As an agriculture science teacher and FFA advisor, you understand and have seen the value students gain from being involved in the National FFA Organization. However, when tasked with dedicating an entire week to highlighting and celebrating the value of FFA, it can be difficult to know where to start.
Every February, FFA chapters around the country celebrate National FFA Week, a time to share the story of what FFA is and how FFA is preparing future leaders through agricultural education.
So how can you and your program celebrate National FFA Week? What are some strategies you can use to share FFA’s value and its impact on members? As a dedicated provider of the agriculture science curriculum and resources, iCEV did the heavy lifting for you!
In this article, you’ll discover the 5 best ways you and your students can join in this National FFA Week:
- Share the Facts About FFA
- Promote Your FFA Chapter
- Increase Involvement in FFA
- Serve Your Local Community
- Engage Alumni and Supporters
After reading, you’ll have plenty of ideas and strategies to celebrate your students as they participate in FFA and how involvement impacts your school and community in positive ways.
Share the Facts About FFA
A key first step to celebrating National FFA Week is understanding what makes being an active FFA member valuable for today’s students and the world around them. To get you started, share basic information about FFA with your students and local community to increase awareness. Information you can share to help others better understand FFA includes how the organization is structured and operates as well as student outcomes from participating.
So where do you find all of that information? There are two great places to start:
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The National FFA website has a multitude of resources including blogs, guides and fact sheets outlining what exactly makes the organization valuable for today’s students. National FFA’s National FFA Week Implementation Guide (on pg. 59) includes classroom lesson materials designed to help individuals quickly learn FFA basics while exploring every facet of the organization.
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In addition, iCEV collaborated with the National FFA Organization to produce the Blue & Gold Experience series to showcase diverse experiences from FFA members across the nation. The newly updated version features lessons and materials focusing on the three-component model, with particular emphasis on involvement through Leadership Development Events (LDE), Career Development Events (CDE) and Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) programs.
Once you’ve gathered the information you need, it’s important to find people to share it with. That’s where the next idea comes into play!
Promote Your FFA Chapter
Advocacy is a great way to spread the word about the value FFA offers students in your program and across the nation.
For an FFA program, advocacy efforts might look like posting facts on social media, submitting a news release to your local newspaper or even appearing on your local news to announce the celebration and why FFA is valuable.
Start developing your advocacy plan by identifying key messages to share about the organization and your own chapter. You can then pinpoint audiences within your local community to share the messages with including alumni, local businesses and organizations. By doing this, you’re developing a positive relationship and network between your community and FFA chapter.
The National FFA Week Implementation Guide (on pg. 36) includes social media strategies, news release tips and other templates and documents to help guide your advocacy efforts.
Advocacy is just the beginning though. During National FFA Week you have an amazing opportunity to take sharing the impact of FFA on students’ lives to the next level by getting your students more involved!
Increase Involvement in FFA
Today’s FFA helps members prepare for careers in agribusiness, agrimarketing, science, communications, education, horticulture, production, natural resources, forestry and many other diverse fields.
Encourage your school’s students to learn more about the opportunities in FFA by sharing the benefits of joining. You can find a quick list of statistics to share in this blog by the National FFA.
Increase involvement in your program by having your students invite their friends to a chapter meeting, team practice or event. The National FFA Organization has value to offer all students regardless of whether they plan to pursue a career in agriculture or not.
Sharing this information with students doesn’t only get students more involved – it encourages them to celebrate National FFA Week themselves. The more students are invested, the more positive outcomes they and their community will see.
Now that you’ve gotten more students involved, the next idea on our list becomes that much more impactful.
Serve Your Local Community
For today’s students, community service helps them to gain perspective of the world around them, life skills and provide service to people who need it most. The National FFA Organization embraces the idea of building stronger communities. The last line of the FFA motto, “Living to Serve,” signifies the vital role service plays in the organization.
With that in mind, there’s no better way to celebrate National FFA Week than through a service project!
Potential community service projects for your FFA chapter might include adopting a highway to pick up trash, canned food or clothing drives or helping take care of animals for someone in need.
The National FFA Week Implementation Guide (on pg. 64) includes documents to support and guide your efforts along the way.
Want to help your students see how joining FFA can benefit their futures while strengthening your program as a whole? That’s where the final idea on our list comes in.
Engage Alumni and Supporters
Local FFA alumni and supporters are a resource of knowledge, skills and interest to help prepare students for their futures. Taking time to engage with these individuals during National FFA Week is a great way to say thank you, gain support and show students where past FFA members are now and how their time in FFA impacted their lives.
Great ways to engage alumni and supporters in your chapter include inviting them to participate in a chapter meeting, asking them to chaperone chapter trips or presenting to your classes if they work in an agriculture-related field.
By engaging alumni and supporters you are not only increasing awareness of FFA and the value it offers students. You’re creating support and a network for members to use to grow and learn throughout their FFA experience.
In the National FFA Week Implementation Guide (on pg. 34), you’ll find tips and tricks for involving alumni and supporters as well as resources to keep these individuals connected to the organization.
Start Celebrating National FFA Week Today!
As an FFA advisor, knowing how to best approach celebrating National FFA Week with your students, school and community can be overwhelming and may leave you unsure of where to start. However, with the right tools and strategies, celebrating National FFA Week in February is a fantastic way to raise awareness, increase involvement and strengthen your FFA and agriculture science programs.
Depending on your FFA chapter and agriculture science program’s goals, any of the ideas and strategies above can get you started down the right path to sharing the value of joining FFA in an impactful way.
The engagement and celebration doesn’t have to stop when National FFA Week comes to an end!
Keeping students involved and engaged throughout the school year can be a significant challenge for today’s educators. Download your free student engagement guide, today to receive even more strategies, tips and activities to keep your students engaged in your agriculture science classroom and FFA program year-round.
