Righetti FFA Poultry Team Wins National Honors 🐓

Image of Righetti's poultry team posing with national award.

From October 21st-26th, Righetti High School’s State FFA Champion Poultry Evaluation

team traveled to compete at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.

During the convention, members of the team competed in the National FFA Poultry

Evaluation Career Development Event, where they earned 8th place out of 42 teams in

the nation.

The team consisted of graduates Diego Melgoza, Saramerrie Torres, and Anthony

Medina, along with senior Hazel Ward and coach Amy Guerra. Diego Melgoza ranked

fourth place individually out of 168 participants and all of Righetti’s team members

received gold emblem rankings.

The team was named state champions at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in May of 2024.

The state champion team then qualified to represent California at the National FFA

Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, which takes place every year in October. This is the

second year in a row where Righetti represented California in the Poultry CDE contest.

Diego Melgoza, who placed 4th in the event states that “Going to National Convention

was a dream come true for me because not only was it an amazing travel opportunity,

but also was unique chance to take my passion for agriculture to a whole new level. It

was extremely special to experience traveling and competing with my amazing

teammates, especially since we all together had been working hard to earn this

experience for the better part of two years.”

Hazel Ward, “I am so proud of my team and thankful for my teachers who have helped

me attain this experience and helped me learn the knowledge to take me this far. I have

enjoyed this journey and look forward to many new ones that may come my way in my

last year at Righetti FFA.”

Saramerrie Torres, “I had a great experience attending the 97 th National FFA Convention

and competing in the Poultry Evaluation Contest representing both Righetti FFA and

California. During the weeklong trip my teammates and I got to meet new FFA

Members, see the city, and make so many memories.”

Anthony Medina, “This trip taught me about how successful true hard work can take you

far. I am so happy to have had this experience, and I am proud of my team.”

Coach Amy Guerra, “I’m extremely proud to see how much this group has grown. Their

determination to do their best and their confidence with public speaking led them to

great success. The team created memories and gained skills that they will use

throughout their life.”

According to the National FFA Organization, students who participate in the event select

live meat-type chickens for broiler breeding, evaluate and place live egg-type hens, and

rate the finished product by evaluating and grading ready-to-cook carcasses and parts

of chickens and turkeys. The contest includes an oral component where contestants

give oral reasons on turkey carcasses and leghorn hens to professionals from Tyson

and other poultry companies. Also, they were given a twenty-five questioned test at the

end of the competition, to test their knowledge on poultry management techniques,

anatomy, and general poultry knowledge. They are also scored as a team for a team

test that they must work together on to get the best score.

We are so proud of our Poultry Evaluation Team and wish them the best of luck in their

future endeavors!