On Wednesday March 21, four members of the newest FFA group competed against several schools from all over Texas. While there are many different areas to compete in, Lakeview choose entomology (which is the scientific study of insects). The students had to identify insects and classify them based on their order, how they eat, how they grow and more; they also had to take a written exam about general information.

“There were some disgusting bugs and it was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I feel like we were prepared,” senior Jayda Crenshaw said.

Students were divided up by lettered groups and then went in accordingly. There were 25 insects in a row with strict rules on when to start and when to rotate. After their identification, the 25 question exam followed. This format was the same for both competitions that day.

“The exam was definitely easier than the identification section,” sophomore Katherine Zamora said. “I had studied the bugs for so long, I thought I would have that in the bag, but I still think I did well either way.”

After the first competition in Northwest ISD, the team headed to Decatur for the bigger and more prominent competition. With at least 100 schools there, it was very crowded and very stressful for the small team of four.

“It was intimidating, even for me,” agriculture teacher and advisor Larry Jones said. “I thought it would be a lot more casual and lowkey.”

Despite the big crowd and intimidation of it being their first competition, the team got second place in area 5A and is advancing to state on April 21.