Using the agriculture knowledge and leadership skills they have gained through FFA, members of local chapters planned fun and educational activities for their peers and staff members to enjoy for National FFA Week.
Brownstown Central, Crothersville, Medora, Seymour and Trinity Lutheran high schools all have chapters, which are part of the National FFA Organization that remains committed to the individual student, providing a path to achievement in premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.
From dress-up days to agricultural trivia to breakfasts for students and staff to a pedal tractor race to an ag education program, local members shared their love of FFA with others the week of Feb. 19 to 26.
Seymour
Seymour’s biggest event for FFA Week was a degree ceremony, where students received their Discovery, Greenhand and Chapter FFA membership degree pins. There also were six students who submitted all requirements for the Indiana FFA Hoosier Degree.
Also, one morning at Seymour Middle School, members served breakfast to staff members in one of the ag classrooms.
“I wanted to do this because I think that the teachers deserve it and they work hard for us every day, and I think it’s special to do something nice for them,” eighth-grader Taylee Thompson said. “We thought it would be special for them, and it would give us a good opportunity to meet all of the teachers and to help them out.”
Advisers Mikayla Applegate and Sheridan Elswick planned the breakfast, but other activities were the members’ ideas. That included daily dress-up themes, daily ag trivia questions for students to answer for prizes and hiding rubber ducks around the school for students to turn in for a prize.
“It makes me really proud to see them put that effort in and go through that planning process,” Applegate said.
The activities bring the school together and spark interest in students to join FFA, she said.
“We do have fun, and I think it would be good for them if they could join FFA because we would get more members, and I think it would be a very exciting opportunity for them and I think they would really enjoy it,” Thompson said.
SHS also showed appreciation to staff members, but it was through lunch, including cherry delight, a traditional FFA Week treat.
FFA members from SMS and SHS were supposed to compete in a volleyball tournament Thursday night in Bedford, but it was postponed until March 10. Seymour has won that the past two years, so the members hope to keep their streak going. Each team pays an entry fee, and the victor wins all the money to donate to a local charity of choice.
Also, SHS plans to have Drive Your Tractor to School Day in the spring when the weather is more favorable.
Trinity Lutheran
Trinity capped off its National FFA Week celebration with a school assembly Thursday morning in the Bollinger Athletic Complex.
As students entered the gymnasium, they could pick up a cup of popcorn or Goldfish crackers and either sit in the bleachers and answer 25 FFA- and ag-related questions on Kahoot! with a chance to win prizes or participate in a pedal tractor race with the winning team receiving toy tractors.
“Throughout the year, we do pork burger sales and stuff like that — FFA-related events and contests — and so people hear about contests and everything, but this week, we really get to go, ‘Hey, this is FFA Week. We’re really putting everything into it,’” chapter President Conner Sims said. “It’s just really nice to see everyone support it, and it has some fun time to it.”
Sims, a senior, said he had a lot of help from his fellow officers in planning the week, which also included a pork burger meal Tuesday, a cornhole tournament, a bean contest and members wearing official dress Wednesday and members driving their trucks to school Thursday.
Trinity also plans to have Drive Your Tractor to School Day when the weather is better.
Brownstown Central
Brownstown’s FFA officers wrapped up a busy week Friday by bringing back Ag Education Day after a long absence.
They traveled to Lutheran Central School and St. John’s Sauers Lutheran School to lead educational and fun activities with elementary-age students.
That included spotting the difference in 12 cows on a sheet of paper, working together to figure out the problem with a flashlight, practicing math skills as a cashier at a farmers market, planting marigold seeds in a pot to take home and learning where the ingredients of a pizza come from and even getting to sample a slice.
“It has been really fun,” chapter President Taylor Loudermilk said after the second Ag Education Day presentation. “I’d say probably my favorite part is when kids go ‘Oh my gosh, magic trick’ with the pizza or when we say something and the kids start thinking in their minds and going ‘Oh, that’s where that comes from.’ It has been really interesting. It has been a lot of fun.”
At BCHS, Blue and Gold Day and a chapter lunch and meeting for members were on Tuesday, guessing the total bill of a shopping cart full of food items before they were donated to a pantry was on Wednesday and a pancake breakfast for staff and students was conducted Thursday morning.
All week, students had a chance to win prizes by answering trivia questions or finding an FFA sticker on their desk. Plus, a banner was placed near the courthouse promoting FFA Week with statements from members on how agriculture has affected their lives.
“We still had that community advocacy because that’s what FFA Week is about,” Loudermilk said. “We’ve done a lot.”
Crothersville
Early in the week, Crothersville FFA officers decorated the school lobby in blue and gold and raised the FFA flag on the flagpole outside the school so it flew under the American flag.
Adviser Linda Myers said the chapter also did a coloring contest with preschool through fifth grade and handed out prizes, and FFA members gathered for breakfast and a short meeting, where they heard from Indiana FFA Treasurer Jordyn Wickard.
Each day also consisted of dress-up themes, announcements and different games at lunch. Plus, members handed out appreciation gift bags to staff members that included popcorn, cheese sticks, beef jerky, an apple, a bottle of water, Band-Aids, pencils and seed packets with the reasoning for each item explained on the outside.
Medora
Medora FFA Adviser Adam Conklin said members attended the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky, the week before National FFA Week.
They also will be starting the greenhouse soon.