PULLMAN — A year’s worth of homework, competition and mental preparation came to a head for the North Kitsap FFA team May 10-14 as the group travelled to the state convention at Washington State University.

The five-day event was not only a chance for NK’s agriculturally minded students to shine on the state stage, but it was also a time for the group to have a good time with their statewide FFA colleagues.

“It’s always an interesting trip,” NKHS FFA advisor John Waller said with a smile. “Our students did outstanding, many of (our) teams were up on stage (at the end of competition) and recognized as top-eight in the state.”

North Kitsap highlights at the convention included the Poulsbo Junior High rituals team, which earned fifth place; Kingston Junior High’s Claire Watson, who finished second in the creed speaking competition; NKHS’ dairy foods team, which finished sixth; and NKHS senior Brianna Oas, who was selected as the state FFA secretary for 2006-2007.

However, all 33 NK kids competing at the state competition should be commended as they qualified for the state convention through district competition earlier in the year, Waller said.

“The FFA is the largest youth leadership organization that any student can be involved in,” Waller said, noting that through the FFA kids gain real-world experience in agricultural career development areas from sales to public speaking. “There’s a lot of different ways to get that leadership component, and they will take it with them when they leave on college scholarships and applications.”

Students should also retain the knowledge of how agricultural business functions in the real world.

North Kitsap’s sales team 1 — which finished eighth in state competition — got a crash course in how to market an agriculturally based product — Starbucks Coffee.

Through the competition, the students had to develop a sales plan and work through the sales process with a state judge.

In addition, each member of the team also took a written test and the group had to collectively deal with a dissatisfied customer being judged in a customer relations scenario.

In another aspect of the agricultural convention, NK’s issues team delved into Kitsap County’s controversial quarrel with the building of a NASCAR track in Bremerton.

“They did it as a city council meeting, with the council members debating and discussing all of the positive and negatives of that,” Waller said.

Although the issues team didn’t place in the competition, Waller expects the experience of objectively considering a controversial agriculture issue to pay off in the future.

“Whatever you like to do, we can find a contest that fits your personality,” Waller said of the FFA program. In addition to the career development aspects of FFA, traditional livestock raising and competitions are also ongoing throughout the year, highlighted by competition in the Kitsap County and spring fairs.