On Saturday, March 28th, North Harford FFA ( Future Farmers of America) members competed in many Career Development Events at the Maryland Spring Judging of 2026. All of the teams were very accomplished, and two teams, Food Science ( Blakley Jackanicz, Khloe Buettner, Shane Whaley, Kayla Chewing, and Bonnie Parker) and Nursery/Landscape (Sammie Hawk, Auna Walker, Jack Miklos, and Emilie Coogan), placed first for North Harford. Other major accomplishments, such as individual high achievers for the state include Eirabella Tapia, on the Vet Science team, who placed sixth in the state individually, Grayson Whaley who placed eighth in the state as an individual on the Milk Quality and Products team, on the Meat Evaluation team Emily Troyer who placed sixth individually in the state, and Maddi Thomas that placed tenth individually in the state. On the Nursery/Landscape team, Sammie Hawk placed first individually in the state, while Auna Walker placed second, Jack Miklos placed third and Emilie Coogan placed sixth. Finally for the Food Science team, Blakeley Jackanicz placed first individually in the state, while Khloe Buetter placed fifth, and Shane Whaley placed tenth. All of the performing teams accomplished outstanding ranks, and teams who earned first place will have the opportunity to compete at National FFA Convention in Indianapolis in the upcoming fall season. Senior this year, returning competitor food science member of the Food Science team and second time achiever of first in the state, Blakeley Jackanicz, shared how, “CDE stands for Career Development Event and is one of the 2 main competitions our FFA competes in, the other is LDEs (Leadership Development Events) which are public speaking events. To prepare for Food Science specifically, we practiced general knowledge of food processing and the science behind it, math for calculation of things like calories, serving sizes, nutrition labels etc. as well as identifying different scents…” To know all of this knowledge takes lots of preparation, and that they did. While Jackanicz won a spot in nationals among many others, she decided to give up her spot for, “ our individual (Khloe Buettner) to have the opportunity to compete on the team and nationally, she came in 5th place and was the 2nd highest rank for North Harford!” she exclaimed. Being on a team means not only winning as a team but accomplishing as one and a decision such as this is just a part of what makes all of North Harford’s FFA competitors winners no matter rank as individuals. Sophomore, and sixth place individual winner on the Vet Science team, Eirabella Tapia stated, “this is my first time competing in a CDE, and honestly my first time competing in a competition of this scale in general. I honestly really enjoyed my experience, and I’m super proud of myself for having scored so high! I know I’ll be shooting for a higher placement next year though,- top five here I come!” From a new competitor, Tapia worked so hard to study and prepare for this accomplishment and it was worth it overall for her, not only academically. “For me, { what I loved most} was probably just getting to know new people. I usually don’t talk with new people unless they interact with me first, but CDEs worked as a good icebreaker for me since it didn’t feel as awkward- we were all on the same team together, might as well get to know each other and have fun, y’know!” exclaimed Tapia. Overall, many accomplishments occurred academically and socially from this competition and more is yet to come as many travel to nationals later this year. FFA competitions such as these not only show how bright and hardworking North Harford’s students are but also open doors to meet new people and grow as individuals, and as teams, which is an accomplishment for them no matter what in the end.