Cal Poly Student Floral Design Team Ranks Third in the Nation
SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly Floral Design Team ranked third in the nation at the American Institute of Floral Designer’s (AIFD) 2018 Student Floral Design Competition held in Washington, D.C.
Alyssa Snow, a junior majoring in agricultural science from Galt, California, placed first in the wedding bouquet category and fourth place in the fashion flower category. She placed third overall in the competition. Allana Childs, who graduated in June with a degree in agricultural and environmental sciences, took third in the interpretive design category and eighth place for her wedding bouquet.
Snow was also awarded a scholarship during the awards ceremony for her school fees for the 2018-19 school year from the AIFD Foundation Scholarship Committee.
Cal Poly competed against teams from nine other colleges, including the University of Missouri Columbia, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Ohio State. Students prepared floral displays for four separate categories: sympathy (a design suitable for a man who was a gardener by trade); wedding; interpretive design; and fashion flowers (a cuff design suitable for a runway fashion show to model).
The team was led by Cal Poly Lecturer Melinda Lynch.
“I am extremely proud of our students,” Lynch said. “The competition for this contest was very high, with many of the students from other colleges competing for the second and third times. It was Alyssa’s and Allana’s first collegiate national competition, and they both placed in the top 10.”
In addition, Lynch said she was thrilled to learn that alumna Dawn Mones, who placed first overall in the 2017 student competition, passed her written and hands-on test and will be inducted as a member into the American Institute of Floral Designers in 2019. It is the highest floral design certification in the United States, said Lynch.
The student AIFD maintains chapters at 15 colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada.
About Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences
Cal Poly is a nationally ranked, comprehensive polytechnic university. The university’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences is comprised of expert faculty members who take pride in their ability to transform academically motivated students into innovative professionals ready to solve the complex challenges associated with feeding the world in sustainable ways. Students have access to state-of-the-art laboratories, including ranch land, orchards, vineyards and forests, all of which provide the basis for Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing methodology. It is the fifth-largest college of agriculture in the country, with 4,000 undergraduate students.
Contact: AnnMarie Cornejo
805-756-2427; ancornej@calpoly.edu
September 20, 2018