An Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center eighth grader received a gold rating in his division at the recent National FFA Convention Agriscience Fair.

Jarrett McClain’s science fair project was in the area of Food Products & Processing researching the safest way to thaw meat. His project entitled “Thawed Correctly,” tested thawing hamburger and steak in the refrigerator, the microwave, and on countertop, freezing the meat samples and later swabbing them for bacteria growth after thawing. The hamburger trials showed the refrigerator method having the least amount of bacteria, and the steak trials showed inconclusive results.

His road to the National FFA Convention began in December 2018 when he competed at his prior school Clay Central Everly’s science fair. He was then selected to compete in the State Agriscience Fair in Ames last March, where he won the junior high division in the area of Food Products and Processing. This allowed him to submit his research paper to the National FFA Agriscience Fair Committee. He was notified last August he was a finalist, and he and his parents Dennis and Donna traveled to the convention in Indianapolis where he presented to panel of judges. McCain received 6th place. He was also recently elected as vice-president of ACGC’s charter Junior High FFA Chapter and hopes to present future science projects at Nationals.