SILSBEE, Texas — Three students from a Southeast Texas highschool represented their city well by placing in a North Texas floral design competition.
Silsbee High School students Heather McMillan, Jadyn Brooks, and Natalie Steltz showed off their floral skills at the Battle of the Blooms competition. The three students are a part of Tiger Lily, the high school's floral design department.
The three students competed together for a team competition and by themselves for an individual competition.
"Competing in the Battle of the Blooms competition was one of the most exciting experiences," McMillan said. "I was so nervous all week leading up to the competition, while studying different florists and practicing my work."
McMillan placed first in the individual competition out of 162 students. The Southeast Texas student said she felt, "overjoyed and so blessed," to be able to represent her town.
"Once the competition began, I looked down at the materials I was given and started to build my principles and elements of design," McMillan said. "As I was creating my arrangement, I was having so much fun and I actually forgot it was a competition because I drowned everything out and was focused on the arrangement itself."
Out of 56 teams, team Tiger Lily placed third overall.
"In the group design, we were given a sponsor to create an arrangement to represent with a limited variety and number of flowers to use," Steltz said. "As a team, we decided we first need to establish our basic elements of floral design and then finish the rest after that."
The girls said being a part of the floral design program created a sense of family and competing taught them to be self confident.
“To me, the Tiger Lily was just a class that has become a second family. Being a part of this program has taught me how to work as a team and to be confident in myself and my designs,” Brooks said.
Not only did the students have a successful trip, but Courtney Champagne, a teacher at the high school, represented Silsbee well by placing third in the teacher division of the competition.
The school congratulated the students and the teacher on their accomplishments, hard work, dedication, and creativeness .
From a Silsbee ISD press release:
Three students from the Silsbee High School Tiger Lily took a leap of faith in their floral skills and competed at B.C.T.A.L. ‘Battle of the Blooms’ competition. Heather McMillan, Jadyn Brooks, Natalie Steltz and Mrs. Courtney Champagne traveled to the hands-on floral competition in North Richland Hills at the Birdville Career Tech Facility.
The three students competed together for the team competition and by themselves for the individual competition. Heather McMillan dominated the individual contest. She placed 1st in the individual competition out of 162 students.
"Competing in the Battle of the Blooms competition was one of the most exciting experiences! I was so nervous all week leading up to the competition, while studying different florists and practicing my work. Once the competition began, I looked down at the materials I was given and started to build my principles and elements of design. As I was creating my arrangement, I was having so much fun and I actually forgot it was a competition because I drowned everything out and was focused on the arrangement itself. Once I finished and they announced top 10, I had to go back in and create a wearable floral piece. In this category, I created a corsage using wire, white spray roses, and a variety of other flowers. After being announced 1st place I was overjoyed and so blessed to be given the opportunity to represent my favorite small town of Silsbee once again," said Heather McMillan.
The Tiger Lily team placed 3rd overall out of 56 teams. The team included McMillan, Brooks, and Steltz.
"In the group design, we were given a sponsor to create an arrangement to represent with a limited variety and number of flowers to use. As a team we decided we first need to establish our basic elements of floral design and then finish the rest after that," explained floral design student Natalie Steltz.
But the winnings for Silsbee ISD did not stop there. Courtney Champagne also made herself known in the floral design world by placing 3rd in the teacher division of the competition. 16 different school districts were represented at the contest.
"To me the Tiger Lily was just a class that has become a second family. Being a part of this program has taught me how to work as a team and to be confident in myself and my designs," said senior, Jadyn Brooks.
We are so proud of the hard work, dedication, creativeness, and skill of our Tiger Lily students. Congratulations on a great win and competition. Jadyn Brooks.
We are so proud of the hard work, dedication, creativeness, and skill of our Tiger Lily students. Congratulations on a great win and competition.
