Rotary Club hears from BHS FFA

Published 10:01 am Monday, April 18, 2022

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Bainbridge Rotary Club gathered at the Kirbo Center this Tuesday for their weekly meeting. The speaker for this week was Victoria Hill, advisor for the Bainbridge High School FFA, accompanied by student FFA officers.

Hill started off speaking about the variety of programs and courses she and fellow ag teachers Mark Lashley and Levi Dunn offer, including animal science, ag mechanics and plant science, to name a few.

“Once our students take that first introductory class to agriculture, they can choose. If they are interested in animals, they can come to animal science; if they are really interested in plant science or nursery landscape, we’ve got a class for them; and if they want to learn how to weld and do electrical wiring, we’ve got a home for them,” Hill said. “We’ve got a wide array of opportunities for our students to succeed.”

Email newsletter signup

After Hill discussed some of FFA’s recent awards and successes, FFA treasurer Taryn Powell took to the podium to discuss the basic structure of the FFA organization, as well as its history. “If you were in the FFA, prior to 1988, the letters ‘FFA’ stood for ‘The Future Farmers of America’,” she explained. “However, after 1988, the name was changed to the National FFA Organization, to reflect the growing diversity of the membership. Simply put, not all members were farmers anymore. Students were joining the organization to gain leadership skills, and to advocate for agriculture.”

After Powell concluded, Macy Goodman, Area 5 FFA President, spoke on the extensive accomplishments of Bainbridge FFA. These included their placements in region and state contests, as well as in Career Development Events (CDE). Lawson Murray, the FFA reporter, then took the stand, and continued to list the FFA’s performance.

Secretary Pierce Taunton spoke next, first naming students who will be earning their state FFA degrees, “the highest degree awarded by the Georgia FFA Association, to students with exceptional SAE projects throughout their FFA careers.” Those students were Kathryn Cohen, Lawson Murray and Skyler Odom. He then spoke on FFA’s Washington Leadership Conference. “The Washington Leadership Conference provides FFA students a premiere leadership experience while exposing them to the rich history of Washington DC,” he said. Goodman and Cohen have both received scholarships to attend this conference. Taunton closed with speaking on the victories of the livestock show teams.

Vice President Ashton Aldridge spoke next, talking about the various community service projects the FFA has performed, including donating goods to St. John’s Little Free Pantry, setting up trees at the Tinsel Trail, and donating pet food and toys to the Humane Society. “A lot of people just think of community service as hours on a resume, but really, as an FFA member, we strive to make community service a lifestyle,” Aldridge said.

Hill closed the meeting encouraging people to attend their meetings and banquet, as well as to stay up to date by following the FFA on social media and signing up for their newsletter, the Agvocate.