Brandon Parks Continues to AMAZE!
An acknowledged “plant geek”—Brandon Parks, a graduate of Tri-Rivers Landscaping Garden Center program, Ohio State ATI Landscaping Horticulture and current student at OSUM in Business continues to AMAZE! Kerry Beckel, his TRCC instructor said, “Brandon was an outstanding student in his program, FFA Activities and all leadership roles while at TRCC.” He continued to excel at ATI. His landscaping design was selected by AI Root Co. in Medina. The design involved landscape restoration of the historic homestead, according to Dr. Laura Deeter, his professor at ATI. Brandon completed an internship with Marion Landscape Services. He is continuing his education at OSUM.
Comments from Brandon’s Former Instructors:
Kerry Beckel, Brandon’s Tri-Rivers Landscaping/Garden Center Instructor:
Brandon was a student in the Landscaping Class in 2010 and 2011. He demonstrated outstanding leadership and a sincere interest in learning all that he could about plants and landscape design. He actually first shadowed the program as an 8th grader and spent the whole afternoon learning about the class. He excelled in plant identification and competed in the State Nursery and Landscape Contest in both his Junior and Senior years. He also competed in the Job Interview and Parliamentary Procedure Contests. He served as FFA Chapter Vice President and President. Below is a list of the awards earned while he was here and also a copy of the Banquet script portion describing why Brandon was selected for the four major chapter awards
· Junior & Senior Class Leadership Awards
· Junior Outstanding Attendance
· Senior Perfect Attendance
· Star Junior Landscaping Student – Brandon is an excellent worker and excellent student. He has been a leader in the class and the FFA who understands the importance of leading by example. He has maintained the best grades in the class and participated in the most activities. His performance on this year’s State Nursery / Landscaping Contest was exceptional especially considering that he is only a Junior. We look forward to even more from him next year.
· Star Senior Landscaping Student – Brandon is an excellent worker and excellent student. He has been a leader in the class and the FFA who understands the importance of leading by example. As you may have noticed by the many awards he earned during the contest portion, Brandon loves to compete in Career Development Events and has the ability to do well at any of them he puts his mind to. Brandon’s SAE included his School Lab, Home & Community Improvement, Research, and Job Placement. He has maintained the best grades in the class and participated in the most activities & his ability to plan his work will be missed.
· Junior year 110% Award winner for the Chapter – Our next Chapter Award is sponsored by AgCredit & is called the 110% award. This award includes a check for $50. Mr. Yoder would you please stand & receive our thanks for your company’s longtime sponsorship of this award? This award is presented to the members who are always working, often behind the scenes, to get the work of the Chapter done. This year’s award goes to one of our officers who really demonstrated putting 110% into this Chapter. As Vice President, Brandon serves as an ad hoc member of all of our committees. He participated in just about every activity related to FFA and was instrumental in planning many of them as well.
· Senior year DeKalb Award Winner for the Chapter – And finally, it is my pleasure to present the DeKalb Agricultural Accomplishment Award winner. This award is sponsored by the Monsanto Company. This award has a proud history. It was first presented in 1947. The requirements for this award include grades, character, SAE, & FFA activities. This year’s DeKalb Award winner has demonstrated excellence in all these areas. Would President, Brandon Parks please come forward?. In addition to the many FFA activities you’ve already heard about, Brandon is a member of Ambassador Club, Marion County Teen Board and the National Technical Honor Society. He is a student member of the Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association who has been accepted at The Ohio State University’s ATI Campus. His leadership set an excellent example for all the FFA members, especially those who plan to be officers in the future. Congratulations and good luck in all you do!
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Laura Deeter, PhD
Associate Professor – Horticulture Technologies
Program Coordinator: Landscape Horticulture and Horticulture Science
Ohio State ATI
The AI Root Co in Medina was looking to get the community involved in the landscape restoration of the historic homestead located next to the gift shop. They came up with the idea of having landscape students design the property and I decided it was the perfect project for Landscape Design II.
The students travelled from Wooster to AI Root to learn about the history of the company, their plans for the future and their ideas for the landscape. They arranged a friendly competition between the students and offered a small monetary reward for all, and included a donation to the Landscape Club at ATI for their fund-raising efforts to attend the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) Student Career Days in Ft Collins, CO.
The design parameters sounded simple enough: inviting to the public, bee friendly, public friendly, relatively low maintenance, seasonal interest, educational and matching the historic house. At the end of the semester the students presented their ideas to the company. It was then decided that it might be better to get professionals involved in choosing the winner. A luncheon was coordinated where the students would present their designs to Master Gardeners, Garden Club Officers, Professional Landscape Contractors and other interested community members, who voted on their choice at the conclusion.
After much deliberation, Mr. Brandon Parks was selected as the winner of the competition. His design made outstanding use of design principles and everyone felt he met the needs of the company, the garden and the community. His design utilized bee friendly plantings and he created an open and inviting space for anyone to wander and view the plants.
Mr. Parks is a graduate of Ohio State ATI in Landscape Horticulture, specializing in Landscape Design. He’s known for a long time about his desire to become a landscape designer and is an acknowledged ‘plant geek’. He completed his internship with Marion Landscape Services where he not only did basic landscape maintenance, but also designed container plantings and small gardens for their clients.
