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Galt High FFA earns national honors
Stellato and Valencia named second in nation for tomato research
Always a prestigious honor just to attend, 12 members of the Galt High School FFA program recently returned from the National FFA Convention, where two earned national recognition.
For one pair of researchers, the trip to Indianapolis, Ind. was well worth the effort as they came home named National Reserve Champions.
Dominic Stellato and Isaac Valencia first earned State Champion honors last April in the State Agriscience Fair for their project: The Effects of Sucrose Dips, Light and Fertilization on Root Regeneration in Pre-Transplant Processing Tomatoes. This was an extensive project that measured the potential impact of four different independent variables on tomato root growth. Root growth determines the overall survival and yield potential of an entire crop.
The tomato industry in California is huge, producing 95 percent of America’s supply and providing $1.3 billion directly to our state’s farmers. In this project, the young men grew over 500 tomato starts, applying their variables and ensuring the scientific precision required to make their research valid.
One tedious component required treating each plant’s root system. This involved carefully washing each plant’s roots, removing off thousands of fibrous roots using surgical scissors and applying their treatments. After several weeks of constant monitoring, each regenerated root nodule had to be hand counted to determine if their treatments had an impact on root development.
White said the collegiate-level research required hundreds of hours from the young men as they also strived to maintain 3.0+ GPAs, extensive involvement in school leadership, sports and FFA. At the National FFA Convention, the pair presented a 15-minute fully memorized scientific presentation to a panel of industry judges. This required expansive technical knowledge as well as presentation finesse and extraordinary confidence.
Earning national recognition for their efforts was especially satisfying to the pair since they come from a small FFA chapter.
“It means a lot to me to come from a rather small town to compete against hundreds of FFA chapters in the nation that are much larger than ours and come home with a second place ribbon in my hand,” said Stellato. “It really shows that when you work hard you can achieve your goals, regardless of your circumstances.”
For Valencia, the national convention was the perfect place to test skills he has been building throughout his years in FFA.
“The experience built on the knowledge I gained in my ag classes and took it to a level I never dreamed of,” said Valencia. “Since someday I will have a career in the agriculture industry, I learned valuable technical skills and well as public speaking skills that will allow me to be successful both in my chosen career area and in life. Competing at this level has been an experience of a lifetime.”
At the convention, where the results were announced, over 50,000 people were in attendance as the city of Indianapolis’s rolled out the red carpet for the FFA convention, even renaming their main thoroughfare FFA Way for the week..
“Imagine our pride to hear “Galt High School” announced as these young men received their prestigious honor,” said White. “To be awarded Reserve Champion status in a nationwide contest is an accomplishment of which many can only dream. This is not just a victory for our FFA chapter and agriculture program, but for the families of Stellato and Valencia as well as our school and community.”
White said the hard work and determination that went into preparing for the national event was unparallel by any other he has seen, adding that Zach and Dylan Davidson were also acknowledged at the convention, earning a silver award for their agriscience efforts.
“Personally, I am bursting with pride at the achievement of these exceptional young men,” said White. “Their diligence, persistence and incomparable work ethics drove them to bring home such a coveted prize. Beyond that, the lessons they have learned about the dignity of labor and the rewards that result from making quality choices will carry them far in life.”
For one pair of researchers, the trip to Indianapolis, Ind. was well worth the effort as they came home named National Reserve Champions.
Dominic Stellato and Isaac Valencia first earned State Champion honors last April in the State Agriscience Fair for their project: The Effects of Sucrose Dips, Light and Fertilization on Root Regeneration in Pre-Transplant Processing Tomatoes. This was an extensive project that measured the potential impact of four different independent variables on tomato root growth. Root growth determines the overall survival and yield potential of an entire crop.
The tomato industry in California is huge, producing 95 percent of America’s supply and providing $1.3 billion directly to our state’s farmers. In this project, the young men grew over 500 tomato starts, applying their variables and ensuring the scientific precision required to make their research valid.
One tedious component required treating each plant’s root system. This involved carefully washing each plant’s roots, removing off thousands of fibrous roots using surgical scissors and applying their treatments. After several weeks of constant monitoring, each regenerated root nodule had to be hand counted to determine if their treatments had an impact on root development.
White said the collegiate-level research required hundreds of hours from the young men as they also strived to maintain 3.0+ GPAs, extensive involvement in school leadership, sports and FFA. At the National FFA Convention, the pair presented a 15-minute fully memorized scientific presentation to a panel of industry judges. This required expansive technical knowledge as well as presentation finesse and extraordinary confidence.
Earning national recognition for their efforts was especially satisfying to the pair since they come from a small FFA chapter.
“It means a lot to me to come from a rather small town to compete against hundreds of FFA chapters in the nation that are much larger than ours and come home with a second place ribbon in my hand,” said Stellato. “It really shows that when you work hard you can achieve your goals, regardless of your circumstances.”
For Valencia, the national convention was the perfect place to test skills he has been building throughout his years in FFA.
“The experience built on the knowledge I gained in my ag classes and took it to a level I never dreamed of,” said Valencia. “Since someday I will have a career in the agriculture industry, I learned valuable technical skills and well as public speaking skills that will allow me to be successful both in my chosen career area and in life. Competing at this level has been an experience of a lifetime.”
At the convention, where the results were announced, over 50,000 people were in attendance as the city of Indianapolis’s rolled out the red carpet for the FFA convention, even renaming their main thoroughfare FFA Way for the week..
“Imagine our pride to hear “Galt High School” announced as these young men received their prestigious honor,” said White. “To be awarded Reserve Champion status in a nationwide contest is an accomplishment of which many can only dream. This is not just a victory for our FFA chapter and agriculture program, but for the families of Stellato and Valencia as well as our school and community.”
White said the hard work and determination that went into preparing for the national event was unparallel by any other he has seen, adding that Zach and Dylan Davidson were also acknowledged at the convention, earning a silver award for their agriscience efforts.
“Personally, I am bursting with pride at the achievement of these exceptional young men,” said White. “Their diligence, persistence and incomparable work ethics drove them to bring home such a coveted prize. Beyond that, the lessons they have learned about the dignity of labor and the rewards that result from making quality choices will carry them far in life.”
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of galtheraldonline.com.
sciman wrote on Oct 30, 2009 7:54 AM:
" What jobs do they have and what skills did they learn in this organization? From my knowledge of science, the work of these students has already been conducted. Just do a google search. "
Diemos wrote on Oct 30, 2009 2:19 PM:
" What negative press? You don't mean that drivel about “the ag dept” that Pat Maple constantly rambles on about? Don’t worry about him. Congratulations to all of the FFA students for a job well done! "
Pat Maple wrote on Nov 1, 2009 8:35 AM:
" Possibly if we spent as much time and money on human research...science of the human body...maybe some other kids could find a cure for systic fibrosis or cancer or the H1N1 flu. Where was you letter to the newspaper about the Engineering program and Debra Crane? It's about equlity of education funding to ALL of the other programs at GHS.
Congratulations to the young men above. I hope they can move on and get a job now. "
Congratulations to the young men above. I hope they can move on and get a job now. "
Galt Alum wrote on Oct 28, 2009 2:16 PM: