Career Technical and Agricultural Education department teacher and FFA adviser Levi Carr stands in the Clarke Central High School greenhouse on May 4, 2022. Carr has created a new floral design class for the 2023-24 school year, and along with the Floral Design Career Development Event he hopes it will give students the opportunity to practice and explore floral design. “We have a lot of students that are interested in (floral design) and are continuing that outside of these four walls of the school,” Carr said. “(The students are) owning their own small businesses with floral design.” Photo by Maya Clement
Students from CCHS and other Georgia high schools will compete to create floral arrangements in the Floral Design Career Development Event on Sept. 26.
FFA members Eudora Dawson, a freshman, and Anahi Rodriguez, a senior, are representing Clarke Central High School in the Georgia statewide Floral Design Career Development Event at Banks County High School on Sept. 26.
The competition is divided into two age groups: sixth to ninth graders and 10th to 12th graders. At the competition, students will be assigned a scenario and have to create a floral arrangement to best fit it. The second portion of the competition is identifying different flowers, tools and materials that are used in the floral industry.
“This impact of the (Floral Design Career Development Event) is to train and prepare young students for the floral industry, careers (and to) gain a sense of networking for them (in) that career field and gain experience,” Career Technical and Agricultural Education department teacher and FFA adviser Levi Carr said. “Winning in my eyes is the students gaining that knowledge and being able to apply that in (an) actual career field, but actually bringing the knowledge that they’ve learned back here to (CCHS) and being able to spread that to others and allow our program to grow.”
“Winning in my eyes is the students gaining that knowledge and being able to apply that in (an) actual career field, but actually bringing the knowledge that they’ve learned back here to (CCHS) and being able to spread that to others and allow our program to grow.”
— Levi Carr,
Career Technical and Agricultural Education department teacher and FFA adviser
In the 2023-24 school year, Carr has created a new CTAE class that studies and creates floral design. He created this class so students would understand the history of floral design while also learning techniques that are utilized in the floral industry. Carr hopes the information in the class will contribute positively in the upcoming competition.
“I’m excited. I feel like we stand a very good chance because we have this class here at Clarke Central,” Carr said. “I feel like if we continue to inspire those kids and keep it up, that success is going to come very easy for our program in this competition.”
Rodriguez, who is in the floral design class, feels a mix of emotions going into her last competition as she hopes it will fulfill her expectations.
“I feel confident and nervous but optimistic,” Rodriguez said. “I think doing this (competition) my senior year would really make it meaningful because it’s going to be my last competition.”
