ASHLAND — This year, the Ashland FFA sent a team to the Ohio High School Landscape Olympics and earned 7th runner-up.
Last year’s success brought an exciting opportunity to the Ashland FFA’s Nursery and Landscape team, a chance to compete in the Ohio High School Landscape Olympics — OHLO — sponsored by the Ohio Green Industry Association — OGIA.
OHLO “tests students’ skills through hands-on, competitive events designed by industry professionals.
OHLO broadens the high school education experience and introduces students to the many opportunities offered by a career in the green industry” and “… is open to all Ohio High Schools and Career Centers with horticulture programs.
“Single teams from all participating schools may compete in all events, or just a few. Competitive events test the student’s abilities to interact in a hands on environment” (Ohio Green Industry Association, 2023).
When asked about the chapter’s experience at OHLO, Ashland advisor Tod Fox stated, “I would say that it was a great contest run by industry professionals from across the state which allowed students to participate in hands-on contests while gaining valuable knowledge and experience.”
Competing in OHLO this year were 229 students from 15 schools.
All teams competed on the campus of The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI) in Wooster.
This year, the Ashland FFA took part in the Cost Estimating, Irrigation, Sod Laying, Hardscape Installation, Landscape Maintenance, Skid Steer, Compact Excavator, Herbaceous Plant ID, Woody Plant ID, and Landscape Design events.
Gavin Hoffman, Haley McNaull, and Brian VanBreman competed in Cost Estimating with Hoffman placing 6th overall.
Cost Estimatings requires students to understand how to use an architects scale, find perimeter and area, use math to calculate total costs, and interpret the landscape plan’s key and markings.
James Keener and Michael Hamilton made up Ashland’s Irrigation and Sod Laying teams placing 9th and 2nd, respectively.
To complete the Irrigation challenge, members had to interpret an irrigation plan and then cut and assemble the lines per the plan’s direction.
When asked about the contest, Keener stated, “It was a challenge, I learned some new things. The judges were super cool and good at their jobs; they had really great constructive criticism for me on my sod and irrigation installation.”
The Hardscape Installation team members were Hoffman and VanBreman.
While the team did not place, they constructed a wall and patio for the first time and learned how to improve their craftsmanship from professional installers.
In a reflection of the event, Hoffman stated, “It was fun, I would definitely do it again, I learned a lot of things. All of the hands-on stuff was fun, building the wall was the best part but I struggled with the bottom bricks.”
Nick Cartwright and Hamilton competed in the Landscape Maintenance event and placed 5th.
Cartwright ran the walk behind lawn mower while Hamilton operated the zero turn lawn mower.
Together they mowed a mock residence while following all safety and equipment start-up procedures.
Cartwright was the team’s representative for the Skid Steer and the Compact Excavator competitions and placed 4th and 9th respectively.
For Skid Steer operation, Cartwright maneuvered the skid steer through an obstacle course and completed bucket maneuvering challenges.
The Compact Excavator contest challenged competitors to lift and move concrete pillars to a designated area, remove ping-pong balls from on top of traffic cones without knocking the cones over, and precisely move the machine through a course.
Keener, Emma Martin, and McNaull represented the Ashland FFA in Herbaceous Plant ID.
Keener, Martin, and McNaull were tasked with identifying 25 plants by their genus, species, and common names.
McNaull placed 4th overall.
Martin competed in Woody Plant ID and while she did not place in the top 10, she learned more about how to identify common woody plants in Ohio.
McNaull was the team’s representative for Landscape Design and placed 2nd overall.
For the Landscape Design contest, McNaull had 80 minutes to draw out a landscape plan that met the customer’s desires, preferences, and cost restraints and then present it to a panel of judges.
When all of the scores were combined, the Ashland FFA came in as the 7th runner up out of the 15 teams that competed.
Cartwright, Hamilton, Hoffman, Keener, Martin, McNaull, and VanBreman would like to thank this year’s OHLO sponsors for the exceptional program that they put on and for encouraging the team through their first OHLO experience.