Camden Central School District -

On Saturday, March 15th, the Camden FFA Chapter was represented in competition by freshman Kayla Winn at the New York State Central Region FFA Sub-State Leadership Development Event. The event was held at Adirondack Central School in Boonville.

As part of the event, Kayla competed against the best of the best from three different districts of the state in the Senior People in Agriculture competition. She qualified for this opportunity by placing second in the same event at the District 5 competition held in February. That represented a massive step forward for the ninth grader from her previous LDE endeavor. Last year as an eighth grader, she was eighth in the District 5 competition in the Junior People in Agriculture category.

For the Senior Sub-State competition, Winn had to interview an industry professional, present her findings, and discuss six different careers in agriculture with a panel of three judges. Impressively, Winn was prepared enough to present her findings from memory.

While Kayla did not take a place high enough to advance to the State LDE, FFA advisor Karly Marshman feels that Winn’s growth from year-to-year was a victory in itself. And it didn’t take long for Kayla to start thinking about next year.

“Looking back at Kayla's progress I am extremely impressed by her growth from last year to present,” Marshman said. “After the event concluded, Kayla loaded into the van to head back and said she couldn’t wait to get her feedback cards to see how she can improve for next year’s events. This comment made Miss Curtis and myself take a step back and admire her mature attitude and personal growth. Kayla may not have come out on top this time, but it’s not always about winning. The real “win” is watching our students grow personally into amazing members of society!”