More than 'just farming stuff'

CLYDE — Fur-covered, scale-covered and feathered friends stopped by Clyde High School for a national celebration. As part of its week-long recognition of National FFA Week, students in Clyde's FFA Chapter turned the agriculture education classroom into a barnyard. The week is a time to come together and celebrate, according to FFA adviser and agriculture teacher at Clyde High School, Robert Selvey. "National FFA Week is a time to bond us over a passion we all have, FFA," Selvey said. "It's important to celebrate all the opportunities FFA offers. It also helps to push these young leaders to pursue a career in agriculture." The national celebration is "the best week," according to Dalaina Pinion, a junior agriculture and FFA member. She said its purpose is to draw attention toward FFA, allow its members to express themselves through related activities and to celebrate agriculture. The chapter's celebration consisted of events inside and outside of the school day, like a trip to an ice-skating rink, an agriculture safety presentation from the Lindsey Volunteer Fire Department, line dancing and thank you letters written to farmers. For McKenna Perry, also a junior agriculture and FFA member, National FFA Week is a time to participate in activities she enjoys with others. She said FFA week is an opportunity to expose other students to what the organization has to offer because she and the other chapter members learn more than "just farming stuff." "We learn a lot that most people don't expect us to," Perry said. "We learn how to run a proper meeting, we do sales for products that are agriculture-related, but then also you can use those skills to do more than just sell." Pinion agreed with Perry while also reflecting on the decades of growth in the field of agriculture. "FFA has been around since 1928 and it has come such a far way," Pinion said. "It's important to celebrate agriculture and get other people more involved in things they might not have known existed." Students with Clyde's FFA, also known as the Future Farmers of America, involved their classmates in the celebration with a school-wide petting zoo hosted in the agriculture classroom, featuring animals as small as Jasmine the cockroach up to Bee the horse. All animals were provided by the chapter students. Students and teachers joined Selvey and his FFA members in the classroom for a chance to see, pet and hold some of these creatures. Some visitors were more popular than others. Only a handful of students had the courage to hold the cockroach while the majority favored the goat, pig, rabbit and other four-legged guests. It was a surprise to see how many students circled the reptiles in the room, according to Selvey. There were several snakes and lizards stationed on the classrooms' workbenches.