School Days: Morgan Hill Unified School District
The Changing Landscape of Agricultural Education
By Lanae Bays, Public Information Officer, Morgan Hill Unified School District
M
organ Hill students have been learning about
agriculture, farm life, and leadership through
Future Farmers of America (FFA) since the Live
Oak High School Chapter was established in
1929. The Ann Sobrato High School Chapter was established
in 2004. FFA has been going strong in our school district, and
in South County, ever since. FFA is supported by the National
FFA Organization.
Today, ag encompasses not only traditional farming
and animal husbandry but also the wide-ranging business,
science, and technology aspects of agriculture. FFA’s educa-
tional program has changed and expanded in response to
agriculture industry evolution. The program is student-run,
with agriculture teachers as advisors and leadership positions
held by students.
As an intra-curricular program, FFA offers more than what
most people might think.
According to Nicole Jorgenson, FFA Advisor to Live Oak
High School, “Leadership is the most important skill students
get out of this program.”
During the last school year, Morgan Hill FFA students were
exposed to leadership in government during a visit to the State
Senate and Assembly in Sacramento. Students were assigned
to a district where they researched information, worked with
constituents and debated mock bills at the Capitol.
“We’re learning how to be leaders in our community,” Jared
Mandrell said. Mandrell, who graduated from Ann Sobrato
High School this summer, added that by participating in FFA,
“we’re uncovering [our] underlying strengths.”
FFA’s public speaking competitions help students hone
their ability to research topics, to memorize speeches, and
to think and speak on their feet. For a new member (aka
a “green hand”) these competitions help develop the “FFA
voice,” which refers to a specific, engaging tone that makes for
effective public speaking.
Students and their advisors dedicate many evenings
and weekends preparing for and attending competitions
and conferences.
“These kids are really willing to step out of their comfort
zone,” Jorgenson said.
FFA students can pursue individual interests such as
learning how to judge horses, and farm products such as
milk, cheese and meat. In order to be judges, they learn what
to look for — in cattle and other livestock — such as their
muscle structure, trimness, and whether their meat is low
prime or high choice, for example.
As Live Oak High School Senior, Serena Wood, explained
it, “Math skills are even brought into play when calculating
how much meat a carcass will produce.”
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GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
There’s no prerequisite or predisposition to agricultural
topics required to participate in FFA. Without realizing
all that FFA offered, some less ag-oriented students have
discovered that beyond raising livestock, they could take
advantage of significant learning opportunities in finance,
career development, and communications.
“It is a broad organization and you don’t need to come
from a rural agricultural background to join,” Myan Lam said.
“I just wanted to further my public speaking skills and now I
hope to raise more awareness about the program. Lam gradu-
ated from Ann Sobrato High School with the Class of 2019.
FFA students also hold fundraisers to help cover the cost
to attend regional FFA competitions and conferences. In
many ways, FFA students have found the experience simi-
lar to running a small business, including creating budgets
and managing funds, in some cases including grant money.
Many FFA graduates have said the program taught them solid
life skills.
By participating in the program, students can learn
skills and trades that can lead to careers, such as welding.
In Morgan Hill, the local Rotary Club and Tim Herlihy,
owner of Creating Manufacturing Solutions (CMS), assisted
in establishing a welding program for students, complete
with tools and supplies. Certifications in areas such as food
science and safety, meat selection, OSHA and floral design are
encouraged to help expand the students’ skills and resumes.
Over 100 such certifications were earned by Morgan Hill
FFA students this past academic year. Communications,
engineering, and technology have their place in the
agriculture industry: Programmable tractors that scan the
land and cut weeds, cold storage for fruits and vegetables,
drones that can check water levels or detect chemical leaks
in water lines, are just a few example.
“Agriculture is the avenue to get the kids thinking about
careers,” Sobrato High School’s FFA Advisor, Travis Wyrick, said.
Career development events help students identify potential
career paths. At these events, students create résumés, apply
for fictitious jobs using their FFA experiences as work back-
grounds, and participate in mock job interviews.
There is a bond among the FFA students, who come from
diverse backgrounds.
“We might have met in other classes, but without FFA
many of us likely wouldn’t have become friends,” Live Oak’s
Shae Urbina, Class of 2019, said.
Sobrato FFA Advisor Amanda Wyrick appreciates the
potential for growth, friendship and self-discovery that she
experienced firsthand in high school.
“The first time I left my hometown was on an FFA trip,”
Wyrick said.
august/september 2019
gmhtoday.com