Tygarts Valley High School FFA team excels at national competition
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MILL CREEK -- An FFA team from Tygarts Valley High School represented West Virginia in national competition in Brownswood, Texas last week, where they claimed second place in the nation, with South Carolina placing first.
Students Avery Tallman, Chase Bell and Thomas Mathes were dubbed first in state competition in March, during their sophomore year of high school, at the Wildlife Center at the WVU Experimental Forest near Cooper's Rock, according to Dr. Sheldon Owen, WVU Extension Specialist.
The group then went on to Texas where a team from Texas A&M University awarded them second place.
"This is a big deal. This is a very big deal for these students," said advisor Lee Wright.
FFA advisor and agricultural education instructor Wright noted that the group traveled by county van, departing July 26 and returning Aug. 2.
"The trip was arduous but exciting," Wright stated. "The young team got to see a sizable chunk of the USA, and they did well. Sarah Bell, a parent volunteer and school board employee, traveled with us. She also arranged for overnight lodging both ways and used her personal points at Holiday Inn Express to help defray costs of rooms. Numerous donations from businesses, organizations and individuals paid for lodging, food and other travel costs."
The group stayed at the Texas 4-H Center at Lake Brownwood, where they had to endure temperatures in the high 90s and low 100s.
"The cabins were air-conditioned but crowded," Wright said. "We had to share our cabin with teams from Virginia and Pennsylvania, and we had only one bathroom. We learned to schedule showers early. On a positive note, the food was really good, and the 4-H camp has a swimming pool."
Prior to their day of competition, all teams had to take part in workshops. They conducted quail habitat surveys, learned wildlife photography, met with a Texas game warden, and learned about ecoregions and wildlife management for the part of Texas they were visiting.
During competition, the teams had to complete a written test and then participate in a field test that required them to study a specific parcel of land and identify what types of management practices should be used to manage habitat for various species of wildlife. These tests were similar to the tests students completed for WV competition.
"In Texas, we had a lot of questions about bobwhite quail," said Thomas Mathes, whose competition test scores placed him fifth in the nation. "They focused a lot on quail during our workshops, so I wasn't surprised that we had a lot on our test about them."
Advisors and parents were not permitted to be around students during competition. Instead, they were taken to visit wildlife reserves, Wright noted.
The Wildlife Habitat Education Program (WHEP) team had formal instruction in wildlife habitat as part of their Natural Resource Management class. Team member Avery Tallman has received additional instruction from her father, who is a wildlife biologist and resource officer specializing in habitat management at Kumbrabow State Park.
"I go to work with my dad a lot and help him. I also go out by myself and observe, and I hunt and fish," she said. "I have planted trees at Kumbrabow, and I have released quail on the Huttonsville Prison property."
Team members Mathes and Bell are also avid hunters and fishermen, so all team members are familiar with animal habitat.
The team is comprised of students who volunteered, Wright noted. The state competition focused on West Virginia wildlife and habitat. The national competition focused on Texas wildlife and habitat since that was the location of the competition.
This was Wright's second trip to a national competition with a Tygarts Valley team, having previously taken a Wildlife Habitat competition team to Georgia, where they placed second. Next year's national competition will be held in Tennessee.
"The trip to Texas was enjoyable, and I'm glad we went," Wright said, "but I don't want to go back. It was nice to see things getting greener and greener as we drove home."
"Being around so many different people, the pressure of doing our best, and the intense Texas heat presented challenges," Tallman said.
Bell added, "We studied and practiced a lot."
"Being in a different state and trying new things was good for us." Mathes said, "We had to learn about animal species that were new to us, and I liked getting to know people from other FFA chapters because it was fun. We went to the State FFA Convention just a few weeks ago, and I got to know many students from other FFA chapters. Then we headed to Texas.
"I was not looking forward to the heat, but I did like getting to know more new people and learning about the state of Texas. This experience will make me more confident. I thought we would see rattlesnakes, scorpions and armadillos, but all we saw was one dead armadillo."
Funding for the students' trip came from multiple sources. Parents Amanda Mathes and Sarah Bell, and grandparent Harvey Taylor, sold food, chickens, eggs and flea market finds at the TVHS FFA Farmers/Flea Market for the past several months. John Daniels, director of the Randolph County Technical and Career Center, paid registration fees and provided a van for the group's travel.
Significant contributions came from the Randolph County Commissioners; from the Lions' Club of Beverly, presented by Jonathan Kyle; from the Thresher Group, Inc. of Bridgeport; and from the WV Wildlife Federation of Williamstown.
Other contributions to help fund the group's travel came from the Isaac Walton League of Beverly, the Mountaineer Chapter of the Isaac Walton League of Elkins, Thomas and Nancy Smith of Elkins, William and Annalee Kable of Beverly, Aleisha and Joe Arbogast of Valley Head, Robert Tacy of Huttonsville, Pamela and Francis Hughes of Elkins, Elkins Business Consultants, Inc. of Elkins, Lonnie Brewster of Huttonsville; April Tallman of Huttonsville; Junior and Geraldine Fuston of Mill Creek; Linda Knight of Beverly; Timothy and Stephanie White of Elkins, and Anita and Claude Phillips of Monterville.
'I'm very thankful for everyone who helped us," Mathes said.
"Thank you very much for helping us achieve this goal," Tallman added.
"I am happy and thankful that so many were willing to donate for this trip," Bell said.
"The downside for the students is that even though they still have two years of high school, national rules state that they are not allowed to compete again; however, they can help train other teams. A team from a western state was sent home because they had competed last year," Wright explained. "On a positive note, there are many other types of FFA competitions they can participate in if they choose to do so."