Students Compete, Network at PLANET’s 38th Annual Student Career Days

More than 800 students flooded the state of Colorado March 12-15 for PLANET’s 38th annual Student Career Days.

The National Collegiate Landscape Competition took place at Colorado State University in Fort Collins where 65 teams, including two FFA high school teams, participated in 28 individual and team competitions.

Some of the events included tree climbing, hardscape installation, wood construction, plant identification, sales presentation, exterior/interior design, irrigation troubleshooting, skid steer, 3D exterior landscape design, personnel management and small-engine repair.

Awards were given to the top-placing students, called “Superstars,” as well as to the winning teams. The individual winners were, in first place, Hayden Angelotta, Cuyahoga Community College (Highland Hills, Ohio); in second place, Matt Case of Alamance Community College (Graham, North Carolina); and in third place, Jeff Elshoff of Michigan State University (Lansing, Michigan). The top three superstars received scholarship money from PLANET AEF.

Brigham Young University – Provo took first place in the overall competitive events, followed by Brigham Young University – Idaho in second place, and Michigan State University in third. BYU – Provo took home $5,000 from STIHL for winning first place.

Students were not only able to compete in events, but they were able to meet with company recruiters at the Career Fair, interact with supplier companies and test drive industry equipment.

The number of companies that participated in the career fair increased by 44 percent over last year and the number of industry sponsors almost doubled this year.