Students in the FFA Chapter at Peebles High School celebrated National FFA Week, Feb. 21-27, by hosting numerous activities and events designed to educate the public about agriculture and the FFA.
“Every year our officer team plans out a week of fun activities for all of the students to participate in if they wish,” said FFA teacher, Rebecca Minton. “Monday was Plaid and Flannel Day”, Tuesday was “Dress to Impress Day” in memory of Noah Kreml, Wednesday was “Dress Like a Farmer Day”, Thursday was “Camo and Hat Day”, and Friday “Blue and Gold Day” as well as “Drive Your Tractor to School Day.”
Early in the week the FFA officers took part in the Wednesday morning talk radio show on C103. President Joe McElwee, Vice-President Katie Cora, Secretary Jordan Crum, and Reporter Sarah McFarland discussed the benefits of FFA with DJ Brad Rolfe.
“We talked about how the FFA changes lives,” said VP Katie Cora.
The chapter’s community service fund raiser for the week was raising money for the Ronald McDonald House. “We chose this charity because a few families in our community have had to use this service, so we wanted to choose a charity that hit close to home,” Minton explained.
FFA students set up a display in the cafeteria which provided students with facts about the organization.
“To raise money, our chapter hosted a rose sale at the beginning of February,” Minton continued, “We sold roses during high school and junior high lunches, as well as selling roses to the elementary students. During FFA week students could pay $1 to wear a hat to school on Thursday. With both of these activities our chapter ended up raising a total of $600 to donate to the Ronald McDonald House in Cincinnati.”
The FFA students also incorporated their other extracurricular activities and talents into the week’s events.
“We created a video of all of the students’ talents and played it throughout all the lunches and encouraged the student body to vote for the best one,” said Minton. “Students could choose the ‘most talented’ FFA member. Our ‘FFA’s Got Talent’ was a huge hit as members showcased talents such as thumb wrestling and hula hooping while playing an instrument, doing gymnastics, or whistling.”
On Thursday the chapter held a Staff Luncheon, “We like to do this every year to show the staff how much we appreciate them as they support our activities and events throughout the year,” said Minton.
The chapter also held an egg hunt, hiding 48 eggs throughout the school containing facts about agriculture and poultry. “Even though all students are not members of the FFA we still want to inform them of agricultural information and facts, because the truth is that each and every student in the high school will become a consumer one day, and we thought that this was a fun way to keep students excited about FFA week,” said Minton.
Friday evening the chapter hosted a Community Dinner to show their appreciation to community members who support them throughout the year.“Our community does so much for us and we love having a chance to express our gratitude toward them and hope they enjoyed it as much as we did,” said Secretary, Jordan Crum.
Several speakers were featured throughout the evening including: the FFA officers, FFA supporter Pam Crum, PHS Principal Tim Davis, and FFA State Reporter Aaron Klohn.
“Our speakers talked about how FFA changes lives, builds relationships and benefits the community,” said Minton, “We hope they had an impact on our community members as they directly saw how they are helping to shape the leaders of tomorrow and that they continue to support us in everything that we do.”
A Leadership Lock-In followed the Community Dinner. Students participated in several activities, including a savenger hunt which required them to solve clues leading to hidden items.“The leadership lock-in was a great bonding experience with our younger members as we searched the school for various items and tried to relate them to real life experiences,”said C.J. Smart.
“After the teams found all the items they had to decide how they related to leadership,” said Minton, “For instance, members found a marker which represented ‘leaving your mark on others,’ a pencil which represented ‘stay sharp and on point’ and a bag of jelly beans which represented ‘accept others, because we are all different.’
To stay informed about the chapters activities and events throughout the year follow and Like them on their Facebook page “Friends of the Peebles FFA”.
