CSI Recruitment Activity at Stroud FFA
A mock Tractor Crime Scene at the Stroud FFA show barn introduced middle school students to agricultural education.
Members of the Stroud FFA chapter held a CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) at their agriculture facilities to encourage middle school students to join FFA in their eighth-grade year. Stroud FFA member Wyatt West said, “To make the activity successful, we set up the cattle pot and tractor at the show barn. The day of, we used flour as body outlines, food coloring, straw bales, caution tape, and tools to set the scene. Then we created ‘investigation buckets’ with safety glasses, worksheets, clipboards and pencils.”
Flour outlines the “body,” and crime scene tape is wrapped around the tractor while students solve the mystery.
Stroud FFA member Brynlee Price stated, “Students were given ‘detective sheets’ to answer questions to determine how the accident happened at the farm. This encouraged leadership, team work and communication.”
Price also said, “It is more than just farming and ranching! While an important part of agriculture, agricultural education and FFA involvement can be related to anything!”
It was overall a successful event, led by the student body of Stroud FFA members to keep middle school students engaged, and make sure they enjoy the recruitment activity. The biggest part of this activity was over 80% of the students said they were interested in taking agricultural education classes when they are eligible.
Students are actively working together in this “crime scene” to develop leadership and communication skills.
Allowing students to conduct research and letting them use their critical thinking skills to solve problems are the biggest things that happened during this task.
Jenna Fine said her favorite part of the activity was, “getting to see the excitement on younger students faces while they participated in a hands-on activity.”
Unique activities like these help present new ideas for FFA members to be able to think outside the box, and put a smile on a students’ faces, are important to keep establishing in schools across America.
Students work together to solve the mystery!
