Newberg Graphic Online

FFA team national champions in zoology

NHS — Winning team can’t compete in same category again; will try other events

• By: Laurent Bonczijk  
• Published: 11/4/2009 12:11:48 PM

Photo By: Laurent BonczijkChampions
Arianna Piscitelli and Alaena Wilfong pose with the display they created to bring home the gold.

   They went. They saw. They conquered. Arianna Piscitelli and Alaena Wilfong of Newberg High School’s FFA team took home the gold at the National FFA Convention for their zoology experiment in agri-science.
   It was Piscitelli’s second appearance at the Indianapolis, Ind., event to compete in the zoology contest — she finished fourth last year. Longtime FFA adviser Bob Beckner said that the experience of competing last year was most likely what helped her and teammate Wilfong finish first this time around.
   Their experiment compared the rate of growth of Rhode Island Reds chicks — “one of the most popular breeds of chickens,” Piscitelli said, because they are used to produce both eggs and meat — given organic versus medicated feed.
   The chicks given medicated feed grew faster than those fed organic feed; the latter also developed foot deformities. Wilfong said the team called an Oregon State University professor who studies poultry who “right off the bat” told them the deformed chickens had riboflavin deficiencies. Later tests proved him right.
   Wilfong said it was possible for the team to isolate food as the cause of the deficiency because the chicks were bought all at once and randomly assigned to one group, and were housed in identical conditions. “We’re thinking it’s the brand,” Wilfong said of the pair’s theory on why the chickens fed organic feed suffered deficiencies.
   Raising the chickens wasn’t only a science experiment for the two Blue School juniors — it was also a business venture. “We did make a profit,” Piscitelli said.
“$217 and 39 cents,” Wilfong chipped in.
   Piscitelli and Wilfong competed in Zoology Division IV. And they weren’t the only NHS students to take home accolades from the national competition. In Zoology  Division II, Kory Blake won the silver award and in Environmental Sciences Division I, Neil Gravatt took home the bronze.
   In Farm Business Management, Melissa Milhollin scored silver and Nick Grill and Thomas Lattig both made bronze for their individual efforts; the three also earned the bronze award as a team.
   In Environmental and Natural Resources, Travis Wilfong earned a silver award, while Andrew Corum, Brittnie Gardner and Chelsea Carlile all earned bronze. They earned bronze as a team, as well.
   Beckner, who has coached eight or nine national champions during the course of his career, said it was the first time one of his students had won in this particular event. Students who finish in the top three nationally in a given event cannot compete in it again, so he’s already steering some of his charges in a different direction.
   “It helps create better, well-rounded kids or citizens because they can’t specialize in a certain area,” he said.

  (log in to rate)