Future Farmers of America

When you think of Future Farmers of America (FFA), you may assume that it's a club comprised of students dedicated solely to farming. Based on the FFA name, it's a natural assumption, but one that is very far from the truth.

"Many people don't realize just how diverse agriculture is," says Cassie Uricchio, FFA advisor and Mount Everett High School science teacher. "It not only includes production agriculture, such as dairy farming or crop production, but also forestry, natural resource conservation, veterinary medicine, and biotechnology. There is a wide gamut of programs that reach so many areas of study. FFA focuses the kids on personal development within these areas."

Three years ago Mount Everett students revitalized the Mount Everett FFA chapter, which today boasts 25 active members. There are six officers who oversee organizing club activities and fundraising. Members of FFA can choose an area of interest like nursery/landscape, food science and technology, forestry, floriculture, horticulture or they can elect to build life skills in areas like public speaking, parliamentary procedure, farm business management and marketing. In order to test their mettle against other FFA chapters, funds need to be raised to compete at the state and national levels.

Every year state and national conferences are organized to bring FFA chapters together to participate in Career Development Events (CDE's). Each member of a chapter is required to choose a CDE and then compete in that area.

One of the guiding tenets of Future Farmers of America stresses the importance of self-development and connection. Many of the activities are geared toward building life skills like resume writing, job interviewing and public speaking. FFA uses fun, creative ways to help kids master these important, necessary skills.

Cassie hopes to grow the FFA chapter at Mount Everett to include a wide-range of students. "FFA is open to students from freshman through senior year," Cassie says. "Even if members of Mount Everett's FFA never go into agriculture, being a part of FFA will help give them confidence, build camaraderie among their fellow students, and help them gain valuable job and life skills. It's a great organization and a real benefit to Mount Everett."