Hoosier Ag Today 

National FFA, Indiana FFA Launch ‘Grow With Us’ Initiative to Promote Ag Education

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Representatives from the National FFA Organization, Indiana FFA, and the community join for the unveiling of the “Grow With Us” initiative at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Indiana. From left to right: Left to right: FFA Foundation President and Chief Marketing Officer Molly Ball, South Putnam Middle and High School Agriculture Teacher and FFA Advisor Cameron Frazier, Hamilton Southeastern High School Principal Reginald Simmons, HSE Student and FFA Chapter Treasurer Dupree Henry, Batesville Community School Corporation Superintendent Paul Ketcham, Indiana FFA Executive Director Tamara Ketchen, Indiana Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch, National FFA Associate Director of Educational Programs Ambra Tennery. Photo courtesy of National FFA.

Indiana FFA and the National FFA Organization have teamed up to launch a new initiative to promote ag education in schools—as well as the career opportunities that are available in the ag industry.

“I think the biggest thing that this initiative is going to do is allow our students to see, first of all, ‘What’s in it for me?’ That’s always their first question is, ‘What am I going to get out of joining this?” says Cameron Frazier, ag educator and FFA advisor at South Putnam High School near Greencastle.

The initiative is called Grow With Us—and the website is Indiana.GrowWithUs.Ag. It features videos and information for students where they can learn more about the benefits of an ag education.

Frazier says the website isn’t just for students.

“We always have parents questioning, ‘What is my kid getting into?’ Now with this initiative, we’re able to show them visually instead of just telling them what it’s going to be about,” he says. “Hopefully that will initiate that little drive to talk to their kid encourage them to join FFA and take an ag class.”

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Cameron Frazier, ag educator and FFA advisor at South Putnam High School near Greencastle. Photo: C.J. Miller / Hoosier Ag Today.

Frazier says that perception of ag education in schools is that kids are learning about “cows, sows, and plows.” However, he says that the ag classes that are offered in schools today are much different that the ag classes that were taught years ago.

“We pride ourselves at South Putnam in Agriscience research,” says Frazier. “Every single one of our education students have to complete an Agriscience research project in one of several different areas. We have some who complete it in ag technology. Two of my eighth graders decided to weld to compare the different tinsel strength of welds. We have students that research different types of fish food, so it isn’t like it was 20 to 30 years ago. We are really pushing innovation in agriculture. These students are all about what’s going to innovate that next step of agriculture in the future.”

Grow With Us highlights the Three Component Model of ag education:

  • Classroom instruction
  • Work-based learning through agricultural education
  • Leadership development through FFA

He adds that goal of the initiative is to help prepare young leaders for careers involving the ag industry—and that includes encouraging students who didn’t grow up on a farm to use their skillset to create and develop new technology for the next generation of farmers.

“The students may not come from an agriculture background, but we can support them while they’re high schoolers and we give them that guidance through our ag teachers and FFA advisors, so it is a phenomenal experience that they’re going to get to have,” says Frazier.

The Grow With Us initiative is also supported by a grant from the Lilly Endowment.

CLICK ON THE LINK: Indiana.GrowWithUs.Ag.

CLICK BELOW to watch one of the videos produced by the National FFA Organization for the Grow With Us initiative: