Washington County Schools

Ryan made a quality king-size bed out of ash. This ash came from the logs we milled last year. He worked hard, and it looks good finished naturally. Great job, Ryan! On a side note, this is a project from last school year.

Atticus created several impressive Transformers out of pine wood. He did an excellent job designing and planning his woodworking project. Great work, Atticus!

The Washington County FFA Chapter participated in the National FFA Convention last week in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Nursery/Landscape Team, consisting of graduates Jonathan Wright and Alyssa Jueneman, and seniors Dawson Strunk and Michael Peterson, finished as the 6th Place team in the Nation when results were announced. Individual highlights include Alyssa Jueneman, placing 72nd in the Silver Division, Michael Peterson finished 43rd in the Gold Division (Top 1/3), Dawson Strunk placing 27th in Gold Division, and Jonathan Wright finishing as the First Place Individual in the overall competition this year! Jonathan was announced during the preliminary awards as the 2nd Place individual in the Identification and Examination Section, and the 1st Place Individual in the Practicums and Skills section. Jonathan will receive a $1000 Cash Award from the National FFA for his accomplishments this year in Nursery/Landscape.

The Nursery/Landscape team put in several hours this past year practicing, visiting landscaping businesses, and learning about hands on installation procedures that they would be tested on throughout the event. Competitors installed irrigation systems using pop up head sprinkler systems, cutting and gluing PVC pipe, and calibrated timers and installed solenoid valves to control the watering. Additionally, we learned to properly plant and install shrubs into a landscape area, interpreting designs and calculating mulch, spacing and total cost of the project. Students learned to install brick pavers to create sidewalks, patios, and build retaining walls. Additionally, and entire section was devoted to equipment operation and maintenance for a variety of mowers, chain saws, and power equipment used in the landscape industry.

We received a great deal of help from several businesses and individuals to get us to this point. Mr. Joseph Rundle, of Blueville Nursery in Manhattan, Kansas, spend a great deal of time working with these students to teach them about the "Green Industry" and helped up to locate materials to use to practice for this event and showed us tips and tricks used in the business to help develop our skills. Mr. Nathan Welch of the Washington County Farm Bureau helped the students prepare for the customer sales and assistance portions of the event.

This team received business sponsorship this year from The Washington County Farm Bureau Insurance - Mr. Nathan Welch, as well as from Mr. Keith Westervelt and the Blueville Nursery of Manhattan.

Additionally, the Washington County FFA Chapter had two students earn their American FFA Degree at this year's convention: McKenzie Baker and Joseph Kern. The American Degree is the High Degree and FFA Member can earn in the organization. McKenzie has been actively involved in the FFA for the past 6 years and highlights of her experiences include being named as the 2025 District Star in Agribusiness, Winning the 2026 State FFA Proficiency Award in Forest Products and Management, leading the 2025 Veterinary Science Team to a 2nd Place finish in State in 2025, and serving as the President of the Washington County FFA her senior year. Joseph Kern was also a past President of the chapter, and became a National Finalist (Final 4 in the nation) for the Agricultural Mechanics - Repair and Maintenance Proficiency Award in 2025.

Additional Delegates attending this year from the Washington County FFA this year included Witt Keesecker, Rowley Keesecker and Emma O'Rourke. Congratulations to all of the members of the Washington County FFA who represented us all so well this year at the National FFA Convention!