Kilgore College Ag Farm

HUNTSVILLE, TX --- Win something once and you’re pretty lucky. Win it twice and you’re pretty good. Win it nearly a dozen times in 14 years and you’re a dynasty.

The Kilgore College Agriculture Club, the most active student organization on the Kilgore College campus, flexed their dynamic muscles again by capturing their 11th Texas Junior College Agriculture Association (TJCAA) “Chapter of the Year” honors in the past 14 years during the annual TJCAA Convention. The event took place on the Sam Houston State University campus recently.

Chapter of the Year includes all community service activities completed by the students during the year, “Outstanding Student of the Year” results, TJCAA state officer election results, Sweepstakes Award, and the Scrapbook Contest. Included in Kilgore’s 22-page application were 533 completed activities.

Blinn College and Coastal Bend College finished second and third, respectively, in the outstanding chapter point totals.

Kilgore College also won the TJCAA Sweepstakes Award, which includes Outstanding Student, Outstanding Scrapbook, a public relations contest, prepared speaking, job interview, and agricultural subject matter quizzes in animal science, agronomy, ag mechanization, horticulture, and wildlife management. These activities were completed at the convention site. Blinn College, Trinity Valley Community College, and Coastal Bend College finished second, third, and fourth, respectively.

Tyler Koch of Kilgore College was selected “Outstanding Student of the Year,” an honor that also carries with it a $5,000 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarship. Koch will attend Texas A&M, majoring in animal science, with possible graduate plans leaning toward veterinary medicine. Emily Winfrey, Cisco College, placed second, followed by (3) Kaci Starr, Blinn (4) Carrie Rodrigues, Coastal Bend; (5) Ashley Barrett, Weatherford College; (6) Kristin Clark, Kilgore; (7) Casey Waneck, Blinn; (8) Jennifer Largent, Trinity Valley; and (9) Ashley Goodson, Trinity Valley.

Kilgore College placed first in the Scrapbook Contest, followed by Trinity Valley, Blinn, and Coastal Bend, respectively.

In the Public Relations Contest, Blinn placed first, followed by Kilgore, Cisco, and Trinity Valley, respectively.

Ashley Sawyer, Blinn, won the Prepared Speaking Contest followed by (2) Jennifer Largent, Trinity Valley; (3) Christi Taylor, Kilgore; (4) Amanda Edwards, Coastal Bend; and (5) Heath Sutlive, Kilgore.

A new event, Job Interview, saw Ryan Sims of Trinity Valley take first place, followed by (2) Pam Hunt, Blinn; (3) Jennifer Smith, Kilgore; and (4) Michelle Evans, Kilgore.

TJCAA 2005-06 officers include: Ashley Sawyer, Blinn, president; Robbi Russel, first vice-president, Cisco College; Heath Sutlive, second vice-president, Kilgore; J.P Parkison, secretary, Trinity Valley; Michelle Evans, treasurer, Kilgore; Amanda Edwards, reporter, Coastal Bend; and Rachal Oats, sentinel, Blinn.

Following are results of the subject matter quizzes. Professors of the host university develop the quizzes comparable to that for freshman and sophomore-level students. [Agribusiness] (1) Hunter Soape, Blinn; (2) Jaime Gilmore, Trinity Valley; (3) Christian Schroeder, Blinn; (4) Tyler Koch, Kilgore; and (5) Sabrina Sulton, Coastal Bend. [Animal Science] (1) Hunter Soape, Blinn; (2) Jacob Salvagno, Coastal Bend; (3) Tressa Sheffield, Weatherford; (4) Ashley Goodson, Trinity Valley and Chris Johnson, Texarkana College; (6) Kirk Clark, Kilgore; (7) Christi Taylor, Kilgore; (8) Stacy Hoes, Weatherford; (9) Jenni Largent, Trinity Valley; and (10) Carrie Rodriguez, Coastal Bend. [Agronomy] (1) Amanda Robertson, Blinn; (2) Casey Waneck, Blinn; (3) Jenni Largent, Trinity Valley; (4) Tressa Sheffield, Weatherford and Ashley Goodson, Trinity Valley; (5) J.J. Wilburn, Coastal Bend; (6) Heather Swarts, Kilgore; (7) Chelsea Quinn, Texarkana; (8) Jennifer Smith, Kilgore; and (9) Jacob Salvagro, Coastal Bend.

[Ag Mechanization] (1) David Chudje, Blinn, and Stephen Islet, Blinn; (2) Courtney Hopper, Cisco, T.J. Wilburn, Coastal Bend, and Kirk Clark, Kilgore; (3) Jake Rieder, Coastal Bend; (4) Kristin Clark, Kilgore; (5) Wylie Wogoner, Trinity Valley, and Ryan Sims, Trinity Valley. [Horticulture] (1) Colton Vestal, Blinn; (2) Amanda Wardell, Trinity Valley; (3) Robby Russell, Cisco; (4) Jill Givens, Kilgore, Aaron Pope, Texarkana, and Carrie Rodriguez, Coastal Bend; (5) Kristin Clark, Kilgore; (6) Slayton Strube, Blinn; and (7) Sabrina Sulton, Coastal Bend.

[Wildlife] (1) Cody Muske, Blinn; (2) Heather Swarts, Kilgore; (3) Ashley Barrett, Weatherford, and Brittany Rhame, Texarkana; (4) Christian Schroeder, Blinn, and Ryan Royal, Coastal Bend; (5) Jennifer Smith, Kilgore; (6) Stacy Hoes, Texarkana; (7) Jake Riedee, Coastal Bend; and (8) Chantz Mann, Trinity Valley.

Bob Young, Kilgore College Agriculture Instructor, manager of the KC 450-acre farm, and sponsor of the award-winning club said his students worked exceptionally hard all year on their community service projects and the leadership of club president Kristin Clark kept the group focused on their goals.

“Our Kilgore College agricultural students completed many community service projects during the year as a cooperative group effort, thanks largely to the leadership of our chapter officer team and president Kristin Clark,” said Young. “Then individually, they performed brilliantly under pressure and under fire against students across the state at this convention. I think Kilgore College administers and trustees would be proud of the professional conduct these students exhibited in the process of competing for and winning another chapter of the year title. Our students met the challenges well throughout the year.”