CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — The Zane Trace FFA officer team recently met at Zane Trace High School to plan the chapter’s activities for the upcoming school year and build their communication and teamwork skills. During the meeting, the officers evaluated the previous year’s activities and brainstormed potential new ones. Then, they worked in teams to write action steps and goals for the selected activities and scheduled them on the chapter calendar. Once the planning was complete, members enjoyed a visit from Mike Smith, a broadcaster with Litter Media. Smith helped the officers understand the importance of using all forms of communication wisely and gave them advice on how to build teams and make members feel valued. After their work at the school was complete, the officers kayaked and paddle boarded a 5-mile stretch of the Hocking River.
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MILLERSBURG, Ohio — Garrett Houin of the West Holmes FFA chapter was named a national finalist this year for the Environmental Science and Natural Resources Agricultural Proficiency Award. Only four FFA members nationwide are selected as national finalists in each agricultural proficiency award area.
Additionally, during his time wearing the blue and gold jacket, Houin has also won the state FFA proficiency award in the areas of Outdoor Recreation in 2022, Diversified Livestock in 2023 and Environmental Science and Natural Resources in 2024. He has also been a top-four state finalist in Service Learning and Equine Entrepreneurship. However, this is the first time he has been selected as a national finalist.
Now that he has been selected as a national finalist, Houin will participate in an intensive interview process prior to the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis this October where he will share his project details with a panel of interviewers. Those scores will then be combined with his written application score to determine national placings, which will be announced on-site at the National Convention.
