The New Project Competition Craig Davidson & Lindsay DevaursHighland High SchoolBakersfield, Ca.

Background… Why? We couldn’t figure out a way to really

make sure students were actually doing an SAE, besides visiting all 300+ at their homes… (yikes)

We reminisced about our own high school FFA experience…

And the idea for a new type of project competition was born.

How to Get Students to Take It Seriously Prepare students that this is coming down

the pipeline- in September Spend time in class discussing what

qualifies as an SAE and what doesn’t (more on that later)

Give time each month to update record books

Bring it up about once a month Medals given to recipients at the banquet

How to Run the Contest- Long Term Planning Give students handouts in January (if

contest is in May) Reserve facilities & supplies (like testing

tables). We take up the entire gym Find judges about two months to a

month in advance Give students time in class to create

boards (optional)

How to Run the Contest- Day Of Organization is KEY:

Put judging sheets in record books with names written on them by students

Organize boards/books into categories (animal science, plant science, etc.)

Have a group of students meet you in the morning to set up- don’t do this by yourself

When the day is over, have a group of students load the boards back into the classroom, or have students pick up themselves

What Counts/doesn’t count as an SAE? This is an item for debate!

Food processing like jams and jellies Dog sitting Etc., etc.

National FFA SAE list of ideas not necessarily your best friend

Grading/Judging Check the packet and look at the

evolution of our score sheet in the past two years

The average score the judges give is the grade the students get (we put all students into an Excel spreadsheet and have the program do the math)

The Record Book Component Each board has to have a record book in

order to be judged. No record book=no score

Check packet for a simple score sheet

Finding Judges The contest isn’t too tough to judge- it

takes about 3 hours if each judge looks at 3 projects Administration Advisory Committee FFA Alumni members and former students Local Fair Board members or school board

members

Keeping Students Honest Each students must include 5 distinctly

different photos of them with their project with their face in the picture

Each student must have a record book with signed business agreements

Benefits & Drawbacks Pros:

Showcases a variety of student activities Makes it easy to grade SAE accurately and fairly Recognizes a variety of students and increases

student buy-in Buy-in from community members, counselors,

admin, etc. Cons:

Time? Judges can’t interview every student to confirm

information

Questions? Craig_davidson@kernhigh.org Lindsay_devaurs@kernhigh.org