February 25, 2023
By: Dwayne Page
The DCHS FFA Chapter and other students observed National FFA week February 20-24 by participating in daily activities at school including the first ever “Drive a Tractor to School” event held on Friday morning.
Participating students met in the parking lot at DeKalb Market where they unloaded farm tractors and began their journey to the high school in parade fashion with a police escort.
Morgan Oyster, DCHS FFA Advisor and agriculture teacher said all the activities held during the week was an effort to involve more of the student body to help grow the chapter’s appeal and membership.
The week’s events began on Monday with the first annual DeKalb FFA Chapter sponsored fish fry held at the high school cafeteria which raised about $6,000 for the club.
Tuesday was “True Colors Day” when members of the student body were encouraged to join FFA members in wearing the FFA colors of National Blue and Corn Gold in tribute to the organization.
Other observances were Western Wednesday and Tacky Thursday. Also on Thursday, members of the local FFA Chapter gathered with other FFA students from across the state at the State Capitol to meet with state lawmakers and observe the legislative process. Oyster said FFA members locally visited with State Representative Michael Hale and State Senator Janice Bowling along with the Speaker of the House and Secretary of State among others during a “Flowers on the Hill” event.
In addition to the “Drive a Tractor to School” event on Friday, a few local FFA students visited Tennessee Tech University as part of a Goodwill Tour where they had breakfast and took part in leadership activities with State FFA officers
National F.F.A. Week was initiated by the National Future Farmers of America Organization — a youth leadership organization, and one of the largest in the U.S., to make a positive difference in the lives of young people by developing their potential for leadership, personal growth, and career success through agriculture education.
First founded by a group of young farmers in 1928, the F.F.A. mission, during National F.F.A. Week, is to prepare future generations for the challenges of feeding the growing population of the United States by teaching members various topics relating to agricultural technology, science, and business, i.e., Ag Business, Ag Mechanics, Ag Sales, Dairy cattle evaluation, and Agronomy, Food Science & Technology, and Dairy Food, etc.
Initially, the holiday was observed on a single day. In 1948, to recognize George Washington’s example and legacy as a leader and farmer, the National F.F.A. Board of Directors initiated a weeklong tradition.
Each year, all 700,000 F.F.A. members spend the weeklong holiday developing their potential for leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education in creative and innovative ways in their various local F.F.A. chapters. During the week, F.F.A. members will take part in agricultural, leadership, and service-based activities across the country.
The organization hosts Career Development Events or Courses contests in which student members compete to test the skills they learned through agricultural education instruction from the program.