Chinook FFA: Making positive differences in the lives of students

Reporter's note: Robin Allen returned this year to Chinook High School as the agriculture education teacher and Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter advisor, having formerly held that position from 2006 to 2013. She invited me to visit with her and some Future Farmer of America chapter members.

I went to a rural high school but was never in FFA, I lived in town. About all I knew of FFA was that members got to wear very cool blue jackets with the FFA insignia on it. The invitation seemed like a good chance to learn about an important part of agriculture. Here's some of what I learned about FFA and the Chinook chapter.

A brief history of FFA

In an earlier interview with Robin Allen she told that Chinook's FFA chapter was one of the oldest in the state, having organized in 1929. The national FFA organization began in 1928, the outgrowth of concerns by some university level educators, in Virginia, concerned that too many boys were leaving the farm.

The founders envisioned an organization that would better prepare students for careers in agriculture, through education. Montana was the 38th state to join the national FFA, in 1930. If the numbers are correct, Chinook's chapter was a part of the national organization before Montana had an official state organization. Interestingly, it was not until 1969 that the national organization made provisions for female members, though many states earlier had female members in state organizations and local chapters.

Today, FFA has chapters in all 50 states and two territories. There are 7600+ local chapters and more than 600,000 members. In Montana, there are eight districts comprised of 75 local chapters. Chinook's FFA is part of the Judith Basin District, with 14 active chapters, the most chapters of any Montana district. Allen said there are about 30 members in the Chinook FFA chapter.

Lots of learning activities

Allen had arranged for four CHS chapter members to share some information about the activities the local FFA had participated in so far this school year. Most every get together of FFA chapters has some form of competition as part of the activities. The contests are used as educational experiences, not just about winning or losing. In fact, FFA literature discourages chapters putting emphasis on the awards they win. And the students seem to be highly motivated by the competitions.

At the Fall District meeting in Roy, students could participate in livestock evaluation or range competition. Alyssa Gruszie, an eighth grader, said she judged pigs, sheep and heifers. Each class of livestock has four animals and students rank them from best to least desirable. For heifers, attributes like depth of rib, frame size, stance, bone structure and eye appeal are considered. After rankings, students move to a 'reasons' session where they justify, to judges, their reasons for making the rankings they did. Allen, the advisor, said, "The reasons portion helps students with their oral presentation skills, forcing them to justify the logic of their rankings and helping build their confidence."

In mid-October, at the North International Livestock Exposition (NILE) in Billings, the CHS chapter attended one day of the weeklong event. Curtis Hamilton, an eighth grader, described a sales and service competition he participated in at NILE. Using a real animal pharmaceutical product, provided by a national FFA sponsor, teams of four students had to make a sales pitch, for the product, to a fictitious veterinary clinic, a hog farm, a dairy operation and a cattle operation. Then individually each student simulated a sales meeting with two potential buyers. Hamilton said, "The scoring was based on whether you got a signed invoice, a promise to 'talk to us later' or a flat out 'I don't want your product.' If you got a refusal that was not a good score."

Tyler Ortner, a senior, described a new competition about food science. The competition involved everything from identifying aromas to finding food safety violations in a set of photographs. Ortner said, "I did pretty well because I'd had a class in culinary arts in high school. That gave me a leg up in that particular competition." Allen explained that while there are regular competitions at most FFA events, organizers always add new subjects to keep students learning new things.

Three CHS students attended the National FFA Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. Ortner, Garrett Lowham and Cord Schneider made the 3800 mile round trip to join 60,000 other FFA members. Lowham said he was most impressed by the keynote speaker, a motivational speaker for many Fortune 500 companies, who emphasized the role the students had in feeding America and the rest of the world. Of the speaker's main point, Lowham added, "He told us to stick to our core values, hang on to what our ag teachers, parents and grandparents taught us."

And lots of other activities

FFA chapter members spend a lot of time raising funds to support their trips and chapter activities. The students listed several fundraisers they do: working concessions at school events; cleaning up the football field and stands after games; doing concessions at events such as the county fair, drive-in movies by local groups and selling all sorts of things-jellies, chocolates and fruit to order.

Allen explained a new fundraiser this year that was very popular, flags in yards for the Cat-Griz game. Local Cat-Griz fans could order up eight flags, for their team, to be put in yards of an opposing team's fan. Allen said one thing she learned was, "We need more Griz flags for the next time." And she said she really appreciated how locals supported this FFA fundraiser.

The FFA also participates in local community events. They participate in the Parade of Lights parade, host the annual Pickers and Poets when they gather in Chinook and do concessions at other community events.

Asked some other things she would like to see the local chapter do, Allen said she would like to see some "chapter exchanges." Basically this involves a group of FFA students going to another area to meet fellow FFA members and learn about agriculture in another locale. Allen said, "I grew up in an agricultural area of New York, I have lots of connections there. It would be fun to exchange some students between Chinook and a New York area."

And Allen said she would also like to expand the FFA alumni program. She explained this group of former FFA members, operators and others involved in agriculture, help the current students in many ways. They are especially helpful when students are preparing for competitions. She said, "The FFA alum groups can bring a new dimension to prepare our students for competition." If you are interested in participating in the FFA alum program contact Robin Allen at the high school.

FFA is alive and well, and seems to be thriving at Chinook High School. Who can say what these students will contribute to feeding America and the world? They are certainly motivated to learn all they can and move on to careers in agriculture and related fields. The FFA mission states in part: "...to make a positive difference in the lives of students..." Positive differences do seem to be happening.

Congratulations and keep up the good work.