Students honored for achievements in horticulture

GETAWAY — Collins Career Technical Center hosted a banquet on Friday honoring FFA students in the school’s agri-science and veterinary programs.

Steve Crawford, an agri-science teacher at the school, said the program educates students in farming and related fields.

“It is still Ohio’s number one industry,” he said. “We prepare students to be future leaders in agriculture and help them to choose careers in the field.”

He said CCTC has a 100-acre farm 10 minutes from the school, where students work on lab projects.

“They have sheep, calves, a greenhouse and raise catfish,” he said.

He said the banquet was to honor students who had received awards throughout the year, including two, Megan Sowards and Kaitlyn Boggs, who had received state degrees.

Tim Chianesi, the president of FFA, said current officers would be honored and new ones installed.

“He said his time in the program had been a positive experience.

“I love it,” he said. “It’s the best education I’ve had. I’ve gotten everything I wished for.”

Claudia Cyrus, the coordinator for the FFA chapter at CCTC is a teacher in the veterinary program, which was added this year. She said she had two students, Alexander Mclendon and Emma

McClendon, who made it to the state level in veterinary science.

She works for the Proctorville Animal Clinic and said the school offers students a chance to gain experience through Advanced Veterinary Services with positions throughout the Tri-State.

“Ideally, my students will go on to be employed in the field,” she said.