No farmers, no food. This simple phrase carries an incredible amount of weight. To celebrate young farmers and those aspiring to be farmers, schools and communities across the nations celebrated Future Farmers of America Week. Gibson Southern organized a spirit week and a petting zoo for the students. On Tuesday, the theme was wear your FFA jacket. On Wednesday, it was Camo Day. For Thursday, FFA students drove their tractors to school and wore their favorite farm machinery brand. Finally, on Friday, FFa members hosted a petting zoo for students where they also handed out milkshakes.

“It is a week of fun,” senior Brock Fauquher said. “You get to do what you really want to do. You really get to embrace FFA week, do all the spirit days and have a blast.”

Junior Ian Rexing followed up with what FFA really means to him. 

“It’s our week,” Rexing said. “Anybody who is farm-related or does anything in agriculture, gives us our shout-out, [but this week] spreads knowledge about agriculture.”

There is a lot of preparation work that goes into having a successful FFA week. Senior Mylie Rexing is the president and the District Officer for FFA.

“We cleaned up the shop, spoke with people about milkshake mix, organized catering,” Mylie Rexing said. “We just had fun along the way.”

For Drive Your Tractor to School Day, there were a total of 22 tractors in the parking lot by the tennis courts. Students were excited to show off their John Deere green, Case IH red and a few other colors. There were a variety of awards given for the different tractors.

Oldest: Aleah Rexing

Most Horsepower: Ian Rexing

Smallest: Cooper Dawson

Best Restoration: Ezra Pohl

Most Unique: Nick Agee 

Least Hours: Cole Sorguis

Newest: Mylie Rexing

Biggest: Ben Scott

Showroom Quality: Austin Adamson

Most Ragged Out: Macade Chandler 

Cleanest: Vanessa Schmitt

Dirtiest: Ethan Ziliak

Advisor’s Choice: Sam Parmer

Best in Show: Adam Spindler

Most Hours: Brock Fauquher

Drive your tractor to school day was exciting for the FFA members. The tractors that they drove came from family-owned farms, but for senior Ezra Pohl, this day was a little more special to him. On March 2, 2021, Pohl’s brother passed away from a rare cancer that he battled for 22 months. Pohl’s brother and him were connected through a 1960 John Deere 350.

“My brother drove it his senior year, so I drove it my senior year,” Pohl said.

Friday was milkshake and petting zoo day. Multiple animals were brought in by FFA members ranging from bunnies, goats and a pig, to a horse and a cow. During sixth period, teachers escorted their classes down to the ag classroom for their students to get a milkshake and see the animals. 

“The milkshakes were pretty good,” sophomore Jaxson Maxheimer said. “The petting zoo was pretty cool. Some of the animals looked scared, but I think [the animals] liked it. It was nice to get out of class and go talk to my friends.”

A lot of kids are in FFA because they are farmers or want to know more about agriculture. 

“I am in FFA because I grew up around farm equipment, working on the farm,” Ian Rexing said. “My whole family was in FFA growing up. It is just a good experience; you learn a lot and meet a lot of new friends.”

Being in FFA doesn’t mean you’re just in a club or learning more about agriculture, for some FFA members, it is more about having friendships with people that have the same passion as them.

“I’ve met so many people and built better friendships that if I wasn’t in FFA, I would have never met them,” freshman Maverick Deputy said.

FFA week meant a lot to the FFA kids, especially at Gibson Southern. FFA is for everyone, if you want to learn more about agriculture. 

“You don’t have to come from a farming background; it is just a good group of students that share that passion for leadership, hard work and dedication,” Mylie Rexing said.