In the early morning of January 26, eight WWCC agricultural students and four staff took off to Columbia Basin College to compete in the annual Professional Agricultural Students (PAS) State Conference to display their interview skills and breadth of agricultural knowledge.
This event was attended by three colleges: Columbia Basin College, Spokane Community College and WWCC. Students competed in multiple knowledge-based exams on topics ranging from floriculture to swine to dairy. The agronomist exam was particularly close in scoring, with WWCC students placing second and fourth.
The largest part of the competition was the employment interview. Students competed in several different sectors by interviewing with an industry representative. Our students placed in five out of the eight interview categories, with four students in first place.
Near the end of the day, the College Bowl competition was held between all three schools, with five students per team. WWCC students showed a well-honed knowledge base, making it to the second-to-last round.
We give a big thanks to the students who participated in this competition and look forward to growing the team for next year in the search to make it to the PAS National Conference. This year’s team included Kyra Corning, Holland Gallaway, Kate Marin, Eric Mooney, Sarah Schonbachler, Daytona Tracy, Braedyn White and Bjorn Wolf.
Staff members Alan Raeder, Cristie Crawford, Ceana Pacheco and Grayson Wallis provided support with grading questions, student interviews, and scoring some of the speaking competitions, helping the entire event run smoothly.
