COD Horticulture Students Compete in National Collegiate Landscape Competition
Six Horticulture students represented College of DuPage and competed this year in 16 of the 28 events at the National Collegiate Landscape Competition (formerly Student Career Days) March 15 to 19 at Mississippi State University.
As a team, the COD students placed 39th overall in this national competition. In addition, COD students Rafael Zavala (Aurora) placed 35th overall and Jorge Castillo (Elk Grove Village) placed 38th overall. Zavala and Castillo also placed 9th overall working together as a Landscape Maintenance Operations Team.
Many Chicagoland sponsors assisted in funding this year's trip to the competition, including Russo Power Equipment, Mississippi Valley Stihl, Sebert Landscaping, Ball Horticulture, The Growing Place, K & R Landscaping, Inc., Midwest Ground Covers, Midwest Trading, Alan Horticulture, Landscape Design Association, Acres Group, Unilock, Home Depot #1905, Best Lawns, Inc., Lombardian/Villa Park Review, Barn Owl Garden Center Blossoms of Lombard, and Coventry Gardens, LTD.
Celebrating its 40th year, the National Collegiate Landscape Competition has grown from its beginnings as a friendly competition between the Mississippi State, Ohio State, and Michigan State University horticulture programs to become the signature recruiting and career building event in the landscape industry over 60 colleges and Universities with horticulture and landscape programs across the nation participate each year.
This year, approximately 800 horticulture and landscape students from 63 schools tested their skills in real-world, competitive events and interviewed with landscape, lawn-care, tree care, irrigation, and other companies at the annual Career Fair that was held at the event.
"As a leading recruitment event for the $80 billion dollar landscape industry, landscape companies travel from across the nation to recruit these future employees," said COD Horticulture instructor Brian Clement. "There continues to be a high demand for graduating students from some of the nation's top landscape companies and equipment manufacturers. Demand is at an all-time high for graduating horticulturalists and landscape designers and is projected to continue through 2022."
The National Collegiate Landscape Competition combines education with competitive events in which students get to demonstrate their skills in tree climbing, patio building, identifying horticultural specimens, sales, business management, skid steer operation, exterior/interior landscape design, irrigation, wood construction, and more.
The National Collegiate Landscape Competition is hosted by the National Association of Landscape Professionals (formerly PLANET), which represents an industry of nearly one million landscape, lawn care, irrigation and tree care experts who create and maintain green spaces for the benefit of society and the environment. The association works with lawmakers and the public to protect and grow the industry and offers education, networking, training and certification programs that increase the professionalism in the industry and inspire its members to excellence. For more information: www.landscapeprofessionals.org.
Click here for more information on the College of DuPage Horticulture program or contact Judy Burgholzer at (630) 942-3095, burghoj@cod.edu, or Brian Clement at (630) 942-2526, clement@cod.edu for more information.