It’s time to celebrate Future Farmers of America (FFA) during National FFA Week! 229 Kansas chapters. 12,624 Kansas members. One goal of preparing youth for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education.
Q: What is your history with FFA?
A: I was a member of the Harrisburg High School (Harrisburg, SD) FFA chapter in my sophomore through senior years. While I never sat in a formal officer position in our chapter, I was assigned a “historian” role to document all the National FFA Week activities completed each year by taking photos during each activity and notating success stories from those activities in the FFA scrapbook.
Q: Why did you join FFA?
A: I joined FFA for two reasons, the first being that I loved horses and was in the process of training my first colt. Therefore, I particularly enjoyed studying horse anatomy, markings, illnesses, training, etc. This led me to horse judging and receiving 16th place overall at state during my senior year.
The second reason I decided to join FFA is because it was led by the shop teacher, Mr. Marks, who was one of the most enjoyable teachers I had in high school. Mr. Marks was a knowledge teacher, a volunteer firefighter in the community, and knew how to both have fun with the students but also command respect when needed. He was someone I looked up to and wanted to be like when I got older.
Q: How did FFA impact your life?
A: I was one of those kids in high school who participated in a number of different sports and extracurricular activities. FFA was one of my favorite organizations to be a part of, largely because of the comradery we had with our members.
I also enjoyed that it provided a lot of opportunities to interact with students from other high schools. We could learn from each other and grow together in a way that other sports and activities didn’t offer. Going to the National FFA Conference in Louisville, KY was a highlight of my high school career.
Q: Why should students today join the organization?
A: Being part of FFA teaches students about agriculture and leadership, but for me, it also gave me self-confidence, work ethic, and strong bonds with classmates.
It develops skills that will help students in their academics, careers, and even personal life goals. It also teaches students about the bigger picture beyond themselves – how they can make a difference in their communities and even the country.
Thanks to the efforts of those dedicated to FFA, students today continue to develop these same skills and characteristics that allow them to grow into leaders within our communities.
The High Plains Farm Credit team expresses our sincere gratitude for Kansas FFA and for all those involved in securing a bright future for agriculture in our state and across our nation during National FFA Week.
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