Bryan Schullian Kent Rigg Cindy Feltmeyer Kaylyn Davenport Kyle Miller first place awards

 MACOMB, IL – Alumni from the Western Illinois University School of Agriculture led the FFA chapters from the high schools where they teach to numerous first place awards at the 94th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN.

Alumni include:

• Bryan Schullian, a 2010 agriculture education graduate and Southeastern High School agriculture teacher and FFA advisor: Students Savannah Ramsey and Amanda Stephens were the first place Agriscience winner in Environmental Science and Natural Resources – Division 2.

"Savannah and Amanda completed an agriscience research project creating a symbiotic relationship between tilapia and tomato plants," said Schullian. "They tested how many plants would be needed to create a healthy living environment for the tilapia, and for the two species to thrive from one another. They found the best ratio to be 18 and 24 tomato plants per two tilapia fish. Through this project, Savannah and Amanda valued the importance of dedication and hard work, checking the fish and environment each day. They also gained skills related to taking care of fish, testing water quality, maintaining growing environments and bacteria growth and properly weighing the plants to measure mass."

• Kent Rigg, a 2001 agriculture education graduate and Williamsfield High School agriculture teacher and FFA advisor: Williamsfield sophomore Sidney Stiers won first place in Creed Speaking.

"Sidney is actively involved in her family farm while also having several SAEs including two entrepreneurial," said Rigg. "Sidney is a fourth generation creed contestant with each generation competing, including her mom winning state a while back. She is the first to capture the national title. She has a passion for agriculture and FFA. Preparing for the creed competition has been a wonderful experience - she had the opportunity to grow as a public speaker and meet so many people along the way. Sidney worked a lot with our school Principal Zack Binder to polish her delivery, as well as State Representative Dan Shawson, Corey Flourney a former National Officer from Chicago Ag Science, and so many more. Additionally, her success in the creed has fueled passion for the FFA program and many students are eager to get involved. The whole school and community have been so supportive along the way and have meant the world to her."

• Cindy Feltmeyer, a 2009 agriculture education graduate and Eastland High School agriculture teacher and FFA advisor: Students Alyssa Miller, Delana Erbsen, Nevin Erbsen and Ella Gunderson won first place in Dairy Cattle and Evaluation.

• Kaylyn Davenport, a 2014 graduate and Merced-El Capitan High School (California): Students Autumn Miller, Nikolas Williams and Makalya Ward – first place in Marketing Plan:

"The Marketing Plan CDE requires students to write and present a marketing plan for a local agriculture business. It was a great experience for my students to help a real business learn methods for increasing their profits by incorporating marketing strategies," said Davenport. "I am very proud of the work my students put in. They have been working on this marketing plan since February. They are very proud of the fact they are national champions, but are more proud of the fact they were able to help local agriculturalists in our community. The skills they gained from this competition will be valuable for the rest of their lives. Even if they do not go into marketing directly, they have gained communication, public speaking and leadership skills that will be beneficial in any career they choose."

• Kyle Miller, a 1993 graduate and agriculture teacher and FFA advisor for Prairie Center High School: First place in Ag Sales and first place in Milk Quality and Products.