On April 27, the career development teams, Farm Business Management and the Bowie Vet Science team, attended their main competition of the year. Farm Business Management placed first while the Bowie Vet Science team placed sixteenth.

“Placing first came as a very happy surprise to all of us, including Ms. Dickinson,” Farm Business Management member Jazmin Garza said. “None of us were expecting it because right after we competed, we were all worried that we didn’t do our best and felt that we struggled.”

The Farm Business Management team advanced to state last week and competed against many other teams.

“We did okay in state, but sadly, we didn’t advance to Nationals,” Garza said. “During the spring and over the summer we’re going to prepare as hard as we can for nationals in the next three years, which is our ultimate goal.”

Agriculture, Farm Business Management, and Vet Science are all important and well-respected classes to Bowie.

“Farm Business Management is a class that helps students learn and understand the animal-based part of agriculture,” Freshman Jenna Gura said. “We learn how to raise animals, sell animals, and to be successful at marketing and operating small businesses related to agriculture.”

Even though the Farm Business Management and the Vet Science teams are often associated with each other, they actually differ greatly from each other.

“The Farm Business Management team and the Vet Science team are completely different,” Garza said. “[FBM]’s competition is actually a written test, which requires a large amount of memorization and math skills. The Vet Science teams competition is more like a demonstration of skills and tools.”

The teams have to work very hard and spend a significant amount of time outside of the classroom to prepare themselves for competition.

“We usually meet Monday and Wednesday before or after school,” Garza said.  “During the competition time, we’ll meet before school, after school, and during FIT, so it’s around three to five hours total in a week. The class does teach us some about not only money management skills, but how to spend time wisely too.”

The clubs are very beneficial to participants who want to thrive in the agricultural business as well as teach many unexpected skills.

“I would definitely recommend a lot of eighth graders to this club because it’s very helpful with life skills, and we’re looking to expand our team more,” Garza said. “It’d be better if we had alternatives since there are only four people on our team.”

Though the Farm Business Management team has many accomplishments, it’s always looking for new members to join and help them develop as a team.

“I would recommend joining the Farm Business Management Team because in the aftermath it is very rewarding and if you are looking for a fun competitive environment then this would be the class to join,” Gura said.