Skip to content
LINCOLN — Three teams with Lincoln High’s FFA chapter received championship honors in career development events at the 2023 Arkansas FFA State Convention and will represent the state at the national FFA convention in October.
Kevin Barenberg, Lincoln FFA advisor, said the students on all three teams are extremely dedicated and are “seeing the fruits of their labors.”
He added, “I get to sit back and enjoy watching them succeed. It’s about the kids. It’s not about the teachers, I promise you.”
The Horse Evaluation Team, Poultry Evaluation Team and Food Science Team won their events at the state convention. Many of the team members also received individual awards based on their scores.
Members of the Horse Evaluation Team are Kendal Pergeson, Kelsey Longwith, Jalynn Barenberg and Abigail Wiles. This team will represent Arkansas in the Horse Evaluation career development event at the national convention in Indianapolis, Ind.
Jalynn Barenberg finished as State Champion Individual for the horse evaluation career development event and Kelsey Longwith finished fifth in the state.
The Poultry Evaluation Team included members Ethan Albright, Bryce Bradley, Katie Traylor and Noah Atha. This team will represent Arkansas in the Poultry Evaluation career development event in October.
Lincoln had the top three scores for the poultry evaluation event. Noah Atha finished as the State Champion Individual. Bryce Bradley was second and Ethan Albright finished in third place.
The Food Science Team members are Dianna Avellaneda, Isaiah Whitlock, Laci Kyle, Emily Longwith. This team now will compete on the national level.
While Lincoln did not capture the first place individual award for food science, it did take second place, Dianna Avellaneda; third place, Isaiah Whitlock; fourth place, Laci Kyle; and fifth place, Emily Longwith.
“We have the best kids in the world,” Barenberg said. “The parents are sending us some amazing kids. They’ve trusted us to work with their kids and travel with their kids. I appreciate that.”
Barenberg had comments to make about all three teams and their contests at the state convention.
FOOD SCIENCE TEAM
The Food Science Team was a new team this year that had not been together previously but the team won every contest it competed in, as long as it had a full four-member team at the event, Barenberg said.
“Their scores are so consistent,” Barenberg said. “They all worked so hard to be together and had drive and determination. They are a fun group to be around.”
In the food science career development event, teams had to look at all aspects of production, product development, chemistry, market and sales. Barenberg said the team members had to have a working knowledge of the food industry all around.
The contest included a product development scenario where the team was given one hour to develop every component of a new food product, give a 10-minute presentation on the product and answer questions from the panel.
Barenberg said he had just given this activity during a professional development conference with agriculture teachers in Oklahoma and none was able to finish the assignment in one hour.
“They are asking these kids to do stuff that is extremely high level,” Barenberg said, adding this is a “smart man’s team.”
HORSE EVALUATION TEAM
Barenberg has been working with the Horse Evaluation Team for four years and it all came together in 2023 when they won the state championship.
“They’ve been to multiple world-level shows and placed in the top five and won individual awards but have not been able to get over the hump in our state competition,” he said.
In the event, the team has to look at the horses and be knowledgeable about 20 possible performance classes with each having its own set of rules. Team members have to place the horses in a class based on the rules and then give an oral presentation on the reasons for how they evaluated and judged the horses.
“There is not a contest out there that you have to know as much,” he said. “It is an intense amount of knowledge to perform in this event.”
The team has traveled in many states the past year judging horses. These are students who are in the arena judging with college kids, Barenberg said.
The contests have led to college visits and scholarship offers, he added.
POULTRY EVALUATION TEAM
The poultry evaluation team is an important one for Lincoln FFA, according to Barenberg.
“I’ve always said, ‘If you take chickens out of Lincoln, we disappear.’ That is our industry. We are a poultry region,” Barenberg said.
He said Lincoln FFA Chapter encourages students to understand the poultry industry. The team has to look at every aspect of the poultry industry, look at diseases of the animals and evaluate nuggets, tenders and wings.
“It is the toughest exam for FFA competitions because you have to be experts from top to bottom,” Barenberg said. “It’s led to so many opportunities for our kids. There are so many career opportunities in Northwest Arkansas, in the region and the nation in the poultry industry.”
In each of the career development events, Lincoln was competing against FFA teams from high schools of all sizes. FFA is not divided into classes like sports throughout the state. Only the championship team advances to the national contest.
Lincoln has about 200 students in 8th-12th grades participating in its FFA program.
Submitted photo Members of the Lincoln FFA Chapter’s horse evaluation team received championship honors at the State FFA Horse Evaluation Career Development Event. Team members are Kendal Pergeson, Kelsey Longwith, Jalynn Barenberg and Abigail Wiles. This team will represent Arkansas in the Horse Evaluation CDE at the National FFA Convention in October. Kevin Barenberg, left, is Lincoln FFA advisor.
Courtesy photo Members of Lincoln FFA Food Science team received champion honors in the State FFA Food Service Career Development event during the state convention. Members are Kevin Barenberg, FFA advisor, Dianna Avellaneda, Laci Kyle, Emily Longwith and Isaiah Whitlock (not pictured). The team will compete at the national convention in October.
