Week Six: National FFA Week

 Happy belated National FFA Week to all my students, teachers, farmers, growers, producers, agriculture enthusiasts, and blog readers! As I reflect on this busy week, it feels like this was the first time I was really able to sit down this week. This was my first time experiencing National FFA Week ever, but also in the role of advisor. I am excited to share with you a recap of my week in this blog post. 

This week, in the spirit of a global pandemic, the Cumberland Valley FFA Chapter put some unique twists on some old traditions. If there was one thing that had to remain the same, it was the dress-up days. Students still showcased their FFA spirit by participating in the themed dress-up days set by the officers and committee chairs, but since not all students were in school every day, we asked students to upload their photos to a discussion board in Schoology. Then we made a collage highlighting students that participated so everyone could see. I was able to participate in six of the dress-up days, check it out below. 

Throughout the week we had several activities taking place either after school for students (11:30am) or after school for teachers (3:30pm) or virtually via Zoom! Some of these activities included:

• FFA Officer Meeting
• FFA Chapter Meeting - featuring mock CDE competitions and sign up for this year's virtual CDEs
•  SAE workdays
• Community service - which consisted of building blue birdhouses for the Pennsylvania Game Commission
• Making Farmshow milkshakes for CVHS teachers
• Morning announcements - featuring agriculture facts and/or jokes by the agriscience teachers/officers
• Exchanging FFA mail with Milton Hershey FFA (Pennsylvania) and Patrick Henry FFA (Ohio)

This week reemphasized the importance of planning and organization as an agriscience teacher. I learned that you can not over plan - there's just no such thing. We had set out all the supplies, set up the milkshake machines, and made written instructions for Friday's milkshake event and inevitably there we experienced a few bumps getting the machines to cool the milkshake mix to the right temperature. The event eventually went off without a hitch, but my biggest takeaway from this week from a student-teacher perspective was to PLAN, PLAN, PLAN, and PLAN AGAIN! #PSUAgEd2021, what tips do you have for planning, organizing, coordinating large FFA events? 

Photos borrowed from @CV_AgSciences social media

Another takeaway from this week was the importance of building community and building relationships. I was really impressed by my students' eagerness to share the milkshake love with school district employees beyond the high school daytime staff. My students took the initiative to hand-deliver milkshakes to the 38 employees in the district office as well as the 20 evening custodial staff members. 

Additionally, on Wednesday, Ms. Case and I picked up seedlings from a local greenhouse. I enjoyed learning more about this agricultural business in the community which serves as an FFA supporter, but in the future, could also host students' SAE projects. This was also a neat excursion for me because my grandma used to work at the same greenhouse! The plant science students were really excited to ditch their technology for the day and transplant plugs on Thursday. 

And lastly, this was my view on the way into school on Thursday, set up by a group of extremely appreciative parents who also bought the staff soft pretzels. Honestly, this week put me through the wringer, but this kind gesture put an immediate smile on my face and reminded me of all the positive interactions I had with students during the week. 

#PSUAgEd2021 and teachers everywhere - If no one has told you yet today, I appreciate you! You're doing great and you are making a difference! Let this be your burst of inspiration from me to you 😊