Out of approximately 401 students in CORE Butte, 123 of them are in FFA (Future Farmers of America). FFA is one of Core’s most popular options but why?
Natalie Reed, the candidate for this year’s regional officer and last year’s FFA historian says “If agriculture goes wrong, nothing else will have the chance to go right.” which is…true. Not only does FFA specialize in agriculture but also livestock but more surprisingly it teaches business, communication (how to speak efficiently), livestock judging, floral, plus much more.
FFA started in 1928 and is coming up on its 100th anniversary with California being the 2nd largest state with 100,000 kids in FFA with over a million members nationwide.
As Natalie Reed describes it; “FFA is more than cows and sows.” She enjoys it because “I get to actually see myself grow.” as do others. Many others who first join FFA know nothing about agriculture (which is not a requirement). FFA isn’t just about learning for fun but also career choices as you develop a beautiful addition to your future resume, but you can actually make money. Tip of the iceberg example but Natalie explained to me that an option in FFA would be to sell rabbits. Rabbits are a very good choice for kids who don’t have room for the stereotypical animal like a cow, chicken, sheep, or goat. Rabbits don’t take up much space and go for 1,000$ each but you may have 3. When I think of FFA I think of the silver dollar fair but past the green thumbs and sun-burned rancheros, there are well-refined kids who learn not only the importance of agriculture but skills needed to be functioning adults. Not many people nowadays are very good public speakers or reporters; however, FFA teaches this along with treasury, a role that demands a good relationship with handling stress and finance.
Aside from women not being granted the right to join FFA until 1969 (which is 24 years younger than Godzilla). FFA is a fun mixture of career, learning necessary skills, and generally having fun in self-improvement.