The Bangs FFA Ag Technology & Mechanical Systems team competed at the state contest this past Friday, April 24th at SHSU in Huntsville. Out of 36 teams and 144 individuals that qualified for the state contest, Bangs FFA finished in 1st place. Kian Kelly was high individual, Nathanael Wills was 3rd high, Leonel Vasquez was 4th high, and Connor Bible was 5th high. Also this year, they won the Cisco, SHSU, TX State invitationals, where Kian was high individual at all contests, and the Area IV contest at Tarleton where Nathanael was high individual.

In the Ag Technology & Mechanical Systems contest, students complete a team activity where they work together to complete a task.  This year they built a truss for a building, completed a bill of materials and cost analysis on the building, and wired 3-way switches. Then there was 3 individual skills, where they individually worked on and answered questions about zero turn lawn mowers, did a service advisor role on small engines to determine how to fix problems, and an environmental and natural resources skill, where they read and answered questions on topographic, USGS, and metes and bounds maps. Finally, they completed a 100 question exam over machinery, compact equipment, ENR, structures, and electricity.

With this win, they qualified for the National FFA ATMS contest this coming October. This is the 4th time Bangs FFA has qualified for the National contest since 2019, and the 5th state champion team in the same time including Tractor Tech in 2023. They will compete against students from across the country at the contest.