Northern Burlington County Regional Middle School students form the school’s new Future Farmers of America (FFA)chapter.
By: William Wichert
Every two weeks, Mary Ann Harrison leaves her classroom at the Northern Burlington County Regional Middle School to discover that her pickup truck is full of goods to be delivered to a women’s shelter in Trenton.
From pieces of clothing and curtains to cribs and baby formula, these items are proof that Ms. Harrison’s students have paid a visit, like the passionate Future Farmers of America (FFA) members they are.
Collecting items for the shelter, and dropping them off in Ms. Harrison’s truck, is only one of the activities being led by about 45 seventh- and eighth-graders from the school’s new FFA chapter.
At an April 28 chartering ceremony, this group was installed as the second FFA chapter on the middle school level in the entire state, an honor that Ms. Harrison, the chapter advisor and an agriculture teacher at the school, said is well-earned.
"For a first-time chapter, these kids have made me really proud," said Ms. Harrison.
Since September, when they first applied to the 77-year-old national FFA organization for chapter status, the students have worked to accomplish the twin missions of this year’s program: leadership and community service.
For the community service part, the FFA members began a relationship with the "Doorway to Hope" shelter of Trenton in October, when the students gave out Halloween costumes to the children at the shelter, started a Halloween parade there and played games.
When Christmas time came around, the students held a party for the shelter families, giving gifts to the children and their mothers. Since then, the group has collected items every two weeks for Ms. Harrison to bring to the shelter.
"They (the children at the shelter) were just thrilled to have people come up and give them gifts," said Ms. Harrison. "Some of what we gave these children were their only Christmas gifts."
The students’ leadership skills will come out of how well they follow the goals and doctrines set by the national FFA in running their own chapter. Their overarching responsibility will be to improve their own "agricultural education," two words inscribed on the FFA emblem.
During Ms. Harrison’s nine-week agriculture class, which all FFA members take, she tries to show them the role agriculture plays in different industries, such as cosmetics, medical care and clothing production, as well as in their own communities, where many farms still exist.
"Agriculture plays a role in everything we do in our lives," said Ms. Harrison, who said she tells students how thousands of jobs are available in different agricultural industries.
Developing an FFA and agricultural background in middle school will allow the students to immediately participate in the FFA chapter at the high school, which sometimes does not gain members until a year or two after they enter the school, said Ms. Harrison.
"My course is an introduction to what is available to them at the high school," she said. "Unfortunately, sometimes students don’t find out about the agricultural program until their second year."
Debbie Pribell, whose son Kyle is president of the middle school chapter, said she is happy to see her youngest child get involved in the FFA sooner than her two older boys at the high school.
Her son Sam, a senior at the high school, did not join the FFA program until his junior year, but doing so has certainly paid off. After finishing in 12th-place in agricultural mechanics at the national FFA competition this year, Sam received a $500 scholarship to attend Burlington County Community College.
"Everybody thinks FFA is for farmers, but it’s for leadership skills and scholarships," said Ms. Pribell, a resident of West Main Street in Mansfield Township.
Her other sons, Kyle and Ryan, a high school freshman who finished eighth in dairy judging at a recent competition at Rutgers University, will now carry on the tradition set by Ms. Pribell’s siblings, who were FFA members years ago.
"We’re life-timers of the FFA," she said. "The leadership skills my sons have gained from this (program) are tremendous."
Seventh-grader Julianne Robinson said she thinks her leadership skills can be found in her new role as secretary of the middle school FFA chapter, challenging her to keep track of the group’s past and future activities.
Julianne joined the group after her best friend became a member and told her to join as well, but another motivating factor was her experience of living on a farm and understanding the need to preserve the natural environment.
"I live on a farm and I’m happy we’re supporting farming and agriculture," said Julianne. "Most farmers are selling their lands for development. I think it’s a bad thing."
Although the group has yet to hold its first FFA meeting, Julianne said she expects to stay with the organization for many years to come, because all the members have become good friends.
"I’m pretty sure I’m going to continue (with) FFA through high school," she said. "Nobody fights. Everybody gets along."

