Category: SC FFA

The South Carolina 4-H and FFA Wildlife Habitat Education Program (WHEP) Teams traveled to the National WHEP Competition in Brownwood, Texas, at the end of July.

WHEP is a 4-H and FFA youth natural resource program designed to teach wildlife and fisheries habitat management to junior- and senior-level (ages 8-19) youth in the United States. It also allows participants to test their wildlife knowledge in a friendly competition, as each state supporting WHEP conducts an annual contest, and the winning senior (14-19 years of age) WHEP team from each state earns the right to attend the annual National WHEP Contest.

This year, 16 teams from across the United States competed in the National Contest. Participants had to identify wildlife and write a management plan for the woodlands ecoregion, including species like Northern Bobwhite, white-tailed deer, American widgeons and monarch butterflies.

Our FFA Team from Aynor High School, coached by Mr. Nate Bellamy, clinched a 4th national championship. For the individual portion of the FFA Division, Mason King, Ethan Buffkin, Chase Squires and Levi Dickerson also finished 1st-4th place. Mason King had the highest score of the entire contest (both FFA and 4-H). Our 4-H WHEP Team from Lexington, including Hennelly Gavin, Mya Chapman and Emma McCaffrey, performed exceptionally as well. Hennelly Gavin finished 9th place in the 4-H individual division.

Since 2019, approximately 600 South Carolina youth have participated in WHEP. South Carolina has sent WHEP teams to all the National WHEP Competitions (Kansas, Virtual, Kentucky, Iowa and Texas) and has won a total of 5 National WHEP Championships (four FFA and one 4-H) and two third place finishes (4-H).

Ms. Mallory Maher serves on the National WHEP Committee and helps conduct the annual National Competition. Due to our success on the state and national level, South Carolina will be hosting the National WHEP Competition in 2026. It will be a wonderful opportunity to showcase South Carolina’s natural resources to the rest of the country. 

The Agricultural Education Program Team has been working with Clemson University Professor Dr. Jim Frederick, with the Plant and Environmental Sciences Department, to create a mini-demonstration teaching opportunity at a Middle School in Darlington County.

Utilizing space on the grounds of the Darlington Middle School, Dr. Frederick and his Clemson Extension collaborators have worked with students and teachers to create mini-demonstration plots to conduct problem-solving experiments specific to each grade. The mini-demonstration plots allow students to examine the effects of water, nutrients, soil type, and other key factors on plant growth and potential environmental impacts. Vegetables, agronomic crops, long-leaf pine, and horticultural crops will be a part of the studies once the program is completed.

In addition to the plots, under Dr. Frederick’s guide, the school also created workstations where students record data, examine their results, and display their findings on kiosks for others to view.

Because of the program’s success at the Middle School, the Agricultural Education Program Team plans to use it as a “template” for agricultural education programs around the State. Many of the agricultural education programs have school farms. Still, for those that are not so lucky to have the available land and resources, this project will provide students the opportunity to still conduct experiments on plants while only requiring a minimum amount of space. The projects the students conduct in each grade are centered on science teaching standards. Therefore, the program is also a great way to introduce agriculture to science teachers and other school educators.

Dr. Frederick and the Agricultural Education Team plan on presenting the program to Career and Technical Education Directors this summer at the South Carolina Department of Education’s Education and Business Summit to promote the project to school district leadership. In addition, he will address South Carolina Agriculture Teachers at their annual summer conference.

Submitted by: William Keels, State Director Agricultural Education

While the annual FFA Legislator Appreciation Day Ceremony was virtual this year, FFA Chapters from around the state were still able to meet with legislative representatives and hear a message of support from Governor, Henry McMaster, Superintendent of Education, Dr. Molly Spearman, Senator, Wes Climer, and Representative, David R. Hiott.

The ceremony’s link was released on February 24 on the South Carolina Agricultural Education website, www.scaged.org. The ceremony began with a welcome from State FFA President, Gracie Helms followed by the remaining State FFA Officers introducing the prerecorded videos from State Legislators.

South Carolina Governor, Henry McMaster, began by welcoming the agricultural education students to the ceremony. He then discussed the importance and strength of agriculture in South Carolina. Governor McMaster read and signed the Governor’s Proclamation of February 20-27, 2021 FFA Week. The Proclamation states that FFA members set a positive example for their peers through leadership skills, work ethic, excellence in academics, patriotism, and community service. FFA members are recognized for their success in promoting agricultural education, natural resources conservation, and healthy living at the local, state, national, and international levels.

Dr. Molly Spearman, State Superintendent of Education, applauded the FFA organization for its hard work and concern for the community’s welfare. She encouraged FFA members to consider offering their time and dedication to public service. Superintendent Spearman also stated that she is a firm believer in Career and Technical Education and how students learn citizenship and leadership in classes such as Agricultural Education.

Mr. Hugh Weathers, Commissioner of Agriculture, said he is proud of FFA for sending a positive message of agriculture’s future. The FFA promotes the positive skill sets necessary for a successful career. Commissioner Weathers speaks highly of the future of agriculture in South Carolina because of the SC FFA members.

Senator Wes Climber, Chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, provided a welcome on behalf of the Senate and is looking forward to working with South Carolina FFA members in the future.

State Representative David R. Hiott, of Pickens County, Chairman of the House Agriculture, Natural Resources & Environmental Affairs Committee, provided remarks to the FFA members and presented a Resolution of Recognition and Commendation to the State FFA Officers on behalf of all the members of the SC General Assembly.

While FFA members around the state could not physically attend the ceremony at the State House, many chapters reached out to their Legislators by holding a virtual meeting with them. Chapter officers were able to interact with their legislators by asking them questions, discuss their concerns related to school openings, and COVID and thank them for their support of agricultural education during this difficult time.

The week of George Washington’s birthday was designated as National FFA Week in 1947 at a National FFA Board of Directors meeting. FFA Week always runs from Saturday to Saturday and encompasses Washington’s Birthday.

The FFA positively influences the young people of America by developing character and leadership skills and preparing members for successful careers. FFA members are the leaders of tomorrow. Through agricultural education and hands-on learning, FFA members are preparing for more than 300 career opportunities in the food, fiber, and natural resources industries of agriculture. With more than 760,000 members, the organization has a history of service and a legacy of leadership.

Submitted by: Jillian Lash, SC FFA Executive Director

The Agricultural Education Program Team with Clemson Extension continues to operate to support its teachers and students throughout South Carolina. Having recently completed a virtual FFA Convention to end the 2019-20 school year, the team turned its focus on providing in-service to the 150 Agricultural Education teachers across the state. Resources are currently being added to the Agricultural Education Program Team website. In addition, the team will provide in-services for both teachers and school administrators through the SC Department of Education’s Education and Business Summit, which will be held virtually July 21–23.

However, the highlight of the summer programs will be a virtual agricultural teacher conference to be held at the end of July. On July 23, agricultural teachers will have an opportunity to assemble with teachers in their area of the state for a virtual region meeting. Plans for the upcoming year will be discussed as well as providing opportunities for feedback from teachers on their needs and suggestions for how they might assist each other. In addition, the SC Association of Agricultural Educators will release a virtual awards presentation video on the evening of the 23rd, followed by a series of online workshops. Workshops will be held July 28–30 and will be conducted live by members of the Agricultural Education Program Team as well as South Carolina ETV, Piedmont Technical College, and agricultural teachers. The programs will range from resources for managing an FFA Chapter, to conducting an adult education program, to eLearning opportunities and resources. All teachers attending will receive professional development credit.

The pandemic has forced teachers out of their classroom, and, as a result, they have had to learn alternative ways of teaching. The Clemson Extension Agricultural Education Program Team understands the challenges that teachers and students are facing and are working to ensure that every available resource is provided to them to ensure that teachers can continue to teach and, more importantly, students can continue to learn.

Submitted: by William Keels, Director South Carolina Agricultural Education

Hosting a Virtual FFA State Convention

This week the Greenville Convention Center was scheduled to host over 1,000 FFA members, advisors and guests. However, due to COVID-19, the annual State FFA Convention is being held virtually this week. Over the past two months, the FFA and Ag Ed State Staff along with the six FFA State Officers, have been busy planning an online convention.

The State FFA Convention usually consists of State Career Development Events (competitions), leadership workshops and exciting sessions highlighting FFA members’ accomplishments from over the past year. With the help of the PSA/CAFLS Communication team and Clemson Broadcasting, the four General Sessions were pre-recorded and are scheduled to be released at their original in-person times. The General Sessions will be released via Clemson’s PSA Channel and on the SC Agricultural Education Website (under State Convention) at www.scaged.org during the convention days this week.

The Agricultural Education program consists of over 150 teachers in just about every county in South Carolina. When schools were forced to shift to eLearning due to the Coronavirus, agriculture teachers were left scrambling for ways to teach subjects such as horticulture and agricultural mechanics virtually.

The Clemson Extension Agricultural Education Program Team went to work immediately on how to provide these teachers the support that they desperately needed and performed research on what resources were available. Team members attended virtual meetings sponsored by the National FFA to understand how other states were handling the situation and to share ideas. Additionally, the team has met on a consistent basis with the SC Department of Education Office of Career and Technology, to stay abreast of directives and changes. To keep Agriculture Teachers informed, the team sends out weekly updates which include the latest online resources, national and state Ag Ed and FFA information, and additional imperative information about cancellations and postponements.

The program team has also worked thru Clemson Extension with the SC Commissioner of Agriculture, to ensure that Agriculture Teachers would be classified as “essential employees” in order for them to continue to be able to tend to their land labs, farm animals, and greenhouses, while their schools are closed. Proper documentation was provided to each school district documenting their essential work status.

The team is also working with curriculum providers to ensure there are resources for teachers. In addition to online resources that were already available to all agriculture teachers through myCAERT, Inc., the team worked with iCEV multimedia to provide free access to agriculture teachers. “One Less Thing”, is another provider offering free resources to agriculture teachers during COVID-19.

In addition to the resources provided by external providers, the program team has developed at-home activities for Ag Ed students to ensure hands-on learning continues.

As a result of the coronavirus, FFA activities are taking on a whole different look. Not being able to participate in FFA meetings and activities in person, the SC FFA is developing daily interactive social media posts hosted by the State FFA Officers. Posts have included: Cooking with Cooper where FFA State Vice President Cooper Brown offers cooking and grilling tips to FFA members and asks other FFA members to share their cooking tips. Sketching with Sydney has FFA State Secretary Sydney Gambrell demonstrating simple art projects and asking FFA members to create their own art and share online. In addition, interactive posts can be found Monday through Saturday on the SC FFA State Office Facebook page and the South Carolina FFA Association Facebook page.

Due to COVID-19, the SC FFA Association has also had to look at different ways to conduct state-wide activities. Many FFA Career Development Events and Leadership Development Events (contests) are no longer able to be held as originally scheduled. As a result, alternative methods are being examined. The creation of Virtual Contests is being explored as well as the possibility of holding events during the summer. Because the status of the FFA State Convention, which is scheduled to be held at the Greenville Convention Center in June is uncertain, the event may be replaced with the first-ever virtual SC FFA State Convention.

Teaching agriculture through a computer is quite a challenging task, as is providing personal development and career success through the FFA without the vital leadership activities which the FFA is so well known for. Through the work of the Clemson Extension Agricultural Education Program Team at least the Agriculture Teachers in South Carolina are not left to handle this daunting challenge alone.

Submitted by: William Keels
State Agriculture Education Director