Local schools honor National FFA Week

It’s National Future Farmers of America Week and folks in the Twin Rivers R-X district saw more farming equipment on the roads than usual.

Students there traditionally arrive at the Broseley high school campus on their tractors, ATVs and side by sides during this special week

Charlie Barker is the agriculture education instructor, Future Farmers of America advisor and trap coach at Twin Rivers.

“We’ve done it as long as I can ever remember,” Barker said. “This is my 16th year and I actually went to high school here.”

FFA at Twin Rivers was founded by Charles Boyle. Boyle was a teacher at the school and his family owned Boyle Farm Service in Fisk.

“I have 68 members in FFA,” said Barker. “We do all kinds of stuff. We have a lot of contest teams from poultry, floral culture, meats to anything like that. We also do some leadership events where they do public speaking.”

Twin Rivers students attend the state convention.

“We also have a big barn warming, which is like an FFA dance basically, but we have ours outside and have a big bonfire and hayride. We also have floats in the homecoming parades, in all three of the towns we cover: Qulin, Broseley and Fisk.”

Students participate in Ag Connect’s tractor driving contest, as well as other events.

Friday this past week was the FFA member and Teacher Appreciation Day.

“We cook for every FFA member and every faculty member in the school,” said Barker, admitting, “I don’t get very long to do it. I have to do it during lunch. We have two lunch shifts within an hour. “

Barker explained, they probably cook between 120 and 130 hamburgers and the same amount of hot dogs.

Praising the FFA members, Barker said, “They are a good bunch of kids. They’re pretty active and I appreciate that.”

While Barker was cooking on the Broseley campus of Twin Rivers, Michael Melson, Poplar Bluff FFA advisor, and the FFA officers were cooking for the R-I high school staff.

“The Poplar Bluff FFA was chartered in 2002,” Melson said. “We currently have 48 members. Members have been training for upcoming contests and public speaking contests in hopes of qualifying for the state FFA competition in April.”

Neelyville FFA Chapter was founded in 1951 and is still going strong, according to the school’s FFA Facebook page.

Neelyville FFA advisor Daniel Sexton has 41 members in his group.

“We have participated in our community (Tiger Fest) and parade in October, “ he said.

Sexton said future plans include preparing for district career development competitions in March.

“We also have a Trap shooting team and participate in several FFA shoots throughout the year,” he said.

Future Farmers of America was founded by a group of young farmers in 1928. Their mission was to prepare future generations for the challenges of feeding a growing population. They taught agriculture is more than planting and harvesting – it’s a science, it’s a business and it’s an art. Women were allowed membership in the national organization in 1969.

FFA is an intracurricular student organization for those interested in agriculture and leadership. It is one of the three components of agricultural education.

Missouri recognized FFA Week this year Feb. 17-Feb. 24.