Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Chapter members front row, left to right: Monte Love, Shelby Vincent, Hallie Martinez, Barb Kissel, Will Clark, Jason Bowman, Ally Taylor and Kamery Bowman; second row: Autumn Brawley, Tatum Vialpando Audrey Axtell, Emme Norsworthy Eli McCumber, Jim Christenson, Cadence Steadman, Bronwyn Dobbins, Layne Myers, Kiara Warman and Destiny Harris; back row: Jeffery VanAntwerp, Chase White, Spencer Axtell, Remington Ferree, Hunter Bartholomew, Logan Shumway, Dusty Barnes, Colton Dobbins, Riley Shaffer and Garrett Titmus. Not pictured: Eli Dickey, Rebekah Johnson and Garrett Yetter.
Officers, left to right: President Barb Kissel, Secretary Audrey Axtell, Sentinel Remington Ferree, Vice President Jeffery VanAntwerp and Treasurer Emme Norsworthy. Not pictured is Reporter Rebekah Johnson.
The National FFA Organization was founded in 1925 by agriculture teachers Henry C. Groseclose, Walter Newman, Edmund Magill and Harry Sanders in 1925 at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, as Future Farmers of Virginia.
Originally named Future Farmers of Virginia, in 1928 it became known as Future Farmers of America, established by 33 students from 18 states, and in 1988 became the National FFA Organization, or simply FFA. In 1929, national blue and corn gold became the organization's official colors and 1933 saw blue corduroy jackets adopted as the Official Dress.
Though restricted from the early forms of FFA in 1930, women gained full FFA membership in 1969. Today, women represent more than 45 percent of FFA members and about half of all state leadership positions
Another name change in 1988, and it became the National FFA Organization, or simply FFA.
Today, it is among the largest youth organizations in the United States, with more than 650,000 members who belong to more than 8,500 chapters across all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Every year chapters across the country celebrate National FFA Week. For 2019, the celebration is designated for the week of Feb. 16-23, with the theme of "Just One." Among the local activities this week are the popular petting zoo on Thursday, Feb. 21 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the ag building.
Though there's plenty of activity during the week, the entire year sees FFA students doing projects at the local, county and state levels. State convention this year is scheduled for April 10-13.
FFA Advisor Britton Van Heule stated, "We have had an outstanding year. Our Ag Issues team getting second in the state was one of the highlights at state convention. We are focusing on Leadership Development Events, and proficiency awards. This has continued this year. We had multiple Proficiency award winners, and Jessie Pennoyer was a National finalist. These are all content areas that we are putting lots of emphasis on. The addition of the science fair last week is part of the implementation of some new curriculum [for grades] 7-12. We are really excited about the results and what the state science fair will bring. It is going to be a great spring, as we get started on all of our contests."
Reader Comments(0)