Advisor Reggie Jenkins and the Meats Evaluation team from North Lenoir High School are headed to competition at the National FFA Convention in October after winning first place at the state convention last week. Team members are, from left, Karrie-Lyn Deaver, Griselda Perez, Lisette Vasquez and Kimberly Vasquez. Submitted photo.

Defending its state championship, North Lenoir High School added to an impressive string of victories in the meats career development competition at the North Carolina FFA State Convention in Raleigh last week.

As state winners, the team of Griselda Perez, Karrie-Lyn Deaver, Kimberly Vasquez, and Lisette Vasquez earned the right to compete at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, in October.

Their victory marks the seventh time in 11 years a team of FFA students from North Lenoir has finished first in this competition, which requires teams to take a knowledge test, identify retail cuts of meat, grade meat cuts and solve a math problem.

The team scored 1,314 out of a possible 1,500 points. Lisette Vasquez posted the second-highest individual score and Griselda Perez and Kimberly Vasquez tied for third in individual points.

“The Meats Career Development Event is one of the toughest contests the FFA offers. I am very proud of the time and effort these four girls put into this contest,” North Lenoir faculty member and team advisor Reggie Jenkins said. “They scored the highest team score in that I can recall in 14 years of competing in this contest. Their tremendous effort to study and practice on their own time paid off and we look forward to competing in October at the National FFA Convention.”

All members of this year’s team are new to the event. The team of Shyanna Mobley, Zack Jenkins and Summer West won the state title in 2018 and a bronze medal at the national convention. Previously, North Lenoir teams took the state’s top prize in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2016.

For several years, Jenkins and his teams have partnered with Piggly Wiggly at Green Tree Plaza on U.S. 258 in Kinston for skill development.

Other teams from North Lenoir and FFA chapters at South Lenoir High School and Woodington Middle School also garnered honors at the state convention, held June 18-20.

North Lenoir’s Forestry Team of Alan Garcia, Logan Clark, Ibrahim Nagi, and Zack Jenkins finished fourth in the state; and chapter members Summer West, Zack Jenkins and Ethan Lane received their State FFA Degree.

South Lenoir FFA member Jensen Barwick was recognized for his first-place finish in the Specialty Crop Production Proficiency Area and South Lenoir’s Tools Team competed in the state event. The school’s FFA chapter received the Chapter Growth Award, signifying significant growth in the number of active members compared to the previous year.

South Lenoir students Haley Lewis and JaQuanna McClain previously qualified for national competition after winning awards on the state level – Lewis the first-place winner in the Senior Poetry division and McClain the third-place winner in the Senior Art division.

The FFA Chapter at Woodington Middle School received the Silver National Chapter Award at the state convention. The award honors FFA chapters that provide educational opportunities that grow leaders, build community and strengthen agriculture. Woodington’s chapter is the largest among all middle schools in the state.

Ag education is curriculum within LCPS’s Career and Technical Education program in middle and high schools, and FFA chapters at the schools give students an opportunity to develop leadership skills, discover careers in agriculture, travel and compete against their peers.