SCIENCE
Another route is for students to join an existing FFA chapter in their area — perhaps at a career technical education center , an intermediate school district or a neighboring school district .
“ I ’ ve known plenty of students in the state of New York who will go between different FFA chapters and different schools ,” said Letot . “ They might spend the morning at their school and then go to a school in the next county over to participate in their FFA program , take a class and be involved in their chapter .
“ I can ’ t speak for every state , but in Michigan — where I grew up and where I taught — we had career tech centers where 12 different high schools would send their students to one career tech center in each county . Those students are coming from very different places that might not have
offered that opportunity . They get to spend the entire morning or the entire afternoon studying at unbelievable facilities with unbelievable amounts of resources to do really cool , unique things .”
According to Letot , high school educators can push for these types of programs , but they have to be supported at the foundational level by local industries and local stakeholders .
“ The great thing is that everybody has a field on the doorstep of their school ,” he said . “ I think that ’ s where sports turf has a unique advantage . Not every school is close to a golf course , but most every school has something to play a field-based sport on . Those are learning laboratories outside for our students that are a very underutilized asset and could be a tremendous learning conduit .” SFM
sportsfieldmanagementonline . com January 2025 | SportsField Management
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