Horticulture students trimming a bush.
We’ve all heard the iconic FFA motto, “Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve.” The last part of the motto has stood out to me the most, not because of its complexity, but what it truly means.
What does “Living to Serve” mean? Sometimes, the answer to this question isn’t in a quick Google search, but in your own communities.
The heart of the small rural community of Jamesville, N.C., lies on a quiet street. A part of NERSBA Early College, the NERSBA FFA Chapter has gone above and beyond for its community. One of their main goals is to give back to the community that has supported them. In this community, many residents are elderly couples who can’t do many of the labor-intensive tasks that younger people can.
NERSBA FFA Advisor Maria Dickinson recognized this dilemma and took action.
One resident, Mrs. Long, is disabled and elderly. The bushes and vines in her yard had overgrown her house so much that it was nearly impossible to access her back door. Dickinson decided to take action. She, with the help of her Horticulture 1 class, went over to Mrs. Long’s house and began to clean up her yard and the side of the house.
Horticulture students pick up bush trimmings from the yard.
While cleaning Mrs. Long’s house, Dickinson used the experience as a learning opportunity for her Horticulture class, which is composed predominantly of freshman students. She tasked them with identifying certain types of vines, weeds, flowers and bushes in her yard. These students were also given the ability to truly learn what it was like to “get their hands dirty.” After a week of pulling weeds, trimming bushes, cutting vines down, and gardening, the students’ labor had paid off.
“It was very nice of us doing it for her, because Mrs. Long couldn’t get out and do it herself. Seeing how Mrs. Long came out happy, and seeing us clean up her yard made the labor worth it,” Zion Floyd, one of the students, said.
NERSBA FFA hopes to do a larger-scale version of this cleanup in the future, after receiving numerous compliments about their work from other members in the community.
