While high school might not come for many more years for some, it is still very important to be introduced to extracurricular opportunities from an early age. Whether it be theatre, art or agriculture, it is important to educate elementary students on these ideas so that they can have an idea of how they intend to spend their high school years. This is why the Savannah High School FFA traveled to Minnie Cline Elementary on the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 11.
Members of the SHS FFA prepared a small, roughly 30-minute, presentation about the importance of corn to show to the third grade classes to explain the differences between the types of corn we consume as opposed to the types we see in other things, like clothes or starch. The FFA students also prepared an activity involving corn to the students, helping them create their own cornstarch based plastic, and letting the kids bring it home with them.
“We made cornstarch plastic with them to show them the importance of corn,” SHS agriculture teacher and FFA advisor Mr. Jeff Baumann said. “We want not only our elementary students, but our high school students to understand the importance of corn, because we eat it, wear it, and even put it in our cars.”
The overlying purpose of these activities was as an introduction to the importance of agricultural concepts, alongside their overall impacts on the world in the minds of our youth.
“We live in a rural community, so it’s very important for them to understand this kind of stuff,” FFA member junior Maddelyn Graves said.
Though the students presented to still have many more years until they’ll be able to take an agriculture class or join FFA, the SHS FFA’s presentation still provided a solid introduction to the importance of agriculture in today’s world, and offered a glimpse into the many opportunities they’ll have later in life if they choose to pursue them.