FFA program going strong at Coronado
Author: Adriana M. Chávez / El Paso Times
July 3, 2007--El Paso, TX--About 25 members of Coronado's FFA program are spending most of their summer days tending to livestock and baling hay, and they don't mind one bit.
"I love raising animals," said Curtis Brown, 16, a Coronado sophomore who joined FFA after watching his older sister enjoy her time with the organization. "I've had so much fun."
FFA (formerly Future Farmers of America) programs have largely disappeared from most high schools except for Coronado, Canutillo, Clint, Gadsden, Las Cruces and Tornillo, but the Coronado program remains one of the most successful FFA programs in the region and is one of the largest FFA chapters in West Texas. The program has gone from one teacher as of six years ago, to three teachers currently.
FFA advisor and agricultural education teacher George Brooks said the Coronado FFA program was the city's first "magnet school," and anyone from another high school in the El Paso Independent School District can transfer into Coronado's agricultural education program.
Students also go beyond the classroom and the 35-acre Coronado FFA farm in the Upper Valley by taking field trips to the El Paso Zoo, the John Deere Shop and local nurseries and agricultural-related businesses.
Coronado's FFA program is the only program in the city that functions year-round. Many students who work on the program's Upper Valley farm at 417 Lindberg often spend more than 12 hours a day tending to the various pigs, sheep, goats and cattle that call the farm home.
The organization has also partnered with Car Parts Machine Shop, located at 1420 Texas, to help students overhaul an old tractor. Brooks said the shop's owners, Ryan and Greg Stafford, are former FFA students who are donating parts and their time to help the students in their project.
For the most part, the FFA program has become a family tradition, with the members themselves becoming as close as brothers and sisters.
"Some of them are out here raising animals, and they have their family helping them as well," said FFA advisor Shannon Jarvis, who is also a teacher at Coronado's feeder school, Lincoln Middle. Linda Corley is another FFA advisor. "The whole family comes out and takes pride in what their kids are doing. It's good-quality fun."
The program also helps guide students to pursue careers relating to what they've learned.
"The leadership skills and everything else you gain from this program is worth it," said Susan Martin, a recent Coronado graduate who will be attended Texas Tech to study veterinary science.
Martin's brother, Luke Martin, 15, is also involved in FFA, and hopes to become a surgeon. Luke said he joined the Junior FFA program while in middle school and was inspired by his sister to get involved.
"Once I took a class my freshman year, I got hooked on it," said Luke, who will be a sophomore at Coronado in the fall. "It's a class with stuff you can actually use in life. You'll forget formulas and stuff, but you won't forget things you learn in this class."
Posted: Monday, August 20th, 2007