By Jose Lozoya | Staff Intern
Clay Joyner, John Banks and Meredith Del Castillo began their FFA journey together in the sixth grade at Tomlin Middle School. Fast forward to October 2015: The three of them were now Strawberry Crest High School seniors who placed fifth at the National Agricultural Communications Career Development event in Louisville, Kentucky.
The team started preparing for the event as juniors. The members’ longtime bond and experience in FFA helped the team better themselves as they did.
“We are very good friends, which made preparing and practicing very easy,” Joyner said.
Each team member had competed in various contests before nationals, which took place Oct. 28 to 29, but they all emphasized the difficulty of nationals.
“Every time we thought that we were done, we always had so many more things to do in order to improve and make ourselves better,” Del Castillo said.
The event consisted of a team presentation, communication, editing quizzes, a media plan, as well as individual practicums. Joyner was assigned to write a press release, Del Castillo was assigned to make a visual, and Banks was assigned to create a commercial.
The team’s trip was also a first for adviser Susan Mayo, who had never had a team win first in states and go to nationals.
“She really didn’t know what to expect, and neither did we,” Del Castillo said. “But we knew that going into it, all three of us knew that we were really good public speakers, and we felt confident with our public speaking presentation.”
The team members were also individually ranked for medal placing. Joyner and Banks were gold medalists, and Del Castillo was a silver medalist.
“I am so thankful for my amazing teammates who motivated me and pushed me to excel, which made me a gold medal recipient,” Banks said.
Joyner also placed 10th individually in the nation and won a $400 cash prize.
“I was actually shocked I placed so high as an individual, seeing as how I’d never competed in this contest before,” Joyner said.
Outside of the competition, the team got to explore Louisville and spent their Halloween in a unique way.
“We went to an abandoned tuberculosis hospital at night,” Del Castillo said. “We waited in line in the freezing cold to get into this place that we had no idea what to expect from it. But it turned out to be worth it, because everyone just ended up laughing at me because I was terrified the entire time. It was something that I would go back and do again if I could.”