Arkansas Agriculture Edition 29 : Page 26

Spotlight On Youth Building a tradition of excellence Beebe High School FFA program -Ken Moore by Ken Moore Building leaders Beebe High School’s 130-member FFA chapter now meets in the new Career and Technical Center on campus. One-half of the building is dedicated to agriculture. There are three new classrooms, three new shops, three new offices, an ag computer lab, a new greenhouse and a new animal science center. they go on to become an electrician. Or if they’re on the poultry judging team, they end up majoring in poultry science. These are real life skills they are learning here,” Weatherly said. A staunch supporter of FFA and the agriculture program is Beebe’s superintendent Dr. Belinda Shook. She graduated from Beebe High, and her children were both FFA members. Baxter says the program wouldn’t be advancing as it is without her influence. This past August, the agriculture program moved into a new 65,000-square-foot Career and Technical Center on the high-school campus. Weatherly says one-half of the facility is dedicated to agriculture. It includes three classrooms, three shops and offices. Additionally, the program features a new animal-science center and greenhouse. Weatherly is excited about future teaching opportunities the facility will offer. “The animal-science center will eventually allow us to teach artificial insemination (AI) and ultrasound and at some point embryo transfer,” he explained. “Hopefully, once we get the new equipment installed, all three of us will be AI instructor certified, so we can certify our students before they leave.” Only about half of the 130 FFA members come from farm families or have an agricultural background. And, of the 300 or so who take ag classes, more than half are female. “It’s about a 60/40 split now in favor of the girls,” Baxter said. “Many of them are taking welding and ag mechanics classes and participating in those competitions. They’re not just for boys any more.” Weatherly promotes his FFA program as one which makes a positive difference in students’ lives by developing their potential for leadership, personal growth and career success. “”I want to see it become a program that is self-sustaining where word will spread about how fun it is to be involved in FFA, and more students will want to get involved without having to be recruited,” he said. “That’s where I want our program to go, and I think we’re on our way.” T roy Weatherly, Dusty Baxter and Darren Hawkins are building something special at Beebe High School. They are vocational agriculture instructors and advisors to the school’s 130-member FFA chapter. Hired to enhance the program in the summer of 2009, Weatherly and Baxter say their goal is to develop a “tradition of excellence” through the leadership and skills training the FFA program provides. “What we’re most proud of is we have a well-rounded program here,” Weatherly said. “It’s very diverse. We have a bunch of kids with a lot of different interests and are competitive in just about everything. Nine out of our 10 Career Development Event teams qualified for the state FFA contest last year.” Weatherly says being involved in FFA and performing well in state contests is beneficial to the students’ futures as some universities that host the competitions offer scholarships to winners. “A lot of times the kids on the electricity team are really good, and ŒŒŒ* 26 Arkansas Agriculture

Spotlight On Youth

Ken Moore

Troy Weatherly, Dusty Baxter and Darren Hawkins are building something special at Beebe High School. They are vocational agriculture instructors and advisors to the school’s 130-member FFA chapter. Hired to enhance the program in the summer of 2009, Weatherly and Baxter say their goal is to develop a “tradition of excellence” through the leadership and skills training the FFA program provides. “What we’re most proud of is we have a well-rounded program here,” Weatherly said. “It’s very diverse. We have a bunch of kids with a lot of different interests and are competitive in just about everything. Nine out of our 10 Career Development Event teams qualified for the state FFA contest last year.” Weatherly says being involved in FFA and performing well in state contests is beneficial to the students’ futures as some universities that host the competitions offer scholarships to winners. “A lot of times the kids on the electricity team are really good, and they go on to become an electrician. Or if they’re on the poultry judging team, they end up majoring in poultry science. These are real life skills they are learning here,” Weatherly said. A staunch supporter of FFA and the agriculture program is Beebe’s superintendent Dr. Belinda Shook. She graduated from Beebe High, and her children were both FFA members. Baxter says the program wouldn’t be advancing as it is without her influence. This past August, the agriculture program moved into a new 65,000-square-foot Career and Technical Center on the high-school campus. Weatherly says one-half of the facility is dedicated to agriculture. It includes three classrooms, three shops and offices. Additionally, the program features a new animal-science center and greenhouse. Weatherly is excited about future teaching opportunities the facility will offer. “The animal-science center will eventually allow us to teach artificial insemination (AI) and ultrasound and at some point embryo transfer,” he explained. “Hopefully, once we get the new equipment installed, all three of us will be AI instructor certified, so we can certify our students before they leave.” Only about half of the 130 FFA members come from farm families or have an agricultural background. And, of the 300 or so who take ag classes, more than half are female. “It’s about a 60/40 split now in favor of the girls,” Baxter said. “Many of them are taking welding and ag mechanics classes and participating in those competitions. They’re not just for boys any more.” Weatherly promotes his FFA program as one which makes a positive difference in students’ lives by developing their potential for leadership, personal growth and career success. “”I want to see it become a program that is self-sustaining where word will spread about how fun it is to be involved in FFA, and more students will want to get involved without having to be recruited,” he said. “That’s where I want our program to go, and I think we’re on our way.”

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