MAHOMET — When ag teacher/FFA adviser Jennifer Wherley joined the teaching staff at Mahomet-Seymour High School 21 years ago, there were 17 students in the ag program.

Today, there are 250 students enrolled in ag classes, all of whom are in FFA. Another 400 are in the newly created ag program at the junior high, with half of them seventh- and eighth-graders who are eligible to be in FFA, and the half sixth-graders.

The junior high FFA students compete in contests just like their high school counterparts.

A junior high ag/FFA program is a rarity in Illinois, but it is becoming less so. At Blue Ridge in Farmer City, adviser Jacalyn Meisner said 15 eighth-graders are part of the ag/FFA program.

“Last time I heard, there were 15 junior high FFA chapters in the state,” Meisner said.

This marks Meisner’s seventh year at Blue Ridge, and eighth-grade ag exploratory classes were offered before she got there.

At Mahomet-Seymour, Wherley said the administration has looked at several ways to enhance the ag program as enrollment in those subjects has ballooned the last three years, Wherley said.

Two ag teachers were added this year to accommodate the overflow — Jacob Meisner at the high school and Maddie Morris at the junior high.

Ag classes have become quite popular at Mahomet-Seymour. With good reason, Wherley said: “Agriculture is the largest industry in the United States.”

She said the STEAM approach is used, adding agriculture to science, technology, engineering and math because they work hand in hand.

The junior high ag/FFA program hit the ground running.

Morris said so many students are taking part because “a lot of them told me it’s something new, something different. Their parents or grandparents were involved (in agriculture) or had a farm, and they wanted to get back to it.”

Among the topics covered: soil science; how to conduct a meeting; the history and basics of FFA such as the creed, motto, mission statement and values; animal science; plant science; and crops — “just where your food comes from and how they get it to the grocery store,” Morris said.

“Many kids don’t understand all that goes into it,” she added. “They also learn about chapter meetings and how to be a good citizen.”

A farm native of the Mahomet area, Morris taught a year at Tuscola before coming back to her alma mater.

She is now teaching two of her sisters, Callie and Lexi, who are in junior high.

“It’s very fun,” she said. “They’re very supportive. They’re like my little teaching assistants.”

The junior high FFA has also competed in several contests ranging from dairy food to agronomy to meat science.

Mahomet-Seymour has a junior high FFA officer team as a well as a high school officer team.

FFA meets either before or after school.

At Blue Ridge, Meisner said junior high FFA members are invited to chapter meetings and compete in certain contests.

“It’s an opportunity if you want to do record books, but only in the junior high division, which is the Star Discovery area,” Meisner said. The junior high students “do just about everything the high-schoolers do. It’s a joint activity, but the high-schoolers get first crack.”

Several Blue Ridge Junior High FFA members will attend a middle school conference in April at Lincoln Land College in Springfield.

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