San Benito High School’s Future Farmers of America program has been tabbed as one of the top 25 chapters to produce state FFA degree recipients in California.
The FFA degree is the highest state award a member can earn. The Hollister-San Benito chapter of FFA produced students who won 19 degrees, according to an email from Lloyd McCabe, an administrator with the agriculture and home economics education unit for the California Department of Education.
“I’m really proud of them,” said Superintendent John Perales. “They work so hard and spend so much time here over the summer.”
To earn the degree, members must stay active in FFA for at least two years, work at least 500 hours outside of class on a supervised agriculture program, earn at least a 2.0 GPA, invest a certain amount of money in their agriculture projects, receive a chapter degree, and demonstrate leadership abilities.
The local chapter, together with San Luis Obispo, Gonzales, Arroyo Grande, Pioneer Valley, Nipomo, Santa Maria and King City chapters, form the South Coast region that was responsible for producing students that earned 368 degrees, according to the same email.
The California FFA Association has more than 81,000 members, according to the email. A new state record of 2,191 students received state FFA degrees in 2016, according to the same email.
