Greater Lawrence Tech Students Compete in Future Farmers of America Challenge

Greater Lawrence Technical School student Rudy Guzman competes in the Future Farmers of America Safe Equipment Operations Career Development Event at Smith Vocational and Agricultural School in Northampton. (Courtesy photograph.)

Greater Lawrence Technical School students earned accolades during their first Future Farmers of America competition recently.

Rainier Burrows-Severino, Rudy Guzman, Hermin Then and Engel Balbuena represented the School at the FFA Safe Equipment Operations Career Development Event at Smith Vocational and Agricultural School in Northampton. Students competed in safe loader and skid steer operations and farm tractor driving, displaying the knowledge and skills they acquired at Greater Lawrence Tech.

Burrows-Severino, Guzman and Then had to overcome several unforeseen challenges, including operating a manual transmission for the first time and using larger equipment than planned.

“Rainier, Rudy, Hermin and Engel performed impressively, especially considering that this was their first competition,” Superintendent John Lavoie said. “Landscaping is about care of the land, but also how to use the right tools to get the best outcome.” Lavoie thanked landscaping teachers Peter Leonard and James Griffin for their guidance and support.

As a team, the students led Greater Lawrence Tech to a strong showing, surpassing schools that participate in this FFA event regularly. Guzman took second place in the two-wheel trailer portion of the driving contest, competing against 14 other students.

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