In a bid to bridge the gap between school and community, Hutchinson High School will establish a new FFA Alumni and Supporters Chapter.
FFA advisers Emily Lyons and Scott Marshall put together the idea last year.
“There’s a lot of knowledge, especially in this community, that we can utilize,” Lyons said. “So the FFA alumni and supporters chapter will be able to facilitate that connection between the school and the community. Agriculture is such a wide field that it takes someone to know someone to get connected and see where all the areas lie. And so we want the students to have that opportunity to see all those different areas.”
Parents put together an unofficial agriculture support group a while back. But the interest to help the FFA never went away.
“There have been individuals in the community who have inquired about starting (an alumni) chapter,” Marshall said.
The alumni and supporters chapter will support the current FFA chapter through volunteering at events, helping find fundraising opportunities or networking to build support.
“We have our community ag day in April that our student officer committee has been working on, so FFA alumni and supporters would come out and help with that,” Lyons said. “They might help with directing people, setting up and taking down or help run a booth.”
Twelve people already have expressed interest in helping, according to Lyons and Marshall.
“There are people in the community who like to help out but there hasn’t been a venue for how they can help or what assistance is needed,” Marshall said.
The alumni chapter will have a structure similar to the current chapter, with an officer team and committees that members can join.
“We want people to have specific ways to help out without having to commit to a long timeframe,” Lyons said. “We’re doing it this way because we want it to be accessible to the community.”
As for membership requirements, interested individuals only need to show a willingness to support the FFA program and attend monthly meetings to stay informed about opportunities for involvement.
“We’re excited about the potential of this new chapter to not only enrich the FFA experience for our students but also strengthen the bonds between our school and the community,” Lyons said. “There is so much about agriculture that people don’t realize and this chapter will really help us highlight the amazing skills and expertise not only of our students but our community.”
