ABOVE: Carson Hastad smiles after being chosen as the lone Triple A recipient from Truman

TRUMAN – Waverly/Westford 4-H club president and Truman senior Carson Hastad was selected as their sole Triple A winner.

Artistically, Hastad’s main activity has been choir since sixth grade. He said it has been fun and has enjoyed it as a group activity. This year he also took an airbrush painting class, which Hastad said was quite interesting.

“Our art teacher Mr. Nass is very diverse,” he said. “He does a lot of different things. He brought it up and we were lucky enough to be able to have it. It was a good turnout. A lot of people did it, and I think a lot enjoyed it.”

Farm Business Management and Sheep Health are the two PSEO classes Hastad has taken, doing so with his future in mind. He said Sheep Health specifically was a very specialized class.

“A lot of it was about bacteria, how it’s inserted orally,” Hastad said. “Termites and all that, and how that can affect the animal. It was mostly the complexity of diseases and very deep diving into each one.”

Basketball and baseball are the main sports Hastad focuses on for athletics. He said he recently had a minor ankle injury, but he is excited to see his team on an upward swing.

“It’s fun seeing everybody’s different aspects and personality on and off the court,” Hastad “Especially off the court stuff like bus rides and talking to your teammates. I think you can grow from other people’s aspects and mindsets.”

Outside of the three A’s, Hastad is the Waverly/Westford 4-H club president. He said he makes the agendas and some activities, plans and runs the meetings, and generally keeps procedures in order.

“There’s a lot of young people in it,” Hastad said. “We don’t have a whole lot of [older kids] right now. I’m hoping more people can join and have a fun experience. We do a lot of fun activities. We try to give back to the community. We walk ditches, we pick up in parks. Whether it be that or having fun, I like 4-H.”

Hastad also works on his dad’s farm, helping him with import numbers for different feed mills and types of diets.

The future for Hastad is somewhat up in the air. He has narrowed his college choices to Wisconsin-River Falls and South Dakota State University. He plans to either go for Animal Science or Farm Business Management.

“They both have very good animal science programs,” Hastad said. “The U of M also does. For me, the U of M is too big in size and people. I think I’d get a little overwhelmed up there. My dad was also an SDSU Alumni, so we have some connections there.”

Winning the Triple A award is something Hastad said is a good confidence booster.

“It’s a good reminder to yourself that you put in hard work for a meaning, a purpose, and it’s good to be recognized,” he said.