Kinsley
High School
Kinsley,
Kansas
Teacher:
Dr. Galen R. Boehme
Implementing
an FFA Program
By
Chris Stone
Even
though the drawbacks of the cost and time exist, a youth apprenticeship
program focusing upon FFA would benefit the students of Kinsley High School in
at least three ways: By teaching the students the value of agriculture, by
introducing the students to the work involved, and by teaching them valuable
skills.
Youth
apprenticeship can be defined as a program that combines schoolwork with the
work place. It can also be described as employer involvement in school-to-work
transition. The FFA organization is designed to combine agriculture education
with work that involves agriculture. The FFA program can be defined as
agricultural education. FFA in the past has stood for Future Farmers of
America, but in recent times the organization has
felt that it did not want to say that a student will or has to become a
farmer so the organization changed the meaning to agriculture education.1
Kinsley
High School is in a rural community of about 1,500 people. The economy in
Kinsley is based on agriculture. Many opportunities exist for students to be
involved with local agricultural businesses. These businesses consist of
farms, ranches, and businesses that sell services to farmers, such as
restaurants, grocery stores, insurance agencies, extension agencies,
granaries, etc. Any student could now be involved in the FFA. The student is
required to pay dues to the FFA program. The FFA program would be set up as a
class that teaches basic agriculture education. The student would be required
to earn passing grades in order to be involved in the activities that are
associated with the program.2
An
FFA program is designed to prepare a student for a career in the
agricultural field and to make sure an agricultural field is right for the
student. In the classroom
the student learns a wide variety of agricultural processes. Tasks such as
welding, breeding and raising cattle, and choosing a crop and production
methods are a few. These tasks can be broken down further to choosing types of
seeds to plant for certain soils and climates, and deciding what kinds of
characteristics make a prize-winning heifer for each breed. During the class
period a student can design and build certain agriculture equipment, such as a
trailer, cattle pens, or even chutes. The FFA program has extracurricular
activities such as judging or showing livestock.
Another benefit for the student is that the student can be involved in
more than one activity at a time. The
student can give speeches in a contest, be a member of a debate team, and have
an active role in the chapter by becoming an officer.
This helps the student to be multi-task orientated and learn to get
along with different types of people. FFA
provides opportunities to visit places and meet many different people through
state and national conventions. Because
of this, communication and people skills that help in any field of study are
learned.3
Having
an FFA program also has many benefits for the community. First, this program
helps the student develop a good work ethic. Working in any agricultural job
requires hard work. Second, not only does an FFA program teach the student
about agriculture, but it also shows the student the importance of
agriculture. According to the
National Council for Agricultural Education, the number of farmers, ranchers,
and even agricultural workers has been declining steadily in the last decade.4
The FFA program shows the student what it takes to be successful in
agriculture. This is important in this part of the state where agriculture is
the main source of the economy. Third, a FFA program helps build the
self-image of the students. This
self-confidence reflects itself in community service and a sense of civic
responsibility.
A
FFA program has some drawbacks. One drawback is that the program will take an
hour out of the student’s day because an agriculture class is required in
order to participate. A second
drawback is the cost of equipment, books, a place to house livestock, and a
qualified agricultural teacher. The third drawback involves a student’s time
as this adds more extracurricular activities to the student’s schedule.
These
drawbacks can be overcome. First, the drawback of the program taking an hour
out of the day can be overcome. It can be overcome by counting the class as a
credit towards graduation. The program is educational and
is worth a credit. Second, the problem of money can be overcome by
selling the projects that are made. During the class period, students build
farm equipment, and then it can be sold for a profit. The income can be used
to pay for other expenses. It may not pay for everything, but everything
helps. Third, the problem of adding to the students’ schedule can be
overcome by scheduling around other school events. Students would have more
choices and might also choose to eliminate one of their extra-curricular
activities in order to obtain
life skills that would benefit them more in the long run.
Overcoming these obstacles would make the FFA program worth all the
time and extra money that is spent.
In
conclusion, the FFA program would be beneficial to the students and to the
community. This program would take a lot of time, but in the end it would have
its rewards.
Questions:
Essay Contest
1.
The community that I live in does not offer very many opportunities to have a
youth apprenticeship, but our community does offer internships for our
students. The internships are only for the seniors. In order to be involved in
an internship, the principal of the Kinsley High School sets it up with the
businesses. During an internship a student will set up an hour during the day
and go to the business to do what is required. After the hour is over the
student returns to school and continues the day in class. The principal checks
on the student to see if he or she is doing what the student is supposed to
do. The principal also makes sure the student returns to class on time during
the day. Four businesses that have participated in an internship with Kinsley
High School are Midway Auto Body, Duckwall’s, the hospital, and Medicalodge.
2.
Kansas
received an implementation grant of $2.8 million. With this grant the state
will implement a statewide School-to-Career System. It is designed to use the
state’s geographic and economic diversity to accommodate the students’
needs. School-to-Career covers grades K-12. In elementary, the
School-to-Career System focuses on the curriculum. This curriculum is called
American Career Kids. The system shows how students’ skills in the subjects
play a key role in adults’ career through subjects like mathematics,
sciences, language arts, and social studies. In middle school, the system
focuses on exploring careers through similar subjects. They will have
opportunities to “job shadow” an adult on the job. In the high school
students are asked to begin designing their career pathway. No matter what
part of the state, high school students will be given opportunities for
work-based learning such as internships, apprenticeships, and job shadowing.
For example in a rural community of South Haven, a few businesses have set up
a corporation with the students and teachers. Here, the students are involved
in soil testing and solar energy. If a student lives in a large community such
as Wichita, the student will have a chance to work at larger companies like
Boeing and Sprint. School-to-Career is headed by the Department of Education.
The Department of Education has set up certain corporations between schools
and businesses. Theses businesses are of both the private and public sectors.
Such businesses are Boeing Company, Cessna, the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, Western Resources, St. Francis Regional Medical Center, Spirit,
Allied Signal and many other small to mid-size businesses.
3.
During the Clinton administration much federal legislation has been proposed
and enacted. Two examples of these are the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of
1994 and the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. The School-to-Work
Opportunities Act of 1994 has the purpose of establishing a national framework
for the development of School-to-Work Opportunities system in all 50 States.
It has the intent of Congress that the Secretary of Labor and the Department
of Education work together to use this Act to promote state and local ways in
establishing and starting statewide School-to-Work systems and programs1.
The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 is for all ages, but it is also
established for the youth, those between 14 and 21 years of age. The Workforce
Act gives the state and local governments money they need to start youth
apprenticeship programs. These programs will help develop the skills of the
youth. It will also prepare the young adults for postsecondary education or
for the work force. It is the job of the state to direct the money to the
local government and to oversee how it is used. The money can be used to
create jobs that will prepare the student for college or let the student gain
insight on a career choice.
4.
In our community the businesses makes partnerships with our school. In order
to introduce the students to the work place the businesses and school set up
internships. An example of this in the community is Kinsley High School and
Duckwall’s. They have made a partnership to introduce students to the work
place. During the school day a student that is involved in an internship goes
to Duckwall’s and does what is required. The student may have to do ordinary
tasks such as sweep the floor, keep books, or about anything that an employee
would do if they work there. The partnership with the school and Duckwall’s
is to enlighten the student in what to expect in the job if he were to enter
it. The principal checks up on the student and the progress of the student’s
work. The student is graded on the reports that are given on the work the
student is doing. It is the responsibility of the principal to grade on the
assessment.
5.
Outcome-based can be defined as when a person finishes his training, this
individual should be able to do what he or she has been trained to do, not
just say he has learned how to do it. As an auto mechanic, I need to be able
to say to my customers that I can change your oil, not just that I have taken
1,000 hours of training in automotive repair and I think I can do it.
6.
AFL-CIO is opposed to the youth development programs for three reasons. First,
unions oppose efforts that try to undermine the child labor laws and the Fair
Labor Act when the employers are just trying to promote youth apprenticeship
programs. The unions are afraid that employers will use their power to exploit
the chance to use cheap labor. Second, unions oppose the use of the name, not
the goal or the method of the programs. Many high-ranking officials in the
union and in state government believe that the word “apprentice” should be
used for the aged old “registered program.” Third, the AFL-CIO opposes
these programs because of the certificate involved. When the young adults
realize that there are a state and federal programs, these young adults will
ask for the same certificate. The youth apprenticeships may not have what it
takes to be able to qualify for such a certificate.
7.
Employers have reasons to oppose youth apprenticeship programs. First,
employers do not believe that high school students are mature enough to handle
the responsibilities. Employers prefer to hire college graduates because they
feel that the college graduates have the ability and knowledge to do what they
ask. Second, training does not show up as a positive asset as do equipment or
investments. Training shows up as a debit. During the training, the roles of
the worker and learner are different. The students may hinder productivity.
Third, employers are tired of dealing with child labor laws, hazardous-work
orders, and insurance regulations. When hiring young adults, who are not 18,
employers must abide by certain regulations. These regulations concern how
many hours a day one can work. Employers also have to have certain insurance
to cover younger workers. These are issues that an employer would have to deal
with when being part of a youth apprenticeship program
8.
The Ridge School of Technical Arts of Massachusetts is one of the seven
“houses” that make up the campus of Cambridge and Latin School. Ridge
School has worked with the university, businesses, and the community. The
school combination has developed a workplace experience for the students.
Eleventh-grade and twelfth-grade students work with Polaroid employees in
areas such as instruments, electronics, and plumbing for two-and-half hour
shifts. The student even earns wages during this period. The students write
reports on the weekly work and present the report to the employees of
Polaroid. Other students who attend Ridge School, who would like to look into
teaching careers, enter into an internship program with Lesley College. The
student spends three mornings a week at the college, two mornings in
elementary schools, and the rest of the day at school.
9.
Contextual learning, applied learning, community-based learning, and
experiential learning have different meanings. Contextual learning is where
the learning takes place in context and is functional. Contextual learning can
be observed in youth apprenticeships and internships. Applied learning is when
we apply the skill we are learning and we understand the skill. Applied
learning can be seen in a metals class. The students are applying what they
learned in a classroom to build a project. Community-based learning is when we
go out into the community and learn from community-based projects.
Community-based learning could be observed almost any place a student is
working in the community. Experimental learning is when we learn from
experimenting with criteria. Experimental learning is helpful in finding a
career. A student can experiment with a job to see if that is something he
would consider going into.
10.
According to the reading, the federal government’s role should a
“catalyst.” A catalyst can be described as an element that starts a
process. The federal government should be the one that starts the youth
apprenticeship programs. The federal government should provide the example for
all youth apprenticeship programs. If the federal government starts the
programs, a national example will exist. As a “catalyst”, the federal
programs will start a chain reaction and then other programs will begin.
Another purpose for the federal government involvement is to establish a
nationally credible reputation for the programs. This will establish the
standards for the other programs.