EDITOR'S NOTE: Students enrolled in the Bok Academy North agriculture program are excited for the opportunities they are being offered this year. Among those are participation in the Future Farmers of America programs. LakeWalesNews.net plans to publish monthly stories written by students of the program. Instructor Jennifer Williams says she is teaching students that agriculture "is much more than just cattle and oranges."
Our members are excited about our new year and so are we, so here's what we are doing to start this year off. In June, fourteen members attended the 95th Florida FFA Convention at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, where our chapter competed in the Extemporaneous Public Speaking Leadership Development Event, received our Premier Chapter award, and attended numerous sessions and break out workshops that will help our officer team implement new activities to help recruit and retain members.
July brought an adventurous trip to Lake Kissimmee State Park allowing our officer team to not only fellowship with each other, but also the time plan the 2023-2024 year. We enjoyed a scavenger hunt, amazing food, and an airboat tour.
Not only did regular classes begin in August, but we also launched our Ag Literacy initiative. This program includes several elementary schools in our area including Babson Park, Polk Avenue, Spook Hill, and Garden Grove. While there we will be reading to classes, introducing the students to the importance of agriculture, and completing a hands on experiment or activity based on the same topic. Each class will be gifted an agriculture based booklet from the Department of Agriculture and Florida Ag in the Classroom as well as resources for their classrooms.
Our first two stops brought us to Babson Park and Garden Grove elementaries, after sharing the book students dissected flowers and a worked through a milk lab creating silly swirls or fizzy milk.
As August ends, we embarked on our first industry tour to Bok Tower Gardens where we met the gardeners and other employees to learn what it takes to care for this amazing space. Look for our next edition to learn more details of our industry trip and other exciting events. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram for current events.
The Bok Academy North FFA officers for 2023-2024 are President Zibe Stein, Vice President Kaylee Mixon, Secretary Riley Grogan, Treasurer Hunter Harris, Reporter Seaira Hernandez, Student Advisor LeeAna Deese, Sentinel Emily McNutt, Parliamentarian Brianna Ritchey, Historian Madison O'Neal, and Chaplain Laura Lynn Berkau.
Reader Comments(0)