BERNE — The Berne-Knox-Westerlo Secondary School is excited to announce the formation of a Future Farmers of America chapter. The FFA is an organization that provides agricultural, educational, and leadership opportunities for students and young adults across the country.

The president of the BKW chapter is Amber Gebe. The chapter’s other officers are: Vice President Liz Lendrum, Secretary Amanda Conley, Historian Morgan Latham, Treasurer Freddie Edwards, sentinels James Dutton and Callie Hempstead, and I am the reporter.

The school has also introduced a series of new agriculture classes to spark interest about the expanding field. Students in the Equine Science and Introduction to Agriculture I and II classes were invited to participate in High School Days at the State University of New York College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill. The BKW students competed against over 500 students from 20 schools, winning multiple top-three awards.

In September, three of the current officers were invited to an FFA breakfast hosted by the Schoharie Valley FFA Chapter. The state officers also attended, and made the BKW officers feel very welcome and comfortable in this new, unfamiliar environment.

As the three new officers looked about, they felt something powerful about being in a room full of blue corduroy jackets that represent the dedication of an entire organization to help educate the public and promote agricultural interests across the United States, and even across the world.

Guest speakers and field trips for BKW classes have included hearing Theresa Tommell, doctor of veterinary medicine, and visiting the Lendrum farm to see the process of making corn silage. Upcoming agriculture activities are the SUNY Cobleskill trip to help spawn trout in the state’s Fish and Wildlife Department venue and a visit from a State Trooper with a trained dog.

Opportunities to expand agricultural and animal science education is a shared goal of Berne-Knox-Westerlo and the FFA.

“FFA provides leadership opportunities that I would not have access to in any other extracurricular activities,” says chapter President Amber Gebe.

The organization not only promotes leadership and scholarship programs, but also stresses the importance of farming and agriculture in the future. In order to support its growing population, the world, by the year 2025, must produce twice the amount of food that it does now.

“I’ve grown up farming, and want to preserve the tradition for future generations,” FFA member Shelby Clickman says, echoing a sentiment that can be found in FFA members across the country.                                                          

FFA also helps educate the younger generation about the importance of farming, and hopes to increase interest in agricultural and farming studies in college. The average age of an American farmer is 58, which is an alarming statistic in the face of the population increase.

If agriculture and farming continue to be topics that schools around the country gloss over, then the world faces an even more challenging future. The BKW chapter is excited and ready to help educate and promote agriculture within the local community.

As the BKW chapter is very new, we will be hosting fundraisers so we can attend leadership conferences such as 212° and 360°, which promote growth, collaboration, and action. We are also hoping to raise money to purchase a set of the iconic FFA corduroy jackets, which will be worn to every FFA event. Any donations or support would be appreciated tremendously.

The BKW chapter is striving to bring new leadership and character-developing opportunities to the students of BKW, and hopes to make a positive difference in the future of this community.

Students who are interested in joining the BKW chapter are welcome to attend one of the meetings, held every second and fourth Thursday of each month. There is also a Junior FFA Chapter for students in grades 7 and 8, meeting on every first Thursday of each month. The Senior FFA is open to students in grades 9 through 12.

Editor’s note: Breanna Larghe, a Berne-Knox-Westerlo student, is a member of Future Farmers of America and the reporter for the local chapter.