The Vernon-Verona-Sherrill (VVS) FFA maple program in Vernon, N.Y., has tapped trees and boiled sap since 1992. Each year, these high school members manage all aspects of production, which includes tapping trees, maintaining lines and boiling and packaging syrup.
Read on to explore what it takes to keep this student-run program going.
A Storied History
From Trees to Tanks
When it’s time to harvest, VVS FFA members depend on a tractor and tanker system to collect sap from 1,200 taps and transport it to the sap house. Sap is then pumped from the tanker, filtered and stored in a bulk tank until it’s time to boil and package the syrup.
It takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup, and VVS FFA produces about 500 gallons of maple syrup each season.
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Science in Every Drop
In the sap house, the evaporator is heated to just past boiling, turning fresh sap into sweet maple syrup.
VVS FFA treasurer Donnavin Peckham appreciates the hands-on learning that happens here. He’s one of the FFA members who takes on the role of teaching others how to complete each of the required tasks needed to boil sap into syrup. This knowledge sharing is key to ensuring the program thrives.
“We need to continue this legacy of having members keep showing up and putting in work,” says VVS FFA co-advisor Paige Warren.
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Long Hours, Lasting Lessons
Sap collection typically starts around February, and the evaporator runs until maple syrup production is complete in April. Boiling often continues late into the night.
“Some days we’re here until 11 p.m.,” Warren says. “Everybody has their hands in the game when it comes to preparing for maple season.”
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A Community Celebration
Each March, the chapter also hosts its “Maple Weekend” event, providing community members with an up-close tour of the program’s woodlot and the sap house. In addition to serving up a homemade breakfast — featuring pancakes topped with syrup, of course — VVS FFA maple products are available for sale, and the funds raised help send members to state and national FFA conventions.
“It’s a way to show how hard our students work to make the syrup,” says VVS FFA co-advisor Molly Adams.
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Learning to Lead
Syrup might be the focus of Maple Weekend, but FFA members also develop essential skills in leadership, public speaking and sales while guiding tours, selling syrup and networking with state legislators and the New York State Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets who attend the event.
Earlier this year, 2024-25 National FFA Eastern Region Vice President Mary Schrieber (above center) mingled with VVS FFA members and event attendees.
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Passing the Torch
Given its extensive history, Maple Weekend often draws VVS FFA Alumni who express their delight that the maple program is still running.
“Our local farmers and community members are showing up to be supportive of our future agriculturists,” Warren says. “It’s another thing they’re proud of that the students are putting forward.”
