,” said Cantin.

Senior Jordan Borkowski also participated in the Agriscience Fair, where she won first in her division and and first overall. The title of her project was Analyzing Soil Samples to Determine Soil Profiles which have the Potential to Support Chelone Glabra Growth. According to scientists, chelone glabra is a showy perennial of marshlands found in eastern and central North America; they have waxy lanceolate leaves and flowers featuring creamy white outsides and pale pink to deep purple upper sections.

She wanted to study this topic in particular because the state insect’s (Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly) only host plant is the chelone glabra so she wanted to determine where it can be grown.

“It was really awesome to win. I did not expect it,” said Borkowski.

Senior Hannah Schantz also competed in the agriscience fair and took first in her division and third overall. The title of her project was the Effects of Equine Assisted Growth and Learning on Adolescent Girls with Self Confidence and Self Respect Issues.

She had girls from North Harford Middle come over to the barn and practice problem solving with horses. She performed a survey testing the levels of their self confidence and self respect issues before and after the experiment. She saw a 25% increase in their self confidence and a 50% increase in self respect.

“It was really exciting and it made me proud of my project. It took me forever but it was worth it,” said Schantz.

On top of students winning at the fair, three magnet students in the Plant Strand of the agricultural program took the test for their industry level certification in order to be a Certified Professional Horticulturist (CDA). Earning this certification can help the students in getting a job after high school. In order to receive this certification, students had to submit an application and earn a score of at least 70 out of the 100. Junior Bobby Burton, one of three student who earned his certification, studied many hours outside of the classroom in order to prepare for this exam on top of the review the students had everyday with ag teacher Ms. Katie Warner.

“Once I found out that I passed it was a big relief, and I felt accomplished,” said Burton.

Other students that received their certification were junior Hailey Cornell and senior Lauren Makowiecki.