TCD students do well in forestry contest

Two teams of students from Technology Center of DuPage in Addison competed this month in the Section 8 Future Farmers of America Forestry Career Development event at Morton Arboretum in Lisle.

One team placed second and three students scored among the top 10 individually.

The students are enrolled in the Landscape Design and Management program at Technology Center of DuPage as an elective part of their high school curriculum.

The second-place team included Lenin Campos of Hanover Park, Kyle Miller of Roselle and James Fileta of Wheaton.

Among the top 10 individual scorers were: Miller, third; Campos, fourth; and Devin Dowling of Hinsdale, sixth.

Each participant first completed a 50-question written exam on the forestry industry. Then three-member teams scattered around the arboretum to complete five practical exercises, including tree identification and a compass course.

Future Farmers of America is a national organization for high school students interested in careers like horticulture, agriculture, landscape design and management. The Section 8 region covers DuPage, Kane, Cook and Will counties.

Technology Center of DuPage is the career and technical education campus for DuPage area high school juniors and seniors. For details about Technology Center of DuPage programs, students can visit their high school guidance departments or www.tcdupage.org.