This week is for the birds.
And the pigs, and the cows, and the horses, and…well, you get the picture.
February 15-22 is National FFA Week, and the RD Anderson Applied Technology Center’s chapter of the school-based national leadership organization has big plans, as usual.
“National FFA Week is a chance for all of our Agriculture students to see what our FFA chapter does,” Agriculture teacher and FFA Region I Representative Liz Morton said. “We have about 240 Ag students, who are all FFA members, but not all of them take advantage of the opportunities FFA offers. We do things in school and outside of school, a lot of it is fun and recreational things that week, because that’s what draws kids in. But we’ll also be doing things in the community, fundraising and those kinds of things, throughout the week.”
The week always runs from Saturday to Saturday, and encompasses George Washington’s Birthday, Feb. 22. The tradition began in 1948, when the National FFA Board of Directors designated the tradition to help recognize Washington’s legacy as an agriculturist and farmer. It’s grown into one of the organization’s most important weeks of the year.
“FFA week is the funnest week,” RDA FFA president Riley Burdette said. “We get to do so many things. It opens us up to be able to talk about FFA in our community and around the school. We have dress-up days, we get to do fun facts on the announcements, we get to go to the Statehouse and talk to our legislators, we just get to expand outside the school.”
That also helps Burdette with another one of her duties as chapter president.
“I’m usually the one who constructs our fundraisers, and I’m able to reach out months in advance and tell people we want to come out and raise some money for our chapter and our program, and to make sure everything’s in line,” she said.
The community outreach allowed by FFA Week is something that can’t be understated, Morton said.
It’s not just a showcase for the school,” she said. “FFA Week allows the RDA chapter to give the public a little more knowledge of what they’re doing. FFA is bigger than it’s ever been. I’ll go places and people just remember it on the farm when they were kids, but it’s so much more than farming. We have kids who are doing public relations, and floriculture, and food processing projects. We have kids who want to work in veterinary medicine. Just across the board, it’s so much more than just farming. That’s our roots, but there’s so much more that goes into it. It’s just a great chance for the community to come alongside and get involved with us and really see what we’re all about.”
Events will include a Critter Cook on Tuesday, in which students will bring in wild game they’ve harvested, supplemented with products from Country Meat Center in Woodruff. Wednesday’s Statehouse visit is a highlight of the schedule, with the RDA group already on Sen. Shane Martin’s schedule.
“There’s a big group statewide,” Morton said. “We’ll fill up the Statehouse steps.”
They’ll visit Culver’s in Duncan on Wednesday night, with the restaurant a strong supporter of FFA nationwide. Thursday will be a night of service at Pizza Inn in Duncan, and RDA Ag classes will all participate in a social on Friday.
The events are just one more way that FFA enriches students’ lives.
“So many of these kids don’t get a chance to do things outside of school and home, and that’s one reason I push so hard to provide these agriculture experiences,” Morton said. “It forces them to find opportunities outside of the classroom and to take a little responsibility. There’s a lot of planning, record keeping that goes along with it, and these are skills that these students probably wouldn’t learn if they didn’t take these classes and take advantage of the opportunities offered by FFA.”
Harrison’s is happy to help students take advantage of some of those opportunities, in part by outfitting the organization’s Swine Team in show clothes and boots. Kevin Harrison said the commitment to agricultural education is huge.
“Both of my grandfathers were farmers,” he said. “So many of us our age see farming going away, and agricultural education is a way to keep that alive. It’s hugely important. It’s a way for kids to explore different things that may not be just math and English and some of those things. It’s a way for them to engage with some of these things that might be dying away, and a way to keep those things that are important to the fabric of our society going. To see the impact that Liz is making those kids and keeping that energy alive, and then for those people to go out and have careers in agriculture is important.”
More than that, though, it’s enjoyable for the students.
“It’s fun,” chapter secretary Olivia Tyner said. “To get kids who didn’t think they were interested in the agriculture field and to get them having fun and dressing up for FFA week, it’s just a really happy moment and a really great week.”
Morton said those rewarding experiences are a huge part of the organization.
“So many times kids do things and they don’t even get a pat on the back,” Morton said. “With FFA, they get that pat on the back. They get prizes. They can win scholarships. But everything centers around their SAEs. Any contests and awards are all based around that. It’s a great opportunity for them to earn money for college, and to be recognized on the local, state, and national level.”
And how important is the future of Agriculture?
“Without farming, we’d all be hungry and naked,” she said. “That’s how it works.”
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