Rituals team earns Tonasket’s second national runner-up finish in three years

LOUISVILLE, KY – For the second time in three years, a Tonasket FFA team is bringing a national runner-up trophy home from the national FFA convention.

Sophomores Rade Pilkinton, Jenna Valentine, Janelle Catone, Jordan Hughes, Sammie Earley, Madison Bayless and Rachel Silverthorn, who won the state Rituals championship last spring, matched the stellar finish of the 2011 Parliamentary Procedure team for the best team finish in the storied history of the Tonasket FFA program.

Pilkinton also won a national championship for his individual performance. “It really seems surreal that our students have had such success at the national level,” said Tonasket ag instructor Matt Deebach in an email. ” The team finished No. 2 overall on a very long and stressful day.”

Pilkinton’s individual score came from a combination of a written test, debate, opening and closing, and oral questions.

“What a great day,” Deebach said.

We will have more details on the team’s trip to the 86th national FFA convention in the Nov. 7 issue of the Gazette-Tribune.