FFA Week is not all about farmers. During this week, all students are encouraged to recognize their agriculture side.

Isaiah Heims (12) and Sam Loecke (10) raise chickens. Loecke owns 13 chickens and has been raising the chickens for three years. Heims started raising chickens four years ago and is up to 28 chickens. Both Heims and Loecke collect eggs daily.

“Raising chickens is fun because every day I get to go collect eggs and watch the chickens grow from chicks to full grown, but sometimes it is also a lot of work feeding them and cleaning the chicken house,” Loecke said.

Hope Straley (11) shows her agriculture side by working with plants. Straley cares for 16 plants at her house. She says each plant has its own name and specific instructions for water and fertilizer. Straley’s green thumb started last year after she watched “Little Shop of Horrors,” a musical theater in speech, when she became fascinated by the Killer Venus Fly Trap.

“I wanted (a Fly Trap) as a joke but ended up really enjoying making the plant feel good and taking care of it like it’s my own pet,” Straley said. “I just love the idea that they have personalities and requirements to keep them breathing and growing.”

Seniors Kabryn Cook and Boudy Ross bring out their agriculture side during deer season. Cook says his favorite part about hunting is putting in the time that hunting requires. Ross says he will never forget the day he shot his first nine-point buck last year. Both say their dads sparked their interest in learning the patience that comes along with hunting.

Becca Cole (11) brings out her agriculture side through her welding. She’s interested in welding because it’s a good beginning for the career path she is wanting to take. Cole hopes to become an engineer in either welding or manufacturing and says it is important to know what you are talking about, especially when giving directions to someone else. Cole hopes to continue her welding after high school by working at either XL Specialized Trailers or Hendersons. Cole says she plans to stay in the Midwest, where she would work mostly on farm equipment or construction machinery.

“If I get where I want to go, I will be designing (farm equipment) using my welding background, instead of actually putting it together,” Cole said.

Junior Georgie Hilby, three-year FFA member who lives on a farm, emphasizes the importance of agriculture throughout the world by saying, “If you eat food, you have agriculture in you! If you wear clothes or make-up, you have agriculture on you! If you have leather seats in your vehicle, you are sitting on agriculture.”

Another three-year FFA member, Tehya Demmer (11) thinks more people should join FFA because everybody has a little bit of ag in them.