FFA SENTINEL
Importance of Agriculture Education in Schools and My Life An essay by Brantley FFA member Meg Mount
Meg and other Brantley FFA members take great pride in promoting agriculture to younger students. The chapter participates in several activities each year to promote agriculture and leadership to local elementary students.
It’s challenging within itself to address any kind of inquiry. One that particularly stands out to me is the importance of agriculture in education. The question I am addressing is, “With school systems discontinuing agriculture classes, how can one promote and secure a place for agriculture in education?” Much like “Home Economics,” agriculture classes, if not secured, will become extinct. At Brantley High School, every seventh grade student has to have an agriculture class. On the first day of class, the teacher, Mr. Mark Andrews, asks, “Did you rely on agriculture to get to school today?” The majority of the class answers, “No.” There are very few who know what the true definition of agriculture is and the 26
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important role it plays in their life. Natural Geographic defines it as, “the art and science of cultivating the soil, growing crops and raising livestock. It includes the preparation of plant and animal products for people to use and their distribution to markets.” Through my school’s Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter, now known as the National FFA Organization, we aspire to inform young minds about the importance of agriculture and what part it plays in their lives. This program helped to inform even myself. I had no idea the amount of wonder and adventure that lay in this career field. There are jobs for everyone through this broad field. You can be a farmer, biological engineer, teacher, forester and many, many more.
