Academy at the Farm FFA Vice President Kenslee Thompson spends time with her market steer. Photo courtesy of Robin Carter.
When the last bell rings each day at Academy at the Farm charter school in Dade City, Fla., not all students rush home right away — some make a beeline for the school’s barn for another hour or two of work. About 60 students, including 31 middle school and high school FFA members, take care of animals at the barn as part of their school’s innovative livestock program.
“There are a lot of things going on after school, but the kids all know what they need to do and have an assigned list of activities,” says Academy at the Farm FFA advisor Robin Carter. “Older kids mentor our younger kids, and adults are available to answer questions. It looks like organized chaos.”
FFA members prepare the mobile egg stand for the afternoon market. They sell eggs to their school’s staff members. Photo courtesy of Robin Carter.
The school owns or leases goats, rabbits, chickens and cattle, and students are assigned a specific animal to take care of for a year (including weekends). The school also has pens for 33 hogs, which are owned by individual students. As part of the livestock program, some students also serve as barn managers and are responsible for taking inventory of feed supplies, helping to maintain or repair equipment and ensuring animals are fed and waterers are cleaned regularly.
Academy at the Farm opened 23 years ago on what was once farmland, but it didn’t have a livestock program until about 10 years ago, after Carter was hired (originally as a fifth grade reading teacher). She has since become the school’s primary agriculture teacher and FFA advisor, and formed the Academy at the Farm Middle FFA Chapter about eight years ago.
Students work together to repair one of the school’s chicken coops. Photo courtesy of Robin Carter.
The chapter has already earned recognition as a Middle School Model of Excellence top three finalist, an honor that is part of the National Chapter Award Program sponsored by Bayer, Cargill, John Deere, New Holland, Rabobank and Syngenta. This year, Academy at the Farm has added a high school FFA chapter, as it is slowly expanding to become a K-12 school.
Because the students are all taking care of animals at the same barn, they not only gain the confidence and sense of responsibility that comes with raising and showing livestock, but they also learn to work together and solve any problems that arise.
FFA members get ready to head off to the state and county fairs. The farm’s donkeys served as mascots during the school’s pep rally. Photo courtesy of Robin Carter.
“They have to work through disagreements and learn how to do that in a professional way,” Carter says. “And they learn very quickly how their reputation is affected by their work ethic. In a hog barn with 33 pens, you don’t want to be that one person who doesn’t clean their pen.”
Harley Cameron, one of the barn managers, shows off a worm from the school’s worm farm. The worms are fed leftover food scraps from the school’s cafeteria. Photo courtesy of Robin Carter.
The Roadmap to Success
One of the first steps to being recognized through the National Chapter Award Program is an outstanding Program of Activities (POA). Bookmark this helpful resource about all things POA, then explore National Chapter award categories, past results and more.
