On Friday, March 11th, Freehold Township’s very own Animal and Botanical sophomore class took a trip to Mercer County Community College. The sophomores competed at the Horticultural Exposition and Floral Design Career Development Event. Their task was to complete an arrangement based on their category and then bring it to the college to compete against other participants.

First, the students chose categories from a list to compete in. Some categories had specific rules but most categories gave you a one sentence summary of what they were looking for. On Monday, March 7th, the sophomores took a class trip to Sieck-Wright Floral Products, a wholesale florist. There, the students were given a budget of $20 to pick out supplies. A lot of supplies were already available in the classroom, such as containers and ribbon, so most students used their $20 to purchase flowers for the arrangement. The whole class competed in the permanent flower categories.

The students were given that week in class to prepare. They were expected to create their design according to the categories requirements along with a price sheet. The price sheet should have all the expenses clearly written out.

When Friday came, the students were both excited and nervous about going because they just didn’t know what to expect. One sophomore, Michael Carino, even says, “It was a bit intimidating, but I was definitely confident in my work.”

When the students arrived at Mercer County, they first had to drop off and sign in their arrangements in their specific category. After that, they had the day to attend workshops and view other arrangements. The workshops were leadership programs, a tour of the campus and their horticulture program, and also a viewing of another horticulture career development event.

Around noon, some of the categories begin to receive judging. The students all anticipated the results and patiently waited nearby to view the winners of their category. The judges were florists and other volunteers with backgrounds in horticulture. Each category was given a fifth place, fourth place, third place, second place and first place ribbon.

Many of Freehold Township’s sophomores placed at this event and four students even placed first. Those four students were Danielle Marino, Alyssa Cavezza, Laik Green and Olivia Ribas. Danielle competed in The Formal category with a corsage she had made. Alyssa was in the Banquet Table category. Laik made his arrangement for the Valentine’s Day category. Olivia took part in the Holiday Wreaths category with her Easter wreath.

When the Patriot Press got the chance to speak with some of the students who placed in this event, we learned how the students felt about competing and participating in this event.

Maddison Stein says, “Placing made me feel great about myself.”

Arielle Yu says, “I felt prepared and ready to compete at this event and when I placed, I knew my hard work had paid off”.

Not only was placing a great feeling for these students, but so was being in the environment of the event as well. Ashley Sibilia says, “It was so much fun, I would definitely create an arrangement to compete next year”.

Another student, Kimberly Herbert says, “I have one thing to say… I was lucky for the opportunity to create a placing arrangement and spend time with my friends”.

Hadel Darwish also had a great experience. She says, “My arrangement gave me the opportunity to spend time with my friends and work hard on a project that I enjoyed designing”.

This was the sophomore class’s first time creating arrangements to compete in and they most definitely worked hard and were dedicated to accomplish their goals. Whether students placed or not, it’s safe to say that everyone had an incredible time competing in the Horticultural Exposition and Floral Design Career Development Event. Lessons were learned on this trip and it was definitely an unforgettable experience for some of the students in Freehold Township’s very own sophomore class.