FFA Creating Opportunities For Students

The White County High School FFA program is helping students beyond agriculture by preparing them for future careers.

FFA showing off some of its work Friday afternoon at the Sparta Green Market. FFA Advisor Kimberley Eller said the program focuses on leadership, personal growth, and career success.

“It is a great social experience because they have a chance to make friends not only within the school but within the community and with other schools across the state and nation,” Eller said. “Also they will tell you the leadership skills are invaluable, I mean it’s an opportunity that not a lot of students get anywhere else.”

Eller said some students may not go into agriculture but use the skills to help them lead an organization or company. Eller said the program provides students an opportunity to use the skills they have learned through competition.

“In class, they learn skills and techniques,” Eller said. “And through FFA they get a chance to compete and work on activities outside of the classroom and sometimes in the classroom that help further that knowledge.”

Eller said students can also compete in events, such as agri-science fairs, land evaluation, and forestry. Eller said students learn the most from networking.

“Our students learn how to communicate whether it’s written or verbal,” Eller said. “They go out and they network with other chapters and leaders and people like senators in the state and they even have opportunities to meet with the governor at times.”

Eller said the FFA program is essential to the school as it teaches the younger generation how important agriculture is to society.

“Anything involved in agriculture and how our food is produced and providing the needs for that person to produce food is important in being able to sustain our society,” Eller said.