High school to honor FFA Week

In the tradition honoring the birthday and agricultural legacy of the nation?s first president, Future Farmers of America Week begins next week for Fairfield High School students.

?Next week is National FFA Week. It starts around George Washington?s birthday. He was a leader of our country, and we?re trying to instill leadership,? said Courtney Taglauer, FHS agricultural education instructor and FFA advisor.

According to FFA?s national website, each year FFA chapters around the country celebrate National FFA Week. The weeklong tradition began in 1947 when the National FFA Board of Directors designated the week of George Washington?s birthday as National FFA Week in recognition of his legacy as an agriculturist and farmer. The first National FFA Week was held in 1948.

Today, FFA Week always runs Saturday to Saturday and encompasses Feb. 22, Washington?s birthday.

Activities at the high school will commence Monday, when FFA students will don an agricultural or FFA T-shirt. Students will wear T-shirts of their favorite ag colleges Tuesday. Wednesday is tractor day, when students can drive tractors and wear tractor gear to school. Thursday is FFA jacket day.

?Friday is FFA T-shirt and pancake breakfast day. We will be here serving pancakes from 6-8 a.m. in appreciation for all FFA members and their families and any of the community supporters in agriculture,? Taglauer said.

The breakfast will be held in the Ag room at the high school.

Although FFA Week begins Monday, Taglauer said students competed at a sub-district FFA contest Monday at Wapello High School.

?The students participated in a welding contest, conduct of meetings, creed speaking and broadcasting,? she said. ?They had half an hour to prepare a broadcast on ag-related content ? we got third place overall.?

However, beyond the FFA festivities, Taglauer said students enrolled in ag classes at the high school learn about plant and animal sciences including how to properly care for domestic and large animals, and they gain knowledge about the business of agriculture and access to international internships through programs, such as The World Food Prize in Des Moines.

?Students can enroll in one semester of an ag class each year and pay dues of $25 per year ? which includes a T-shirt,? Taglauer said. ?They don?t have to live on a farm; there?s a lot more to it than just farm-related work. There?s science behind it; they don?t just learn how to care for the animals, but they learn about their digestive and reproductive systems. It?s plant and animal science ? they will have to take a lot of science-based classes.?

Taglauer, who graduated from FHS 10 years ago, said she learned a great deal going through the FFA program when she was in high school.

?I went to The World Food Prize institute in Des Moines and I got to go to China for two months the summer after graduation,? Taglauer said. ?Each high school in Iowa can have one student go. I?m hoping to have a student participate this year.?

An FFA student would prepare a paper on world hunger and food insecurities, and if selected, would have an opportunity to choose from 13 different countries to complete an internship in.

?If I have a student interested, I will just work with them to prepare,? Taglauer said, adding that older students would likely participate and younger students would work toward preparing for the program.

FHS senior Katlin Clemmons considers herself fortunate to be in the FFA program.

?This is my first year at FHS. I came from Regina [High School] in Iowa City. I always wanted to be in an ag-program. I was a member of 4-H since seventh- or eight- grade, so this was a huge opportunity for me,? Clemmons said. ?I?ve learned so much about the ag industry and how actual farms work. I?m understanding everything that goes into a farm, it?s more than just farming the animals and the crops, ag is business.?

Clemmons plans to attend Northeast Iowa Community College in the fall, to become a large animal veterinary technician and minor in agricultural business.

For more information about FFA, contact Taglauer at courtney.taglauer@fairfieldsfurture.org.