After three years of trying to bring home the bacon, Anzar High
School students finally have their own Future Farmers of America
chapter at their school.
San Juan Bautista – After three years of trying to bring home the bacon, Anzar High School students finally have their own Future Farmers of America chapter at their school.
Students at Anzar High School have been trying to form a Future farmers of America Chapter at the school for three years. The problem was that the students who wanted the chapter were always seniors, and by the time they got close to reaching their goal they would graduate.
“We’d just about get a team built and then they’d graduate,” said Bruce Pirl, a special education teacher at Anzar who also has an agriculture teaching credential.
This year, however, there were some juniors who got involved with getting an FFA chapter at Anzar. And last month they found out that they had been accepted as one of the more than 7,000 FFA chapters throughout the country.
“I felt great – boy, what took so long – it was a lot of follow through from the students,” Pirl said.
Founded 75 years ago, FFA is an organization that uses agricultural education as a means for teaching students leadership and life skills that can bring them success in agriculture-related professions and most any other career, according to the FFA website.
The desire to create a FFA Chapter at Anzar began with a simple agriculture class Pirl taught during the school’s January intersession. Pirl, who will lead the fledgling chapter as its advisor, was surprised by the interest students showed in his agriculture course and said it provided the foundation for establishing the FFA program at Anzar.
“Interest in FFA grew out of that,” Pirl said.
Principal Charlene McKowen said she thinks the FFA chapter will be a perfect fit for the campus, which is located among the fertile fields surrounding San Juan Bautista.
“I think it’s very exciting to be legit, even in our smallness,” McKowen said. “We’ve got the land, perfect location.”
Next year, instead of only offering the 22-day intersession class that Pirl has taught for three years, Anzar will offer an early morning agriculture class as required by the FFA. And now that Anzar has an FFA chapter the future is wide open for possible projects that students might participate in, McKowen said.
“Students need to have some kind of project with an FFA affiliated class,” she said. “We have all kinds of opportunity.”
Earlier this year this year students worked with master gardeners from the community and planted a garden with tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and ornamental flowers. Pirl hopes that eventually the garden might expand and include a green house where students can grow plants.
“The exciting part is seeing students and community members working together,” McKowen said, adding that in the future the school may sell the produce students grow and possibly incorporate into its lunch program. McKowen also hopes the school receives a federal grant, which would be used to develop a demonstration upper watershed project.
“All that kind of stuff can dovetail with FFA,” she said.
Pirl, who was raised in Fresno, was a member of FFA when he has a student and has always loved agriculture and raising animals, but being a FFA member is more than just learning about growing plants and animal husbandry, he said. Belonging to FFA creates a framework within which students can apply all the subjects they learn in school.
“It’s the thing that made my high school career. Science, math, public speaking, all that stuff becomes relevant,” he said. “I like the leadership training aspect. That’s one of the best things FFA does now.”
Luke Roney covers politics and agriculture for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
