Tuesday was State Fair Day for the students of Future Farmers of America (FFA) who took the day off from school to visit the State Fair of Texas.

FFA is a youth group focused on agricultural education. Led by teacher Julie Anderson the organization has more than 100,000 members in Texas. To find out more about FFA is all about, Wingspan sat down with Anderson.

Wingspan: Who founded the FFA and when?

Anderson: “It was founded in 1928 by thirty-three farm boys who wanted to have an agriculturally based organization.”

Wingspan: What are the different activities and competitions students can participate in?

Anderson: “In the fall, we have our leadership development events and those mostly are public speaking contests like public relations, radio broadcasting, and several others. In the spring we do our judging contests and you can judge flowers, horses, dairy products, poultry, and entomology. There’s also marketing, ad sales, communications and contests like that. We also exhibit lifestyle projects. We go to camps, conventions, banquets, all sorts of things.”

Wingspan: When did the FFA begin participating nationally?

Anderson: “In 1928. We were chartered in 2010, so we are relatively new.”

Wingspan: What is the purpose of the FFA?

Anderson: “The purpose of the FFA is the development of student leaders, personal growth, career success, and premier leadership in order to help them be better prepared for college and career.”

Wingspan: How many times have you all won state or national competitions? And for what division?

Anderson: “Okay, well, we have not won anything in our state. It’s extremely difficult because there’s only one winner obviously and we usually compete with over 60 to 600 teams depending on what it is. We’ve made it to state in public relations several times, we made it in creed speaking, we’ve made it in milk quality, veterinary medicine, farm business management, and horse judging. So, we’ve been pretty competitive.”

Wingspan: What kind of academic opportunities are there for participating in the FFA?

Anderson: “Well the FFA is unique in that it’s an intracurricular organization, which means you have to be in an agriculture class in order to participate in the FFA. A lot of our participants end up getting scholarships, one in four FFA members receives a scholarship. In addition. college acceptance rates are greater. The majors that those from our program enter have great job placement. There’s about 20 jobs waiting for every graduate in an agricultural based industry.”