65th Annual Competition Is Among First and Largest in the Nation
The 65th edition of the Wilmington College Aggies' annual Judging Contest promises to continue the tradition of offering a top-quality judging experience for high school students engaged in 4-H, vocational agriculture and Future Farmers of America.
PICTURED: High school students judge sheep in the 2022 Aggies Judging Contest in Memory of Harold Thirey.
Last year, the WC student-run event — billed as among the first in the nation each year and the largest east of the Mississippi — attracted 1,600 participants eager to hone their skills in agronomy and judging equine, dairy and general livestock.
This year’s competition is Wednesday (March 1) and again will be held at the Champion Expo Center, 4122 Laybourne Road, Springfield, with judging from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The Aggies' Judging Contest is Wilmington College's largest student-run event and is named in memory of Harold Thirey, a long-time agriculture professor and Aggies' adviser who died unexpectedly in 2021.
Senior Aubrey Schwartz is president of the Aggies. She is proud the Aggies are so nimble and dedicated each year that returning students step up and take on leadership roles in staging a signature hands-on learning event. "One of the biggest challenges each year is the turnover from graduation, but we've always had seniors who teach the younger students how to run the competition," said the agricultural education major. "This opportunity to educate my peers has helped me in my preparation to become an agriculture teacher."
Schwarts also is the current Ohio FFA president so she's looking forward to her "worlds colliding" at the Judging Contest when, in her role as Aggies president, she welcomes those high school FFA members for whom she's served this past year. "I look forward to seeing a lot of members I've worked with on different FFA activities."
It also presents an opportunity for Schwartz to come full circle with the Judging Contest, which she participated in as a student at Miami Trace High School.
"As it was when I was in high school, the Aggies' Judging Contest gives students a high-quality opportunity to judge good livestock and agronomy," Schwartz said. "Now, as a member of the Aggies, we gauge the success of our event based on the high school students' experience in judging."
Indeed, students run the show. They secure the animals, organize the logistics and get the word out to Ohio and neighboring states' schools, 4-H groups, FFA members and vocational agriculture classes. The contest represents a real-life application and a hands-on learning experience for both the high school students and WC’s agriculture students that stage the event. Participants use those judging skills fine-tuned at WC's contest at upcoming county and state fairs and other judging competitions.
Wilmington College’s Bachelor of Science in Agriculture degree program features concentrations in agricultural business, agronomy, animal science, equine business management, agricultural communications, agricultural education and a new concentration in resource conservation & regenerative agriculture. WC also features an ag-related concentration in food policy and agriculture advocacy housed under political science. The College offers minors in agriculture, equine studies and sustainability.