Well over 2,000 middle and high school students are gathering in Lexington this week for the annual FFA Convention. The statewide meeting will include sessions beyond issues on the farm.
FFA chapters, numbering 150 across the Commonwealth, are youth organizations based in schools. Although having roots in traditional farming, FFA Treasurer Gracie Furnish says the agricultural education program has grown into so much more.
“Moving more into getting non-traditional students involved as well through research and FFA is so much more than that cows, sows, and plows that a lot of people believe it to be,” Furnish said.
Vice president Cody Burke says FFA classes expand beyond traditional instruction into life, contests and competition.
“It’s not something that happens outside of school or after school," Burke said. "The learning really happens, the magic happens inside the classroom, which is something really unique about our organization.”
Furnish sees herself in agricultural education or economics, possibly in the classroom, and Burke says he likes an entrepreneurial focus, maybe running a farm to table restaurant.
