Coming off a first place win in food science back in early February, the Manhattan High FFA chapter took home fourth place overall in the Blue Valley Online Invitational.

“I actually enjoyed all of this competition,” senior Tessarae Harris, vice president, said. “It’s just fun to try and solve each part and then wait until you get your results to see how you did.”

For the third time this year, FFA participated in an off-site competition — where they utilized platforms such as Scantron to send in their answers. Between their first competition and their most recent one on March 10, senior and chapter president Chanae Parker and sophomore Nissa Olsen placed eighth in a job interviews contest.

“It was our first time participating in this competition,” Parker said. “I got fifth overall in my room, so that’s pretty decent. Obviously, you hope to do the best that you can and I’m just excited to get some feedback and see how I can improve my interview skills for the future.”

Like in their first food science competition, there were five categories in the Blue Valley Online Invitational that each student participated in: aroma, triangle test, math practicum, customer inquiries and a written exam.

“Each competition comes with its own challenge,” Harris said. “I learn new things each time.”

Harris led the team with a fifth place finish and a score of 170. Not far behind her, Olsen placed 10th with 156 and sophomores Benton Kerr and Connor Andresen placed 11th and 14th with a 151 and 147 respectively. Parker scored 28th out of a total of 85 contestants with a 137.

“[It felt] good,” Harris said. “It was a much bigger competition with teams from out of state as well so I feel like I placed where I needed to. [Although] there’s always room for growth of course.”

Out of 19 total teams, the club placed fourth overall with a score of 477. In the North Central District, the club placed first out of four teams, with Minneapolis 75 points away in second place.

“I honestly wasn’t expecting that,” Harris said. “We had new people on our team and when you go to your first competition it’s always a little weird.”

Coming up soon, FFA plans to participate in a trash pick up activity and rent out a movie theater to watch movies for a club bonding event.