National FFA Week
Changing lives and preparing members for premier leadership and career success, the Future Farmers of America Organization (FFA) is a student-led intracurricular youth organization educating students about agriculture. With over 700,000 members in chapters throughout all 50 states plus Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, members get hands-on experiences in premier leadership, personal growth and career success.
FFA members participate in numerous Supervised Agriculture Experiences (SAE), Leadership Development Events (LDE) and Career Development Events (CDE) throughout the year where students can hone in on leadership and career skills that will benefit them for a lifetime. FFA is not just for those who aspire to become farmers or ranchers, there’s something for everyone. For example, if you are interested in becoming a doctor, try the veterinary assistant program or Veterinary Science CDE. The Veterinary Science CDE program teaches students basic medical terminology needed to become a doctor as well as get hand’s on experience like drawing blood and sanitation practices.
Considering a business or marketing education program? In the FFA organization there are specific agriculture courses and CDE’s that can help you get started. In those career areas, having an agriculture background could offer many opportunities.
In fact, there’s more than just the classroom and contests in FFA. The SAE portion of FFA helps members get their foot in the door of the career world by purchasing and raising either a breeding animal or market animal. With those projects you learn more than just how to care for the animal, you learn about nutrition, how to calculate feed ratio’s, record bookkeeping, time management and more.
If you are looking to quickly acquire an hourly job, there are specific placement SAE’s that help with this. You can get hired on at any agriculture-related place of business, a feed store or a veterinary clinic, and this can count as your SAE. Ultimately the CDE’s and SAE’s you participate in not only provide agricultural experiences, they can also help you earn numerous scholarships to help pay for college. Colleges and Universities have become very selective in who they accept due to the vast majority of high school graduates that want to further their education. They’re reviewing more than just grade point averages and the courses taken. They are searching for students that are well-rounded individuals and also possess competitive qualities either in/outside of school. Furthermore, extracurriculars like FFA and community service hours play a large part in acceptance for major post-secondary schools. FFA chapters put in countless community service hours as this is a requirement for members to advance within FFA.
Being a part of FFA can open many doors for your future! As a result, students who participate in FFA and agricultural education are able to build leadership skills, strengthen American agriculture and achieve personal academic growth. The FFA experience is valuable regardless of your passion! Want to learn more? Check out the Florida FFA Association website below.