About 500 Franklin Community High School students watched as a red-tailed hawk devoured the head of a dead mouse Thursday in the school’s gymnasium.
Within 15 seconds, the mouse was gone. It was the first of two mice that served as a snack for the bird of prey brought to the school by Mark Booth, director of Take Flight Wildlife Education, an Indianapolis-based wildlife education organization. The event was just one of a plethora of activities across Johnson County as part of National FFA Week.
The week has been a tradition in schools across the nation since 1948, and has been celebrated in Johnson County since at least the 1980s, according to teachers at both Clark-Pleasant and Indian Creek schools
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FFA, which used to be called Future Farmers of America, is a national student-led organization with three local chapters. FFA members study agriculture, natural resources and leadership, and compete against other schools.
This week, students in their school district’s FFA programs took part in numerous activities that showcased a variety of aspects of agriculture, including animals, farming, trucks and tractors.
The birds of prey demonstration was part of wildlife day at Franklin Community High School, which also featured a display about wildlife and natural resources in Indiana. During FFA week, which began Sunday and ends today, Franklin Community Schools also had a dairy cow and calf, baby lambs, horses and ponies on display at the high school’s agriculture shop, spokesperson Robin Betts said.
On Tractor Day, farmers drove tractors to the high school’s parking lot for a Farmer Olympics competition, which pitted Franklin FFA students against local farmers. The week wrapped up with a charity pancake breakfast Saturday morning in the high school cafeteria, which benefited the family of Doug Abney, according to the email.
Abney passed away in January in Bargersville, where he owned and operated Red Barn Farms.
FFA week provides an opportunity to get all high school students more informed and involved in the agriculture world, said Alicia Geesey, agriculture teacher at Franklin Community High School.
“The coolest part of this week is including the whole school, trying to show all sides (of agriculture), not just farming but natural resources,” Geesey said. “It gives a different perspective on agriculture and opens your eyes to the multitude of possibilities.”
Booth said he wanted students to take one simple message away from the birds of prey demonstration.
“Biodiversity rocks,” he said.
At Whiteland Community High School, agriculture students drove trucks and tractors to school. The school also had an animal day, during which all students could see farm animals, such as cows or goats, and complete quizzes about the animals to win prizes, said Hannah Goeb, the school’s agricultural science teacher and FFA adviser.
Goeb helped grow the agriculture program at the school from possible elimination to one that has doubled in size since last year, when it had about 150 students, to the about 300 students enrolled in agriculture classes this year. In March 2018, the Indiana Department of Education recognized Whiteland Community High School as the best agriculture science and business program in the state.
“My favorite part (of FFA Week) is seeing students experience things they haven’t before,” Goeb said. “Some have never seen a tractor up close or a cow or a goat. It’s cool to see people who haven’t been exposed to agriculture get that experience throughout the week.”
Students at Indian Creek schools are preparing to break ground in the spring on the district’s first beef farm, dubbed Creek Cattle Company, with the goal of providing farm-to-table food for Indian Creek students, said Joe Dunn, agriculture teacher at Indian Creek High School.
During FFA week, FFA members competed in the district’s FFA Olympics, including welding, nail-driving and hand-sawing competitions. The week also included days for students to drive trucks and tractors to school, and a day for students to wear their FFA uniforms, Assistant Superintendent Andy Cline said.
FFA Week helps students show their pride in agriculture, Dunn said.
“I get to see a lot of pride in my students’ work, seeing they are taking leadership in an organization that made an impact on my life as a high schooler,” Dunn said.
FFA members are not just part-time farmers, but leaders, said Makayla Cory, a senior at Franklin Community High School.
“It’s not just working with animals,” Cory said. “We are scientists, inspirers and leaders. We’re more than just farmers.”
