FFA and art students will compete at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in animal, judging, and Rodeo Art events from Feb. 28 to Mar. 18.
According to FFA sponsor Melanie Ressler, there are multiple students involved in Rodeo competitions.

“We have about four students taking their heifer projects, one who will show a steer, one who will show a turkey and about 40 who will compete in judging competitions,” she said. “The students showing heifers are competing the weekend before spring break, the steers, turkeys and some Ag. Mechanics projects we are taking will also be there during spring break. Judging competitions fall in that range depending on what team is going what day.”

While judging competitions give material awards, animal competition awards can be monetary, according to Ressler.

“All the judging competitions give trophies and those types of rewards,” she said. “The heifer shows give some monetary awards, and there are some ribbons and banners and stuff like that. For a steer and a turkey, their goal is to get auctioned. If the animal is placed at the top of their class then they go to auction in front of a live audience. The grand champion can be sold for $200,000. All that money doesn’t go directly to the student, some of it goes to a scholarship fund. There is a cap for how much the students will receive, which varies depending on what contest the students enter.”

Junior Cody Rogers will be taking his heifer to be judged, and has competed in events before such as calf scrambles.

“This won’t be my first show, I’ve shown her a bunch of times before,” he said. “I’ve been preparing since I got her. The reason I wanted to show a heifer is because I want to have my own herd of cows [eventually].”

Other students, such as seniors Tien Dang, Jungah Park and Tingjie Huang are competing in Rodeo Art.

“The due date to turn the art in was early January, and the district judging was in the middle of January,” Dang said. “The district show was on January 17 where we found out our results. The actual show of all the winning pieces is the duration of the rodeo show down at Reliant. I got Special Merit, which means my piece moves on to the Rodeo and is judged again to decide if it gets auctioned, which I will find out March 3.”

Dang, who has competed  before in elementary school, middle school and high school, has never got this far.

“I guess I wanted to enter the competition to see how I would do,” she said. “I entered a colored pencil piece titled ‘Beyond the Countryside.’ It was inspired by one of my best friends and one of the most country people I know, Stephanie Carter.”

Rogers said he has gained  from his experience with his heifer.

“You get the experience, which is a reward,” Rogers said. “You get buckles, banners, you can even get scholarships. For the Fort Worth Calf Scramble and the Houston Calf Scramble you have to do a scrapbook for your whole experience, and you can get scholarships through it.”

Rogers acquired his heifer six months prior to the competition and has raised her since then. He said he has enjoyed the hard work involved with raising her regardless of its difficulty.

“You’ve got to walk her every day, you’ve got to feed her right and listen to your Ag. teacher and your breeder,” he said. “The best reward has been getting a better bond with my parents.”