Cedarcrest High School Nursery Landscape Team with State FFA Officers (Cedarcrest Team Members, beginning second from the left: Jayden Adams, Caitlyn McKenzie, Sabrina Bradley, Rafe Lipsky, and Selah Swart)
In March 2024, the Nursery Landscape team, consisting of members Jayden Adams, Sabrina Bradley, Rafe Lipsky, Caitlyn McKenzie, and Selah Swart, won the FFA State Championship, earning the opportunity to compete at Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana, this October. Following 10th place finishes at Nationals in 2017 and 2019, this is the third time the Cedarcrest Nursery Landscape team will represent the state of Washington in the national competition.
Earning such a prestigious opportunity was no easy task. The team studied rigorously and prepared diligently before the competition. “Students have a test bank of 500 questions to memorize, including applied geometry, trigonometry, conversions - a ton of math,” shares FFA teacher Seth Thomas. “Just the horticultural knowledge alone – we will study all day heading up to competition day.”
Mr. Thomas adds that the students have put in “easily hundreds of hours” into these events and competitions, with the Nursery Landscape team now prepping for that trip to Nationals in the fall.
“Our kids show a lot of leadership, which helps bring younger students to us. The kids coming out of these competitions realistically know a lot more than they think they do. In fact, industry partners who attend these regional competitions, and the state and national competitions, see these kids, see our kids, and say ‘We want to hire these students’.”
Sabrina Bradley with Cedarcrest principal Jeannette Siemers, holding certificates from the Washington State Career Development Event
Bradley, who finished second overall in individual scoring at the state event, talks about how interconnected FFA is, not just within the Nursery Landscape team, but with all teams and students competing month after month and learning such detailed and comprehensive information.
“We all have this drive to keep moving forward and we do not want to stop competing. I know the studying can be a challenge sometimes, but the trips you take together, the connections you make – those are friendships which become just so, so important.”
With their ticket to Nationals punched and Indianapolis on the horizon, the Nursery Landscape team is ready to represent Cedarcrest High School and their community and make a major impact.
“We are heading to face the 50 best teams in the nation,” says Mr. Thomas. “This team has the potential to do really great things, and it is fun to see a really young team, consisting of four juniors and a sophomore, achieve this at this stage in their FFA experience.”
We congratulate Cedarcrest's Nursery Landscape team on this amazing achievement and cannot wait to cheer you on this October!