FFA salute
Siloam Springs High School students involved in national organization
Gene Collins
SSHS agriculture teacher Born: Whittier, Calif. Raised: Dairy and Poultry Farm in Wedington Community.
Education: Graduated from Siloam Springs High School, earned an associates degree from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in Miami, Okla., and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
I taught agriculture for two years in Clever, Mo., and 37 years at Siloam Springs High School.
I started out to become a football coach but after attending NEO and becoming friends with many aggies, I switched over to agriculture education.
I am married with three daughters, five granddaughters and one grandson.
We live on a small farm and raise cattle and a few chickens, and we love country life. We are very involved with family activities and church life.
My favorite thing about teaching is building relationships with students, parents and co-workers. I have the best job in the world. I have made friends for life and hopefully made a positive difference for my students.
Emily Linn
Emily Linn is a senior and one of the first students to participate in the internship program at Siloam Springs High School. She interns at Siloam Springs Veterinary Clinic and says that her internship has finalized her decision on becoming a veterinarian.
“I’ve always wanted to be a veterinarian for as long as I can remember,” Linn said. “The internship program has been such a big opportunity for me to figure out if it’s what I really want to do— and I’ve ended up wanting to be a veterinarian even more than before.”
She plans to attend Northeastern Oklahoma University in the fall to complete her prerequisites and then to transfer to Oklahoma State University for vet school — all while competing in college rodeo. Emily has been an active FFA member throughout high school. This past summer, she showed a hog at the Benton County Fair for the first time and says she had a blast and plans to do it again this year.
Emily has also competed in many rodeo events for the past seven years including barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying and rodeo queening. She has competed in both national and local rodeo associations and has big goals this year for rodeo and college.
Wesley Perry
My name is Wesley Perry and I am the Siloam Springs High School FFA President. I am a senior here at the high school. I have been a part of FFA since the 8th grade. I am currently on the poultry judging team, coached by Glen Walker. I am on my way to receive my State Farmer’s Degree at this year’s Arkansas FFA State Convention. My current SAE consists of building a fence for my horses. FFA has greatly impacted my life by teaching me responsibility, discipline, work ethic and leadership skills. Through FFA I have gained many friends whom I can call family.
Robert Phillips
My name is Robert Phillips I am a junior at the high school, I am 17-yearsold and currently holding the office of vice president. I have been in FFA since 7th grade. While I have been on the agronomy team since 7th grade, this year I am joining the forestry team. For my SAE I raise and show calves. I got my start from my grandpa who has helped me my whole life with farming. He and my grandma have taught me and impacted my life more than anyone. Now that I have a herd of my own, my parents also help me a lot with my animals. My grandparents gave me my start by giving my sister and me two calves apiece when I was in 8th grade. FFA has really impacted my life by teaching me the importance of leadership, hard work, and most importantly, having fun.
Julie Griffin
I am the 16-year-old daughter of Jim and Jackie Griffin. I am a junior at SSHS and am the historian of the Siloam Springs FFA chapter. I live on a 333-acre farm where we raise dairy cattle and row crops. My SAE is dairy entrepreneurship and I show dairy cattle on the local, state, national and international levels. I have competed on several CDE and LDE teams including parliamentary procedures, agronomy and livestock judging. I have also competed in public speaking as well as creed speaking. I have been a member of FFA for five years and it has taught me the importance of leadership and helping the community. I have learned so many new things, and I have made new friends from all across the country. This year I was honored to receive the title of Arkansas Dairy Ambassador through the Arkansas Farm Bureau and Arkansas FFA. I wouldn’t trade my time in FFA for anything!
Caroline Perry
I am Caroline Perry. I have been involved in FFA for four years now. I am a sophomore at Siloam Springs High School. I currently hold the position of treasurer in the Siloam Springs FFA chapter. Recently my chapter officers and I went to a 360 Conference in Hot Springs to create a vision and future for our chapter. We met lots of new people and learned a lot of cool things and ways to improve our chapter. I also am a part of the poultry judging team. It definitely has changed my prospective of the poultry industry and furthered my learning about poultry. My SAE consists of working in chicken houses and gathering eggs for Diann Howard. I definitely could say that being a part of FFA has changed my life, it helps and teaches life values, communication skills, leadership skills and many others.
Kiley Weir
My name is Kiley Weir and I am a junior at Siloam Springs High School. I am the 16-year-old daughter of Lori Weir and Jeremy Weir. Through FFA, I do many things and one of those things is that I show cattle. I have been showing cattle since a young age and have shown at many different levels. I am a member of the Livestock Evaluation and Parliamentary Procedure teams, and this year I am serving as my chapter’s reporter. FFA helped shape me into who I am today, and I am so blessed to be a part of this organization.
Casey Rogers
My name is Casey Rogers, I am 17 years old and I am a member of the Siloam Springs FFA chapter. I am currently the secretary and have been for the past three years. FFA is the best way to get involved in helping out your community and others. I have been involved in FFA since a very young age because my dad was an ag teacher and an FFA advisor. He is one of the people I look up to and that is why I am still in FFA, because I want to make the same impact as he did when he taught here. FFA is one of the most important things to me next to God, my family and my friends. I was on the horse judging team for three years and I am on the livestock team this year. I enjoy being on a CDE team because I get to spend more time with my friends and learn a lot at the same time. My SAE consists of taking care of our farm animals, cutting firewood and raking hay. My hobbies are riding horses and four-wheelers and spending time with my family and friends.
Chate Rogers
My name is Chate Rogers, I am the FFA Chaplin at Siloam Springs High School. I am a sophomore and have been in FFA since 7th grade. I have been on the horse judging team for three years and still remain on the team. My SAE consists of driving tractors, hauling hay, cutting firewood, weed-eating, mowing and building fence. I am enrolled in two agriculture