The National FFA Organization is an organization that brings agricultural aspects into the school.
“FFA is the national FFA organization now, but before they changed it, it stood for Future Farmers of America. It brings an agricultural aspect into the school which consists of intracurricular activity. You focus on livestock judging, horse evaluation, but there’s also some leadership development events,” Andi Heckel, Trade junior, said.
Beyond this, FFA teaches a variety of valuable skills through these events.
“FFA is an in-school, student-led activity that revolves around the world of agriculture. It’s very good for teaching kids leadership skills, but also teaching them skills that can help them for future careers,” Cade Anderson, FFA adviser, said.
Leading up to the event itself, the students were thoroughly prepared using skills taught from mentors the advisers had brought in.
“Our agriculture teachers brought in multiple teachers, and people who have experience hiring people or doing interviews. So, we were all in a semi-circle and then we would go from chair to chair and have an interview with a new person,” Clara Ford, health sophomore, said.
The event itself held three different contests, each testing different skills.
“We had our floriculture contest, employability skills, and agricultural communications. AgComm is more digital based but it’s like they’ll make a magazine article, a short podcast clip, or a cover of a website. It’ll be talking about current events or current issues in agriculture. Employability skills are exactly what it sounds like. They go do a job interview, they make up a resume and cover letter. It teaches them a lot of really important skills. Then, in floriculture, that’s the one with the plant ID, tool ID and then learning real skills that you would employ if you were growing plants,” Anderson said.
One of these leadership development events took place recently, which had consisted of
“The most recent one was employability skills and communications, where you really put yourself out there. You talk about agriculture, how it’s helped you and how important it is to the world,” Heckel said.
The qualifications needed during these interviews closely align with those taught during the program.
“I believe they’re looking for someone who is a leader, someone who takes charge and also knows what they’re doing,” Ford said.
For those looking to join, there are a few words of encouragement.
“Don’t be afraid to embarrass yourself and have fun, because that’s really what FFA is all about. It’s getting yourself out there and having fun,” Heckel said.
