GAINESVILLE FFA Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve
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FA makes a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education. As a member of the Gainesville FFA, our students are able to discover their talents through hands-on experiences, giving them the tools to achieve real-world success. Members are not just future farmers, they are future chemists, veterinarians, government officials, entrepreneurs, bankers, international business leaders, teachers, and premier professionals in many career fields. Currently, the Gainesville chapter has over 200 FFA members, which is dependent on enrollment in Ag CTE courses. Junior FFA is open to GISD students in grades 3-8. The Gainesville FFA Chapter promotes this development through agriculture activities year-round. Each fall, FFA members compete on Leadership Development Event (LDE) teams. In November, 13 Gainesville students competed at the District 5 FFA LDE Contest on six different teams. The Public Relations team of Natalie Putnam, Katelyn Murphy, and Kyra Richardson, earned second place and advanced to the Area contest and Isabel Rojas placed first in Spanish Creed Speaking. The Public Relations team placed second at the Area contest and advanced to the State Semi-finals round for the first time in GISD history. In the spring, Career Development Event teams develop career skills in various fields of the Ag industry through contests such as Veterinary Medicine, Poultry Evaluation, and Floriculture.
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• Gainesville SPOT SPOTlight light • Winter 2021
Some of these students have gone on to earn industry certifications as Level 1 Floral Designers or Certified Veterinary Assistants because of the knowledge developed in these events. The Gainesville FFA livestock team spends the majority of the school year raising and caring for their livestock projects, including cattle, sheep, goats, swine, poultry, and rabbits. In the spring of 2021, members exhibited animals at the Cooke County Junior Livestock Show (CCJLS) and Houston Livestock Show. At the Cooke County Junior Premium Auction, Gainesville FFA members earned over $19,000 in premium awards. Two members of Gainesville FFA also received CCJLS scholarships. At the Houston Livestock Show, Katelyn Murphy received first place with her Hereford heifer and Marian Motomochi qualified for the Houston market lamb auction with her Southdown lamb. Currently, our members are busy preparing for the 2022 show season. The Gainesville chapter also competes in the Agricultural Mechanics contest at the CCJLS, building wood and metal projects for exhibition. In the past two years, Gainesville FFA has won both Grand and Reserve Grand Champion woodshop projects at the show and went on to earn an industry certification with the American Welding Society.
