ST. JOSEPH — Cole Pruitt is not afraid to dream. So far, he’s been pretty good at realizing those designs.
On Saturday, the 18-year-old St. Joseph-Ogden High School senior became the first Spartan in 40 years to be named a state FFA proficiency winner.
Pruitt won in the area of Agriculture Mechanics Repair and Maintenance Placement
“He’s a pretty fantastic kid,” Darcy Nekolny, his adviser at SJ-O, said. “He was clearly willing to take advice ... on how to make his project better.”
Pruitt has further visions of what he’d like to accomplish. One is to become a career firefighter, like his father and uncle, who both are with the Champaign Fire Department.
He’s part of the way toward that goal, as he’s now working as a firefighter with the St. Joseph-Stanton Fire Protection District, advancing to that level after having been a junior firefighter.
Having reached the magic age of 18, “I started being able to run calls starting the last couple weeks,” Pruitt said.
He heads to Parkland College most mornings as part of the Early College and Career Education program, enrolled in the Early EMT Basics class.
“It will put me ahead of most people my age getting my EMT license,” he said.
Check off one more goal.
After high school graduation, Pruitt plans to study Ag Business Precision Technology at Parkland to work in the ag field in areas such as GPS guidance and fertilizer efficiency.
The son of Chad and Lonna Pruitt also hopes to help his father farm (they have about 200 acres) and continue to work summers at Shaff Implement in rural Urbana while a college student.
Nekolny said it was obvious when Pruitt was just a ninth-grader that he had his sights focused forward.
“Cole as a freshman came in and was already excited about FFA,” Nekolny said. “When he heard about the state FFA degree he said, ‘I’m going to earn a state FFA degree.’”
The chapter FFA president, Pruitt has also served as vice president, sentinel and Section 17 reporter.
Pruitt began working with Shaff Implement when he turned 15, helping the company move into its new building.
Once that was finished, “he thought that would be it,” Nekolny said.
Not so fast.
“They saw the quality of worker he is, and they created a spot for him,” Nekolny said.
Pruitt started in the parts department and proved to be a reliable employee. He was also able to work on equipment in the Shaff shop.
“What started out as a temporary job, he was really able to expand into something big for him.”
Pruitt turned that job into his Supervised Agricultural Experience project for FFA.
An SAE allows students to discover career options, learn how to act in the workplace and develop and refine skills related to their SAE.
After winning at the chapter, section and district level against other exemplary FFA members, Pruitt was selected the state winner by a committee of agriculture teachers, industry friends, parents and volunteers knowledgeable in his work-based area, who reviewed contestants’ records online and then conducted interviews at Mt. Zion High School.