Streator High students head to Indy for national FFA convention

MacKenzie Donahue remembers the February practice she joined the Streator High School FFA's food science team.

Donahue was asked to substitute for someone who had left the team, and her three teammates Tristen Geary, Caden Stasko and Alea Ogle were quizzing each other on cooking aromas — one of the items they are tested on.

The trio challenged themselves. If they didn't get enough of them right, they were going to run in the snow barefoot.

"They had to run in the snow," she said.

The team's commitment has paid off.

After their performance at the Illinois FFA Food Science & Technology Career Development Event, they will compete beginning Wednesday in the National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis.

Additionally, Lance Moritz will participate in the national convention for his supervised agricultural experience.

Geary said the food science team practices at least 15 hours a week, working around everyone's challenging schedules. Both Geary and Stasko have graduated. Ogle runs the Blue Eyed Rascal, her own bakery business; Geary and Donahue have jobs; and Stasko attends Monmouth College, also playing football.

Most of the practices now take place in the Blue Eyed Rascal kitchen, where the team can study hands-on.

"We get together on weekends, but we have a lot of homework in between, so there's a lot of independent work," Ogle said.

The team is tested on aromas, the triangle test (where an ingredient is added to two others, and the team has to distinguish which one it is), the math test and customer inquiries.

Each of them also specializes in an area from labeling nutrition and pricing to marketing and demographics, as well as product safety.

Learning the family business

Moritz will give a presentation at the national convention for his Supervised Agricultural Experience with his family's Moritz Lawn Care Service & Snow Removal. SAEs allow students to learn by doing, by either owning and operating an agricultural business, working or serving an internship at an agriculture-based business or conducting an agriculture-based scientific experiment and reporting results, according to a news release from the Streator High School agriculture department.

Moritz said he handled every facet of the business with 10 customers, from the lawn care work itself to bookkeeping.

"I'd like to take over the business someday, but I'd also like to get involved on the farming side of things. I'm the fifth generation," he said.

His presentation will focus on the knowledge of his business, prices, customer interaction and communication, among other topics.