Students in the Devine community who are in FFA and 4H have recently participated in the Medina County Stock Show. There were three individuals placing in the agriculture mechanics portion. However, junior Jayce Hackebeil came out on top winning Grand Champion.

“Once people started coming up to me and asking about my knives I became more confident in my project,” Hackebeil said.

Jayce showed the handmade knives that he worked on for about 3 months. Even on Christmas Break you could still see him working on the knives for the show, and some as gifts for family members.

“I’m very proud of Jayce and all of the hard work he put into the project,” cousin Chesney Friesenhahn.

With the stiff competition at the stock show he was nervous, but still very confident because he had 2 years of experience making the knives. Out of the 371 participants at the show, 97 students in the community have either placed or made a great sell. By winning Jayce sold his knives for $3,875. He plans to save for college and next years project.

“I was shocked when they sold for that amount,” Hackebeil said. “I thought that they would only sale for about $2,000.