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Fairfield FFA raises money through pancake breakfast
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield High School FFA chapter held its annual fundraising breakfast on Friday, Feb. 27.
Every member of the group gets up bright and early to help with the breakfast, whether that’s cracking eggs, putting sausages on the griddle, or flipping flapjacks. Money raised from the event goes toward offsetting the cost of food at the group’s monthly meetings, buying plants and soil for its greenhouse just north of the high school, and supplies to put on its annual Ag Day with events inside and out. Money also goes toward the group’s competitions and conventions, like attending the yearly National FFA Convention held in Indianapolis every October.
The Union caught up with a few FFA members in between their breakfast chores Friday morning to talk about the club’s activities. Sophomore AlexJo Steward joined FFA when she started an ag class at the high school, and she’s glad she did.
“It was really fun because I went to swine judging,” she said. “I learned about different types of pigs and how you judge them for market and for selling.”
Steward said she’s looking forward to going to the National FFA Convention next year.
Freshman Olivia Manning had a number of friends in FFA, and that inspired her to join, plus she might pursue a career in agriculture.
“I like going to our events and helping do stuff for our community,” she said.
Manning said she was part of the group that went to a competition in English Valley just the week prior. She was in a group of seven freshmen competing in a category called Conduct and Meetings.
Sophomore Isabell Blakley said she joined FFA to learn more and take better care of her fair animals.
“I’ve learned how to judge different animals, and when I go to pick my animals for the fair, I’ll definitely know what I’m looking for,” she said. “In Intro to Ag, we’ve practiced with cows, swine, sheep and goats.”
On her own farm, Blakley and her family raise sheep, cows, horses, and chickens. Lessons she learns in FFA are especially important to her because she hopes to have a career in the field, working as an equine veterinarian.
Alex Hudson is a junior at FHS, and for him the highlight of FFA can be summed up in two words: Tractor Day.
“I’ve always been around 4-H and other clubs, so I thought I would join this, but Tractor Day is the main reason,” he said. “When I was little, every Tractor Day I’d come to school on the bus and see all the tractors parked on the hill, and I said, ‘I want to drive a tractor to school one day.’”
Last year, Hudson’s childhood dream came true and he was able to borrow a tractor from a friend to drive to school on Tractor Day.
Freshman Jordan Miller remarked that his mother, Kala Miller, was an ag teacher for 12 years, and that got him interested in the field.
“I show pigs at the fair, and we grow giant vegetables and all kinds of different things,” he said, adding that he might like to pursue a career in ag selling supplies and feed.
Sophomore Aiden Terrell said the best part of FFA is getting to talk to farmers about their craft and learning how to raise livestock. Terrell lives on a farm himself, where he and his family raise cattle and honeybees.
