FFA placed first for the second year in a row. FFA advisor and Agricultural science teacher Elissa Mullinix took members to the Northcentral District competition in Clay County on Feb. 9. The competition was held at Clay Center. 

“Students showed up for the day and worked through different components of the competition,” Mullinix said. “At the end [students] scores are tallied to determine who has won.”

Students who compete in food science have to have a firm grasp of food safety. 

“The competition mainly focuses on food production and food safety,” junior Nissa Olsen said.

The students took tests and did multiple practicums including a triangle test, a consumer inquiry component, an aroma test, a multiple choice test, a math practicum and determining whether products from food companies are compliant with specifications the company sets.

“We read letters about customers expressing concern about a product and determined if it was a food safety or a food quality risk and the type of hazard being described,” Mullinix said. “A lot of product development requires smells which we identified in the aroma test.” 

FFA had been practicing for this competition for several weeks.

“We went into the competition comfortably and did the right things to prepare,” Olsen said. “It was exciting putting our skills into practice.”

The students demonstrated that they were doing the right things and that they were on track. When they were not competing students were working on completing their schoolwork for the day.

“Most of our competitions fall on Wednesday block days,” Mullinix said. “I know that it’s a huge challenge for students to juggle their caseloads. I was very pleased that they used their time effectively.”

Four of the members of the team placed in the top 20 and another member was just outside of that.

“It was exciting to win first place,” Mullinix said. “ We have sharp and responsible students at MHS that made me very proud.”

There were other competitions that day, which consisted of speaking and more based on food science.

“It was very busy,” Olsen said. “Trying to balance the three competitions and getting everyone where they needed to be was stressful but still fun.”