There are various clubs and activities to keep the three thousand students of Carolina Forest High School involved. One of those clubs is Future Farmers of America, known at school as FFA. Our FFA participates in multiple events throughout the year both on and off campus. Some of those events include the annual school plant sale, their various competitions they attend, as well as agricultural work they do around the school grounds.
Offered by agriculture and horticulture teachers Marlette Watson and Natalie Money, the class is available to all CFHS students to take.
“I hope FFA for my students is a place where everyone is welcome. This is my second year teaching; slowly, more students are getting involved and the chapter is finally growing!” advertised Money.
One of the many events that FFA does for the community of Carolina Forest is their annual plant sale. This year, the plant sale was hosted in the campus’ greenhouse during the week of April 15. The club sold bedding plants, potted plants, hanging baskets, potted ferns, and potted perennials.
The plant sale was such a success that almost everything the students grew sold within 24 hours!
Kaylynn Fish, a senior at CF, shared how she joined FFA and what she has gained from the experience.
“I chose to take the class and join FFA because I want to go into the wildlife conservation field! The skills and knowledge I learn from my WHEP competition and FFA and my Agriculture class will help me so much in that field!”
Fish took her skills to the test when she and her fellow FFA member, Cameron Hardee-Montegomery, attended the Wildlife Habitat Education Program Contest on April 20. They both had to access a piece of land, make a habitat plan for it, and then answer fifty different questions about the local South Carolina wildlife.
“The FFA to me was an opportunity to further explore what I enjoy doing like hands-on activities, learning about wildlife, competitions/field trips, learning greenhouse methods, and more,” informed Hardee-Montgomery.
Fish ended up bringing home a second place individual award of on site recommendations!
The WHEP is considered one of the hands-on competitions which Ms. Money helps the students train for. They are called Career Development Events, CDEs. Other competitions like those held in person are called Leadership Development Events, LDEs. The LDEs are more public speech orientated and will be focused on with the help of Mrs. Watson.
Our FFA chapter works very hard around and off campus to make changes to the community. Over the last two years, both teachers have worked to push their students to their potential in the agriculture field. In the following years to come, the FFA chapter as well as agricultural classes will hopefully continue to grow and make the school a greener place one plant at a time.
