On a gray, rainy day, containers of flowers brought splashes of color to the Expo Center at the College of Southern Idaho Wednesday afternoon.
It was the first indication that the 78th Annual Idaho State FFA Leadership Conference was about to begin, bringing in hundreds of students who participate from across the state.
Floriculture, a competition for Wednesday, was just one of the FFA competitions for students. Other competitions scheduled for the conference include horse evaluations, nursery and landscaping, job interviews and extemporaneous speaking. The teams that win the state competitions will go on to compete in the National FFA Convention this October in Indianapolis.
This year, 1,400 students and FFA advisors pre-registered for the state conference, said Allison Touchstone, the state advisor for FFA.
The conference has events today and Friday, ending with award presentations on Saturday.
The first of those students arrived at the Expo Center on Wednesday afternoon for the floriculture event. The competition included building a centerpiece of flowers, creating a corsage, and plant identification, said Dave Kiesig, a CSI horticulture professor who was supervising the event.
"They have to put them together," he said. "They build them."
The event also has problem solving exams that require math skills to answer questions that a florist would encounter in the business. About 104 students - 26 teams in total - were expected to compete.
Jamie Loucks, a 16-year-old sophomore from Cambridge High School in western Idaho, said that putting together a flower arrangement is harder than one might think.
For example, necessary skills include coordinating the colors, and matching flowers of the right proportion together.
"You wouldn't put pink and red in an arrangement until it's for Valentine's Day," she said.
Loucks said her team has spent a lot of time preparing for the event.
"We sat long hours every day at the computer studying for the test and making arrangements nonstop," she said.
Ben Botkin may be reached at 208-735-3238 or bbotkin@magicvalley.com.
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