Your high school experience isn’t just what classes you took. It’s also what clubs you’re a part of.
FFA stands for Future Farmers of America. It is a club that Rocky Mountain along with many other high schools throughout the country have. It’s a student-led program with a focus on leadership and agriculture, among other events.
There are two main potential roadblocks to getting into this club. The first one being that you are required to take an ag class. Kelsey Williams, FFA Advisor, brings us some good news. She says that you don’t need to take a specific agriculture class and that “A lot of people don’t know that there are other classes that give you those credits.”
Secondly, you need to have a farm and a main focus on agriculture to get into this club.
However, that’s not true.
She says: “Something I want to get out there- You don’t need to be a farmer to join, you don’t need to own land. You just need to be interested and take an Ag class”.
The FFA is a club with diverse pathways. Students pick and choose what their own unique experience is and what events they want to participate in. They also build many friendships and connections throughout the state.
Mac Holmes, a dedicated member, states: “Honestly, there’s stuff happening every day. Like, we go to state conventions, do chapter bonding, [and] appreciation breakfasts for alumni. It’s a lot of fun, a really tight knit community.”
Students join for multiple reasons- some an experience, some a commitment, and some a legacy.
Williams says “A lot of people have a grandparent, aunt, uncle, and whoever who did it, so a lot of people join as a tradition and many of our kids want a career in agriculture… I think a lot of it is the experiences for the kids, having to try out the career before going in it, I know it sounds weird, but general life experience too, because we allow kids to fail in a safe space because even though they messed up it is okay and in a controlled environment.”
So, whatever a student’s reason may be for joining, and however long they end up staying, students come out of this experience finding a sense of belonging and community. Williams said that students come for the “ Friendships, for sure, not even in our school, but across the state.
One of Williams’ students, Trevyn Drlik, junior, agrees, “like the chapter bonding. And there is always food, too.”
