Telling the Agricultural Education and Texas FFA Story

BY: AUSTIN LARGE T E X A S F FA A S S O C I AT I O N E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R

32 F ebruary is one of my favorite months of the year! While agricultural science teachers and FFA members spend much of the month traveling to major livestock shows and invitational CDE contests, our team in Austin devotes most of this month to networking with external partners, state agency staff, and elected officials to tell the incredible story of agricultural education and career and technical education. For those of you who don’t know, February is National CTE Month as well as the month in which we celebrate FFA Week. It’s a great time for advocacy efforts because there are a plethora of resources and a focus on CTE, allowing us to spread the good word. So how do we keep our advocacy efforts alive during the other 11 months? Advocating Locally When thinking about advocating for agricultural and career and technical education at the local level, we have to start with a mindset of building effective relationships. People naturally listen to and trust those they already have a relationship with. How do we become those trusted advisors? Make room at the table for those TELLING THE AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AND TEXAS FFA STORY who don’t know or understand your program. It’s easy to invest time into relationships with those who understand what we do, but often we see a bigger pay-off when we are mindful of those who don’t. When we invest time into these relationships, we help people to see the value of agricultural and career and technical education. Extend invitations for administrators, parents, community members, etc., to attend your local chapter meetings or visit one of your classes. Volunteer your program to help with other school or community events. Small gestures matter and are effective to building quality relationships with those who are familiar and not familiar with our program. Focus on the “why” more than the “what.” As I’m sure we all remember from our teacher preparation programs, context is a key factor in learning. This philosophy is highlighted in a well-known TED Talk by Simon Sinek. Mr. Sinek describes what he calls “The Golden Circle” of communication and states “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”. Most of the time in agricultural education we focus our messaging on the “what” (i.e. contest success, livestock show placings, group pictures in blue jackets at an event) and don’t put enough emphasis on the “why” (i.e. premier leadership, personal growth, and career success.) I encourage you to put some thought into the “why” behind the undertakings of our program. It’s a lot easier to garner support for the “what” when we help others see that each day we develop students through agricultural education to grow future leaders, build vibrant local communities, and strengthen agriculture. We rise by lifting others. Synergy is the concept that the combined efforts of multiple groups collaborating together yields a “WHEN THINKING ABOUT ADVOCATING FOR AGRICULTURAL AND CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION AT THE LOCAL LEVEL, WE HAVE TO START WITH A MINDSET OF BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS.”

higher impact than each group would be able to accomplish on their own. This is a call to action to engage with other career and technical student organizations (CTSOs) and CTE program areas. When you boil it down, we are all in the business of developing students and preparing them for their future careers. Working with your colleagues and students in other program areas to support and elevate their efforts turns them into people who do the same for you. Rather than seeing them as competition for support and resources, ask yourself, “how can you create synergies between your program areas/organizations?” Supporting students and beneficial programs at the student and teacher level sets the example and expectation that should be happening at the administrator and community level.

The Data

Once we have invested the time to build relationships locally, it’s time to start sharing the impact our programs and activities have on students. We have long touted the benefits of student involvement in agricultural education and the FFA, but what tangible evidence do we have to substantiate these claims? The following research highlights verified data that can be shared with administrators and community members about students who have participated in an agricultural education and FFA programs. A study conducted by the faculty at Texas A&M University – Kingsville found the following:

Students with 2, 4, or 6 semesters of agricultural education coursework graduate at a higher rate than their peers (97.5% vs 83.2%)

Students involved in 4 to 6 semesters of agricultural education coursework have significantly lower disciplinary records than their peers (41.2% vs 48.8%)

University leaders surveyed say Texas FFA members are:

1.5 times more prepared for college than their peers

1.6 times more valuable than athletes in the recruiting process

1.13 times more valuable than National Honor Society students in the recruiting process

“OUR JOB IS TO CAPITALIZE ON THE OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS AND TELL OUR STORY LOCALLY, SO THE STUDENTS OF TODAY AND TOMORROW CAN CONTINUE TO BENEFIT FROM THESE PROGRAMS AND ORGANIZATIONS.”

In a recent study conducted by the National FFA Organization and Purdue University, the following was found:

Involvement in FFA correlated with academic success (FFA members had higher ACT and SAT average scores than the national average)

Involvement in FFA is correlated with high career readiness (determined on tools to skill development, cognitive maturity and communication abilities)

FFA members have specific plans for after high school (93% of members surveyed plan to continue their education after high school)

FFA members have the desire to stay involved in agriculture as they go into their careers (67% of members surveyed indicated that their career plans would encompass agriculture in some way)

Empirical and statistical data are on our side when looking to paint a positive picture for parents, administrators, and community leaders of agricultural and career and technical education. Our job is to capitalize on the opportunities available to build relationships and tell our story locally, so the students of today and tomorrow can continue to benefit from these programs and organizations. Invite those who don’t understand agricultural education to the table, spend more time on the “why” rather than the “what”, and remember we rise by lifting others. Our story and impact is easy to tell, we just have to invest the time and energy into telling it right!