Greenwood FFA Finds Unique Way to Teach Students about Agriculture
Monday, October 1st, 2018 -- 10:40 AM
-The Greenwood FFA has found a unique way to teach students about agriculture and earn some scholarship money for their seniors.The Greenwood FFA has a plot of land near Clark Electric outside of town where they grow crops for educational purposes. I spoke with Greenwood Ag Teacher and FFA Advisor Loghan Hallett talked about who the project had already begun before she got there, but why she decided to keep it going.
“It was in its first years when I started here. I believe it was the second year of the program. It had been in the works for a couple years before I came along, but it had finally been implemented in 2016 and then I came in 2017.”
“It’s a really valuable experience for our students. And as long as we have the students who are interested and the community members and businesses who are willing to participate and help us out, I am more than happy to keep participating in it. I think it provides a lot of students valuable experience as well as giving us scholarships every year for our seniors.”
I also spoke with students Wyatt Artac and Andrew Morrow and they explained the project in a more detail.
Andrew: “We usually sell it to make profits and then the profits go to…”
Wyatt: “Scholarships.”
Andrew: “Scholarships and stuff we do for the seniors. All the stuff that we need to plant it is donated by farmers or cooperatives and stuff like that. One year we grow corn and another year we grow beans. We just swap them out to make sure the soil doesn’t go bad. To make sure we have nutrients in the soil, we also get someone to donate manure and stuff to haul on it.”
Loghan said the students really enjoy working with the crops.
“This is actually the first year we haven’t been able to get out there in the summer due to the crop that is on the field this year. There is no work to be done in the middle of the growing season. And I’ve got a lot of comments regarding when we’re going out and what we’re going to be doing with the Clark Electric field. So, we are actually going out after the corn comes off to help repair a waterway, which is something none of the students have done before at this field. So, it’s going to be a new experience for everybody and they’re all going to learn a little something. So, we’re really excited for that.”
Wyatt and Andrew talked about how long they’ve been helping with it, when they work on it and what they enjoy about it.
Wyatt: “For me, this is going to be my first year helping. I’ve never actually helped with it. My sister helped pick rock, that would’ve been last spring, and she said it was pretty fun, so I’m going to help with it this year.”
Andrew: “I’ve been doing it for 2 years now. Picking rock and planting and just doing all the stuff we need to do to get the field ready. We usually work on it during weekends and stuff. And when we need help with something, we just ask around to the FFA to see whoever wants to pick rock or whatever else we need to do to get it ready. Personally, I love agriculture and I just like being outside and making sure people are getting the food they need and making sure the cows get what they need and making sure we have plenty of food.”
Wyatt: “I think it’s good for someone who doesn’t really know how all that works and they can get involved in it so they understand better what kind of work goes into it.”
To end our interview, Loghan said if you’d like to learn more about this project, you can contact her or a member of the Greenwood FFA Alumni and the students wanted to thank all those that help them with the project.
Loghan: “The FFA Alumni has taken a big role in this. There’s a bunch of alumni members that control a different part. But you can always send me an email or put a message in my voicemail or on Facebook. I respond to questions anywhere. And if I don’t know the answer, I can put you in touch with someone that does.”
Wyatt: “I would say thank you to all the people that donated and put in the work and time and equipment into it. You can contact FFA members or alumni members. They know more of the numbers side of it.”
Once again, you can learn more about the project by contacting Greenwood High School Ag Teacher and FFA Advisor, Loghan Hallett.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.