North Buncombe – You’ve heard not to badmouth farmers on a full stomach, and if this busy fall for the North Buncombe Future Farmers of America (FFA) class is any indication for the future of farming, your stomach should be full well into the future. North Buncombe FFA teacher Justin Gillespie shared what the FFA members have been up to this fall.
“The fall semester has been jam-packed with student engagement activities. Every week since August, students have had multiple opportunities to actively participate in before and or after school activities that focus on the FFA motto ‘Learning to do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, and Living to Serve,'” said Gillespie. “Just this semester, we have had over 60 students participate in these events. We are looking forward to a great spring semester that involves a wide variety of events, with the focus being premier leadership, personal growth, and career success for our students that are part of our agriculture education program.”
Busy indeed, especially in FFA competition. In livestock evaluation, the North Buncombe senior team placed 6th in the state out of 117. Team members include Peyton Calloway, Mylee Ponder, Kenley Herron, and Max Jones. The junior team placed 15th in the state out of 98. Team members include Michael Atkinson, Addison Sprinkle, and Jake Hale.
In Parliamentary Procedure, the Black Hawks placed fourth in the state with members Silver Hyatte, Aislinn Stroupe, Sara Stone, Clay Shook, Michaela Crain, and Mylee Ponder.
Max Jones placed second in the NC FFA West Region truck driving CDE and fourth in the NC FFA West Region tractor driving CDE.
In the Gator Wars, or Ag Mechanics, the North Buncombe team took third in the western half of the state. Members were Sam Bonyun, Max Jones, Casen Hollifield, and Michael Atkinson. The same happened with the Forestry Senior Team, which also took third in the NC FFA Blue Ridge Federation. Members of the team were Aden Kidwell, Case Hyatt, Billy Russell, and Violet Alfieri.
The Veterinary Science senior team took fourth in the NC FFA West Region. Team members are Makayla Hensley, Peyton Calloway, Addison Sprinkle, and Alexis Ramsey. Clay Shook is a state degree recipient.
In Notable Livestock Shows, 14 North Buncombe students participated as part of the livestock show team, participating in 19 shows during the summer and fall. They were:
Kenley Herron: Champion Dairy Steer at the NC-Mtn State Fair
Ava Manning: Champion Senior Showman at the NC Mountain State Fair
Natalie Hensley: Champion Intermediate Showman at the NC Mountain State Fair
Shelby Candler: Numerous state and national showmanship opportunities
In non-competition activities during Ag Awareness Day, approximately 40 high school FFA students, over the course of a day and a half, toured and shared information with second graders from North Buncombe, Weaverville, and Barnardsville Elementary schools. “Additionally, we were able to host kindergarten and first-grade students from Weaverville Primary for a half day of hands-on fun,” said Gillespie.
Members of the Black Hawks FFA traveled to the National FFA Convention held in Indianapolis, Indiana, for the 2022 year. Over 70,000 FFA members from across all 50 US states, as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, joined for competitions, leadership workshops, community service opportunities, and fellowship. The school had a total of nine students travel for the national convention, Shelby Candler, Sara Stone, Mylee Ponder, Laney Branks, Hannah Wilson, Max Jones, Ethan Honeycutt, and Michael Atkinson.
“The North Buncombe FFA was honored to host the NC FFA West Region’s fall regional leadership conference. We had about 300 FFA members from across the West Region come together for an evening of leadership workshops and agricultural advocacy,” said Gillespie. “We are proud of our West Region officers, Shelby Candler and Sara Stone represent NB FFA as two of our regional officers, Shelby Candler is currently serving as Regional President and Sara Stone is currently serving as Regional Historian.”
“We are grateful for the support of our North Buncombe High School administration team as well as the endless support our students receive from the Career & Technical Education Department at Buncombe County Schools Central Office,” added Gillespie. “Without these special folks and their support, the student activities would not be possible.”