Students at GFW Middle School and High School get to explore a wide variety of career pathways and college options thanks to our future-focused programming. We have incredible hands-on learning opportunities, powerful partnerships with businesses, and teachers and staff who encourage students to dive deep into their interests. One of the cornerstones of our community for decades has been the GFW Pioneer Express FFA Chapter. We wanted to turn things over to Ag Teacher and FFA Advisor Mirinda Goblish for a closer look at what these students have been up to!
From the FFA Advisor
For those who may not know me, I am Mirinda Goblish and this is my eighth year teaching at GFW. I got into teaching because I had a great ag teacher in high school who inspired me and I come from a dedicated FFA family. In my time with the GFW FFA I now have the pleasure of being able to see the students who started in seventh grade be the leaders as seniors, which is so fun!
We really have been busy lately, even going back into the summer where our students did well at the Minnesota State Fair. We are getting into contest season with students participating in a variety of different competition areas including Farm Bureau DIscussion and Dairy Judging. In addition to monthly meetings with our almost 50 in-school members, our officer team is doing a great job organizing the group and working well together.
We also wrapped up our annual corn drive in October, where we once again raised funds for True Friends Camp, which serves children and adults with special needs in locations across the state. This is a longtime tradition for GFW FFA and we are always blown away by the generosity of farmers and community members who donate corn or monetary donations to support this important cause. We are consistently one of the top donating FFA chapters in the state. Thank you to all of our supporters who help make a difference!
The biggest news items around FFA lately all revolve around the National Convention in October. I took seven students to convention along with a chartered bus with other area chapters. While the convention in Indianapolis was the main destination, we made a real trip out of it, visiting a variety of farms and organizations along the way.
In Wisconsin, we visited Northwest Cranberry Farm where we learned all about cranberry production and got to see a side of farming that we don’t see in our area. We also visited the National Mustard Museum, which was a lot of fun. In Indiana, we visited Fair Oaks Farms and were impressed with their approach to agrotourism. Students loved getting to see a large-scale operation up close and enjoyed all of the interactive exhibits. We also visited Hunter’s Honey Farm and learned about beekeeping and honey production. Students even got to bottle and bring home their own honeybear and sample a variety of different honeys.
The FFA Convention is always an experience with general sessions at Lucas Oil Stadium and a total attendance of 71,000 over the course of the event. We attended sessions, took part in radio interviews with KNUJ, visited the college and career fair, and connected with major players in the agrobusiness world. There is really something for everyone at the convention and we balanced all of that networking and exploration with some fun activities like checking out the rodeo and top golf to decompress and connect with other chapters.
Another highlight was getting to see GFW Alumni and FFA member Andrew Burns receive his American FFA Degree. This is the highest degree achievable in the National FFA Organization and shows the extreme dedication and effort that Andrew has put into his time. We are so proud of him and we know that he will succeed and fit in no matter what he does!
FFA is an important opportunity for kids because it gives them the opportunity to try things out that they haven’t tried while learning so many valuable skills. It is a chance to learn things in a classroom setting, practice them in FFA, and then demonstrate the competency in real agricultural experiences and our students are really thriving. You can follow us on social media to see what will be up to next!