Kishwaukee College Floral Design student Jordan Clare, St. Charles, took First Place in the Body Flowers competition at the American Institute of Floral Design (AIFD) National Symposium held in Anaheim, CA, July 2 – 8. Her teammate, Katelyn Hensley, Genoa, placed 9th in the Arrangements Category.
In addition to Clare and Hensley, the following students attended the competition and symposium: Melissa Findlay, Sycamore; Melissa Baus, Genoa; Christine Russell, Mt. Morris; and Brittney Gunderson, Monroe Center. Kishwaukee College Floral Design instructor Janet Gallagher attended the symposium with the students.
Each year, the AIFD Symposium is attended by over 1200 floral designers, design instructors, and design students from across the United States and Canada. The annual symposium features the only national student design competition for colleges and universities that have floral design programs. Kishwaukee College's floral design students form one of only 15 student floral design organizations in the U.S sanctioned by AIFD. Gallagher is the faculty adviser for the Student American Institute of Floral Design (SAIFD) chapter at Kishwaukee College. At this year’s symposium, the Kishwaukee students competed against 52 other floral design students representing 11 colleges and universities across the U.S. and Canada.
The AIFD student competition consists of creating fresh flower arrangements in the following categories: Arrangements, Body Flowers, Duplicate Design, and Bridal Bouquet. In the competition, the students were given a time limit to complete the design pieces. Each student was given a bucket of fresh flowers and could bring a toolbox with contest-specific items in it.
In addition, the entire Kishwaukee group worked on the Leadership Gala dinner for 600 people, creating 300 designs from start to finish. Gallagher and Bill McKinley, a Floral Design faculty member from Texas A&M University, were the lead designers for the gala. Gallagher said, “This was a great opportunity for the students to work on a really large event and use the skills that we teach in the Event Class at Kish. Students were able to work with students from the SAIFD chapter from Texas A&M. This let them to see how other students have learned their design skills and apply them in a collaborative effort. The networking and friendships they formed are ones they will carry with them throughout their careers.”
Gallagher stated, “I am so proud of our students! They trained very hard for the student competition and did an excellent job and I think their horizons were broadened well beyond the competition. The Leadership Gala and the programs that they were able to attend really sparked the designer in them. They were just wonderful representatives of Kishwaukee College!”
The Floral Design program at Kishwaukee College offers a two-year program that leads to an Associates in Applied Science degree. The 68-hour program includes coursework in floral arrangement, floral marketing, floral operations, and courses that emphasize specific designs, for example, sympathy or wedding arrangements. In addition, students take coursework in greenhouse management, bedding plant production, and have an opportunity to gain experience working on a weekly flower sale on campus. There is also a 20.5 credit hour certificate program in Floral Horticulture.
For more information on the Floral Design Program at Kishwaukee College, contact Janet Gallagher at 815-825-9504 or visit the Kishwaukee College website at www.kishwaukeecollege.edu.
Source: Kishwaukee College
