Horticulture Students Shine in ‘Virtual’ National Collegiate Landscape Competition

ACC Horticulture Technology students in their virtual team meeting at the outset of the recent National Association of Landscape Professionals competition.

Students in the Horticulture Technology program at Alamance Community College took part in a virtual National Collegiate Landscape Competition sponsored by the National Association of Landscape Professionals recently.

ACC participated with 14 students in workshops, career fair interviews, and competitions. In all, 34 colleges and universities participated; nearly half of these were community or technical colleges. Among the participating universities were North Carolina State University, Michigan State University, Colorado State University, and Brigham Young University-Provo.

“All our students represented ACC extremely well and twelve of them placed in the top ten for their individual challenges,” said Dr. Elizabeth Riley, Horticulture Department Head. “Because this year’s national event was a virtual experience, the students did online exams for most competitions, but some like the design events required them to utilize their drawing skills. For the sales presentations, the students met via Zoom to present their designs and sell it to the customer.”

ACC student Marybeth Krawczyk excelled in Safety Management, finishing second against 75 other students and just two points behind the leader.

ACC’s Eric Levine finished a close second place in Business Management, just 14 seconds behind the top spot in the timed competition. Levine was competing against 43 total participants.

ACC student Jennifer Furman, pitted against up to 13 competitors in her events, finished in the top ten as follows:

• 2nd place in 3D Exterior Landscape Design
• 3^rd place in Computer Aided Landscape Design
• 4^th place in Exterior Landscape Design
• 8^th place in Irrigation Design
• 6^th place in Sales Presentation

Other ACC students who finished in the top ten of their individual competitions were:

• Wendy Lipscomb, 3rd place in Construction Cost Estimating among 11 competitors
• Jack Krawczyk, 5^th place in Landscape Lighting against 42 competitors
• Riley Hickman, 7^th place in Interior Plant Identification against 49 students; 9^th place in Plant Problem Diagnosis against 43 challengers
• Cameron Upchurch, 10^th place in Landscape Maintenance Operations against 32 students

Historically ACC horticulture students have excelled at the National Collegiate Landscape Competition in past years when it was held at university campuses across the U.S. Three years ago, Alamance Community College hosted the event that brought 63 higher institutions and more than 750 students to its campus.

“We are so thankful for the continued support we receive from our college, community, and industry,” said Riley.