Livestock isn’t the only lively thing about FFA. Along with their monthly meetings on every third Tuesday, the group has annual holiday parties such as their Halloween party on Oct. 17. Bringing the students together, FFA played games such as Wrap the Mummy and Musical Chairs.

In addition, each member decorated a mini pumpkin with paint markers which they will be donating to the Wyoming Springs elderly home in Round Rock. Along with pumpkins, FFA will be donating blankets to homeless people in November.

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Deana Trautz

Competing against two other teams, freshman Audrey Burton runs to wrap up senior Cheryl Cruz in a game of "Wrap the Mummy".

A third-year FFA member, sophomore Jeffrey Morphis, said he thinks that they are putting parties to better use this year.

“We wanted to donate partially out of goodness,” Morphis said. “But also we thought it would be something to get all of us involved and have something fun to do.”

As more students graduate each year, FFA uses meetings to continuously inform the group of what is going on, with the hope that more underclassmen will hear about it and want to join.

Morphis said that meetings are the best way to get information out there, not only to high school FFA but especially to the middle school FFA students. Since middle school FFA does not have an official class, the only other way to keep them in the loop is through parent emails.

“Even if they don’t have shows to worry about, they still need to be informed about the general happenings of our school and the FFA,” Morphis said.

FFA student of five years, junior Kendall Burton, said that this year they are focusing on letting the school know that FFA is about more than raising livestock.      

“A lot of people don’t know what FFA is other than showing animals,” Burton said. “One of our main goals is to get more people involved.”                                                                                                                                                     

Students are also held at a high standard when it comes to leadership skills. They can compete up to the state level doing LTEs (Leadership Development Activities) and CDEs (Career Development Activities).

In these competitions, Burton said that there are several categories, one of which being the Skills category. To compete in Skills, a group of students must explain a topic in front of a panel of judges.

FFA takes place in the back of the B-building in room B115. Agriculture includes floral design and welding, along with FFA. Morphis said that he thinks agriculture is an important part of everyone’s lives, whether they join a class or not.

“If you think about it, everyone has been impacted by agriculture,” Morphis said. “You wear clothes and eat food which both come from agriculture.”