The Future Farmers of America (FFA) is gearing up for a busy spring, with several competitions and shows scheduled over the next couple of months. FFA is an organization that promotes and supports agricultural education in middle and high school classes. Within the LCM chapter, there are six officers: Peyton Ellis (President), Ailaina Mathews (Vice President), Hannah Taylor (Secretary), McCartney Miller (Treasurer), Rebekah Comeaux (Historian), and Jaquelyn Henderson (Parliamentarian).

According to FFA adviser Gary Pool, he is currently training teams to compete in horse judging, livestock judging, vet. tech, and poultry judging.

“We will be traveling to contests all over East Texas during February, March and April,” Pool said. “We will be attending the District Convention, Area Convention in Nacogdoches, State Convention in Forth Worth and (hopefully) the National Convention in Indianapolis next fall.”

Last summer, five of the officers attended the State FFA Convention in Corpus Christi and also held an officer retreat at Rockefeller Refuge in Louisiana for three days, where they were able to plan the chapter activities for the school year.

“We also toured the marsh in a boat and went out into the gulf and collected seashells,” Pool said. “The students did most of the cooking and they got to handle baby alligators.”

This past October, the organization hosted a special meeting and meal to welcome new members and had a cookie dough sale in November to raise funds for various activities. In December, they hosted a Christmas party that included dozens of members from LCM and Deweyville.

Several of the FFA members stay busy by participating in various contests throughout the year. Brianna Daigle has competed in the District Creed Speaking Contest, while Hannah Taylor, McCartney Miller, Carmen Hutchison and Grant Lacour are showing steers and heifers. This spring, they will compete in Beaumont, Houston, Forth Worth, and San Antonio. The students are also currently working on several different projects in their classes.

“Our students are currently building deer stands in shop, constructing a greenhouse, and raising laying hens and broilers (meat) chickens in our barn that is also under construction,” Pool said.

FFA holds an officer meeting early each month to plan the chapter meeting, which usually includes discussing business matters and future activities.

“We usually have a recreation time and we ALWAYS eat,” Pool said.

Students who are interested in being a part of FFA are encouraged to stop by Pool’s classroom (V-157) on the high school campus.