Like most student-led organizations at the high school, the Future Farmers of America (FFA) has an annual fundraiser that raises club funds that extend throughout the whole school year. From  Oct. 30-Nov. 10,  a variety of fruits will be available to purchase, including navel oranges and mandarin oranges, red grapefruit, red apples, d’anjou pears, sweet potatoes, navel/grapefruit mix, fresh fruit sampler (apples, pears, grapefruit, oranges), apple pear combo, cheese spread, and cheese/sausage spread. 

Gosney has been an FFA advisor for four years.

“Members participate in fundraisers, community events, and different 4-H and FFA competitions. These competitions range from livestock judging, public speaking, vet science, horse judging, to marketing sales. We try to help get members more involved in agriculture and giving back to their community, ” said Gosney.  

Gosney speaks on her passion about the FFA and her students’ success and growth.

“To me FFA means more than just farming,  in FFA we make leaders. I have students that would never have thought about talking in front of an audience, but they are now participating in public speaking competitions,” said Gosney. “FFA is also for the students that want to learn about the next generation of technology for our food production. You don’t have to live or work on a farm to be a part of our organization. I am an FFA advisor because I want to help shape  the next generation and allow the students to explore different aspects of agriculture.”  

The president of Rockbridge’s FFA , senior Kathleen Beard, has been a member for three years and president for one. She speaks about why she enjoys being a part of the program. 

“I was always good around animals and I wanted to be involved with  a group of people with similar interests. It’s also really fun to do competitions together that we all enjoy,” said Beard. 

 As president, Beard has many goals. 

“I ran for president because I wanted to help get people involved in FFA. In earlier years not many people showed up for meetings or competitions,” said Beard. “This year I am helping to include more people in meetings and competitions. We have more members than last year and more involvement.”

The vice president, junior Josephine Caldwell, has been in the organization for the past three years. 

“I started out in 4-H, and when I got to high school I found out about FFA and I thought it would be really fun. I also really wanted to get other people interested in agriculture,” said Caldwell.

Over the years, Caldwell and Beard have competed in many categories of  the FFA competitions.

“Kathleen and I have competed in cattle judging, meat judging, livestock judging, stockmans, hipology (the study of horses), dairymans, and public speaking,” said Caldwell. 

Other fundraisers the FFA has done in the past have assisted in paying for competition fees and supplies for chapter meetings, such as selling chicken sandwiches, strawberries, Christmas trees, wreaths, and the annual fruit fundraiser. To order from the fundraiser,  students can scan QR codes on the flyers  around the school or contact a FFA member or Ms. Gwendolyn Gosney.