Wheeler Hosts Middle Georgia Forestry Field Day
On Wednesday, March 18, Wheeler County hosted the Middle GA Forestry Field Day in McRae at the District Forestry Unit. There were over 275 students, Future Farmers of America (FFA) advisors, Georgia Forestry personnel, Tigercat representatives, and school administrators in attendance. The day began with the students competing in their respective events. The ten events are designed to mimic training needed for entry-level forestry positions. After they finished competing, they had the opportunity to visit the Tigercat simulator. The simulator allowed the students to virtually operate a feller buncher, processor, or skidder. The simulator not only showed the view across three screens, but it also felt like an actual machine when the seat moved as the students interacted with the simulator. These machines are used to train equipment operators in the forestry industry. Being able to interact with this simulator was an awesome opportunity for our students, and we offer our thanks to Tigercat Industries and Tidewater Equipment Company for that.
Not only did the Georgia Forestry personnel help run the contest, but they also graded papers, and grilled hamburgers and hotdogs for all the students. We appreciate all their support and help!
All three of our Wheeler County forestry teams had a successful day of competing. The high school senior and junior teams both won first place. The middle school team placed second. On the senior team, the following students placed individually: Brody Adams-1st in Reforestation, Kinlee Raiford-1st in Ocular Estimation, Layton Johnson- 1st in Board Foot Volume, Sadey Cravey- 2nd in Tree ID, Aiden Lanier- 2nd in Reforestation, Kaleigh Scott- 2nd in Timber Stand Improvement, Lockland Bell and Konner Smith- 3rd in Forest Management, Ava Dixon- 3rd in Cord Volume, Mackenzie Johnson-3rd in Compass & Pacing, Izabell Sellers-3rd in Tree ID, & Layton Spires- 3rd in Reforestation.
Placing individually on the high school junior team was: Kaden Knight & Savannah Purvis- 1st in Forst Management, Khloe Davis- 1st in Board Foot Volume, Fisher Thornton-1st in Reforestation, Noah Page- 1st in Compass & Pacing, Bryce Conner- 1st in Timber Stand Improvement, Amaria Brown- 2nd in Ocular Estimation, Laylah Clark- 2nd in Land Measurement, & Chassity Knight- 3rd in Cord Volume.
Individual placings on the middle school winning team were: Aiden Rutherford- 1st in Tree Identification, Brody Beasley-1st in Forest Disorders, Aurora Stephens-3rd in Land Measurement, Luke Bell-2nd in Reforestation; Macie Taylor-2nd in Board Foot Volume, & Andi Poole and Natalee Phillips-3rd in Forest Management.
Other Wheeler County forestry team members were Layla Gibbs, Gabby Sellers, Michelle Sanchez, Kyleigh Gallaway, Kamrin Clark, Ann Marie Adams, Jocie Lanier, Brett Wommack, Kenlei Woods, Benjamin Ramirez, and Bricyn Wooten. Congratulations to all of the teams that competed in the Middle Georgia Forestry Field Day. Thank you to all who made this event possible. Good luck to our teams as they compete on March 24th in Statesboro at the Area Forestry Field Day.
COLLABORATING WITH GEORGIA FORESTRY COMMISSION – The Georgia Forestry Commission helped to run the Middle Georgia Forestry Field Day contest, and provided lunch for competitors.
