We’ve all heard the endless announcements about FFA, but no one really knows what they do. But at the end of the day, FFA is more than just barn animals and missing a lot of school.
FFA, or Future Farmers of America, is a nationwide organization dedicated to promoting agriculture education for high school aged students. Katy ISD offers a wide variety of agricultural based classes, spanning from advanced animal sciences to floral design, with most of the courses being the same throughout the Houston area.
While the students are successful on their own, the agriculture teachers at Cinco encourage every single one of their students to reach their full potential.
“The agriculture teachers believed in me and saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself,” Sydney Herring said. “I owe absolutely everything to them.”
During the school year, students compete in teams at the district, regional and state levels in agriculture-based competitions called Leadership Development Events (LDEs) and Career Development Events (CDEs).
LDEs, which take place in the fall, include creed speaking, which is memorizing the entire FFA creed and 104 questions that go with it; and parliamentary procedure, which are teams who simulate officer roles and go through a traditional FFA meeting. Cinco teams compete with each other first, and the best teams represent the school at each level of competition.
On the other hand, CDEs are held in the spring. Those events include wildlife evaluations, which involve plant, habitat, and biological questions and tests about all kinds of wildlife; and poultry evaluations, which requires industry knowledge, handling live boilers and hens, and identifying defects in processed products.
CDEs are based on a point system, with teams given points for how much they know, starting at zero and working their way up. The teams are made by the students themselves, and they go to contests around Texas to elevate their skills. The land, homesite, and milk quality teams went to the Glen Rose Invitational in Stephenville in March of this year, placing in the top 20 for every event.
These students practice day and night, even including their family to practice and perfect for the different competitions. Jayden Moon-Schneckenaicher, a member of the milk team, has her parents quiz her about all different types of cheeses when she goes out to dinner.
“It’s just a funny thing to learn how to differentiate cheeses while also learning about careers in the cattle industry I had never heard of before,” Moon-Schneckenaicher said.
Students also have the opportunity to raise and train their own animal with the hopes of selling it at the district-wide auction in February. The animals are judged on their muscle content and build, while the raisers are judged on showmanship and adaptability in the ring.
Students can raise a variety of livestock animals, including goats and steers. Most animals can be raised by students with any experience level, but the steers can only be raised by students who have raised animals in the past, due to their large size and unpredictable nature.
Livestock raising allows for students to build a relationship with their animal while also teaching them responsibility and giving them experiences they’ll never be able to replicate.
“The rush of standing in Grand Drive shaking and sweating, praying that the judge picks you for Grand Champion is why livestock raising is one of my favorite parts of FFA,” senior Aidan Plut said.
A major part of all FFA students is the FFA creed, outlining the values and beliefs of how every chapter operates around the country. Including lines such as “I believe in leadership from ourselves and respect from others” and “I believe that American agriculture can and will hold true to the best traditions of our national life”, it makes the agricultural field one of passion and hard work.
Chapter President Sydney Herring it best, “FFA is truly the most unique, life changing, joy filled organization anyone could ever be a part of.”
A huge thank you to Aidan Plut, Sydney Herring, Patrick Keener, Jayden Moon-Schneckenaicher, and the FFA Photocircle for providing information and pictures.
