Cook Middle FFA members from Cook Middle School in Sparks, Ga., build real-world skills as they take on the forestry career development event (CDE).
When four of FFA advisor Morgan Anderson’s members decided they wanted to compete as a team in the forestry career development event (CDE), he was surprised. Since serving as the Cook Middle FFA advisor, none of his students had expressed a serious interest in forestry.
Inspired by the passion displayed by the four students — Josie Rodock, Elana Miles, Hoyt Bearden and Lee Joiner — Anderson immediately got to work helping them make their dream a reality.
Anderson made sure the students had the tools and equipment they needed to practice and compete in the event, such as clinometers, compasses and Biltmore sticks.
“My father worked with the Georgia Forestry Commission as a forest ranger for 33 years,” says Anderson, an agriculture instructor at Cook Middle School. “Although I grew up learning about forestry, it never was my ‘thing’ — until four of my members came to me, determined to compete in forestry CDE. I made a commitment to them that if we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it right.”
As they prepared to compete, the four-person team of sixth- and seventh-grade students also received assistance from Anderson’s student teacher from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Carmen Gudino. According to Anderson, she helped coach the team members and contributed to their success.
“These students were ready to soak up all the knowledge they could in a very short amount of time,” Anderson says. “They put their noses to the grindstone and worked hard, knowing they would be going up against teams of older students.”
On competition day, the Cook Middle FFA forestry CDE team was more than ready to showcase their newly developed skills in managing forests and forest inventory.
The students identified tree types, demonstrated their ability to correctly read a compass, used Biltmore sticks to determine tree diameter and height, and “cruised” timber (or estimated the value of a tract of timber).
The team placed eighth in the region and, according to Anderson, are already planning to compete again next year and come back stronger.
“I couldn’t be prouder of these kids,” he says. “They competed against eighth- and ninth-grade students with far more experience and held their own. To say I was impressed and inspired doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt.”
Anderson also looks forward to ramping up his focus on forestry in the classroom, not only to help his students prepare for their next competition but also to continue sharing the importance of one of Georgia’s top industries, which contributed nearly 144,000 jobs in the state and produced $41.3 billion in revenue in 2022.
“Forestry is essential to our community,” Anderson says. “It’s a major economic driver for us, as well as the entire state of Georgia, so it’s incredible to see students getting into it.”
Visit ffa.org/participate/cde-lde to learn more about team CDEs and find an event that interests you and your classmates.
