Green Horizons

National Champions! Left to right, Mr. Lyle Whittaker, FFA Advisor, Rhen Garner, Shane Gumm, Garrett Jester, and Landon Steele.

The little town of Miller (pop.793) in Southwest Missouri produced the top Forestry team in the United States at the 2011 competition. The National FFA Forestry Career Development Event was held Oct.19-22 in Indianapolis, Indiana with 143 students from 37 states participating. Missouri has always been strong in FFA Forestry contests at the national level (four national winners over the past ten years), but this year's win was especially satisfying for Miller students. This is the first national title ever won by the Miller High School in any type of school competition.

Team members Garrett Jester, Shane Gumm, Rhen Garner and Landon Steele were tested in skills and knowledge in the area of forest management. Event components included a general knowledge exam, tree and equipment identification, tree/forest disorders and diseases, a chainsaw practicum, forestry issues interview, and a team activity. Team advisor Lyle Whittaker spent more time gathering resources and instructing the students as they moved from the district contest in Springfield,to the State contest in Columbia, to the national contest in Indiana.

"By mid-August, we were spending one day a week working on the knowledge part, and by September, we were spending about 10 hours each week practicing", says Whittaker. Each of the students put even more effort into understanding aspects of forestry as they advanced each level. By the week of the contest they were putting in 16-hour days. Whittaker believes "what really did it is that we spent the four days prior to the contest in Indiana...I think we measured every tree in Indiana".

It paid off - literally. Not only do they have the honor of being number one in the nation, but they each also received a $1,000 scholarship to further their education at a post-secondary institution of their choice. Three of the team members have already started college-level courses, and two of them have said they are changing their major to forestry. The team also received a Husqvarna chain saw.

A couple of other interesting facts from Miller's win - Shane Gumm earned second place (and a gold emblem) in the individual contest at the national level, and advisor Lyle Whittaker was a student member of the very first FFA Forestry team Missouri ever sent to the national competition. That means there is A LOT of forestry knowledge in a very small Lawrence County town. "I never thought our little school would win a national contest" says the advisor of the First Place team. Congratulations Miller FFA Forestry Team!