Minnesota Ag Connection - Williamson Named Minnesota FFA Star in Agriscience

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Williamson Named Minnesota FFA Star in Agriscience
Minnesota Ag Connection - 05/26/2020

Darrin Williamson of the Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (ACGC) FFA Chapter was named 2020 Minnesota FFA Star in Agriscience in the final day of the organization's virtual convention.

Williamson is the son of Donnel and Christa Williamson of Spicer. His FFA chapter is led by agricultural teacher and advisor Madeline Schultz. The Minnesota FFA Foundation's sponsor for the State Star recognition program is Compeer Financial Services.

The award winner's Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) compliments his interest in learning how objects and instruments work. Williamson related many of the components in his SAE to his agriscience fair projects. The variety of projects demonstrates Williamson's discovery inclination.

"Most of my earlier projects involve energy," said Williamson.

A project in mid-2015 sparked Williamson's power, structural and technical systems SAE.

"I wondered why all of the wind turbines have three blades," he said.

In this inaugural project, Williamson created a pop bottle car, testing different blades. His second project involved his family's farm dog. As primary caretaker, Williamson built a dog house in 2016.

"I built sample walls and tested four insulations for their R-value," said Williamson. "I recorded the temperature as the wall heated up and cooled down. This allowed me to determine which insulation would be best."

The dog house project influenced insulation in other animal facilities with which he has worked. Williamson's projects have also placed well at the state and national levels in the Minnesota FFA and National FFA agriscience fairs, earning him top 10 at both levels.

In addition to his SAE work, Williamson has served as a chapter and region officer and participated in the Ag Sales and Floriculture Career Development Events. Williamson has been a member of the State FFA Choir and National FFA Choir.

"Darrin's innovative ways of thinking has made him a vital member of our chapter," said Madeline Schultz, ACGC FFA advisor. "He is always pushing his fellow members to think outside of the box and to be creative as a chapter. Combined with his passion for FFA and his creative ideas, Darrin is a true champion of the values important to FFA."

In an SAE program, students apply what they are learning in the classroom. A student designs a program to gain hands-on experience and develop skills in agricultural career areas which interest them. Students are supervised by agricultural education teachers in cooperation with parents, employers and other adults who assist them in the development and achievement of their educational and career goals.

Each year, 16 state finalists -- four in each category -- vie for the association's top awards: Star Farmer, Star in Agribusiness, Star in Production Placement and Star in Agriscience. These awards honor students who have developed outstanding agricultural skills through their SAE and earned the FFA State Degree.

Two other finalists vied for the Star Agriscience distinction: Keelie Makin of Fertile Beltrami FFA and Jaiden Sundeen of Rockford FFA.

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