The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘I believe in the future of agriculture’
National FFA president shows students how to team up, lead
MIDDLETOWN — As the piano key strains of the song “Silence” by Marshmello and Khalid cut through the muggy air at the rear of Middletown High School Wednesday, several dozen freshmen agriculture students began moving in circles.
They were engaging in a icebreaking exercise they’ll likely not forget for some time — led by National FFA President Breanna Holbert of Lodi, California.
Lively, engaging, relatable and expressive, Holbert, 21, came to the high school Tuesday and Wednesday — on the fourth day of the new school year — to engage with Mattabeset FFA students of all grade levels enrolled in the program that draws residents from 13 surrounding towns.
Holbert, who was elected in October, is serving the final six weeks of her tenure. Her visit to Middletown was the last of her world tour working with young people. On Wednesday afternoon, she flew to FFA headquarters in Indianapolis to begin preparing for the national convention, which draws about 75,000.
FFA is an intracurricular student organization for those interested in agriculture and leadership, according to its mission.
“I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words but of deeds — achievements won by the present and past generations of agriculturists; in the promise of better days through better ways, even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us from the struggles of former years,” begins the FFA creed.
To serve as president, Holbert took a year hiatus from studying agricultural science at California State University’s Chico College.
She’ll return to classes once she hands over the title to a newly elected top officer.
Her two-day trip was a whirlwind of local business and industry visits, workshops small and large. They included a farm-to-table dinner at Herd restaurant in Middletown, where items were locally sourced from Deerfield Farm and Forest City Farm. The group also took trips to Manes and Motions Therapeutic Riding Center, Amberworks Florist (owned by a MHS grad), Tractor Supply Co. and Lyman Orchards in Middlefield.
Holbert, clad in her dark blue National FFA president T-shirt and dark jeans, easily fit among the youth, who swiftly took to her personality. Just as unfamiliar as she was with them when she first arrived, each of these freshmen were among many they didn’t know.
Holbert broke the students into teams of two. One had to be strong enough to lift the other piggy-back style. As they milled about, one of the duo walked with the inside group, circling clockwise, as those outside
walked the opposite way.
It was akin to a game of musical chairs.
Every time she paused the song, students would scream wildly, looking for their partner, as one frantically jumped upon the back of the other.
Each time, she’d eliminate the slowest pair.
“The goal is not to be the last person,” she shouted.
Holbert also delivered a motivational address to the entire student body Tuesday morning, which filled the 750-seat auditorium and beyond. When the room was full, the rest of the students watched her on a live news feed, said MHS Agriculture Teacher and FFA Advisor Amanda Thomson, who organized her visit.
“It was an awesome, really inspirational speech.”
When the students returned to the classroom after the team-building game, Holbert asked them some questions, including the goal of the exercise.
“What was the goal? To get on that person, get on their back,” said Holbert, employing the metaphor of how people lean on one another for support.
Next, Holbert offered the students a “story with a hole” puzzle, leading off a
session where the students racked their brains, individually and collectively, to arrive at the answer.
She offered a story about a man who rolled his wheelbarrow up to hotel, paid some money, and, after 10 minutes, wheeled it away.
“Why does he pay the hotel?” Holbert asked.
After dozens of questions and at least 44 often-baffled minds, one guessed it was a Monopoly game.
At the conclusion, students were in a prime state of inquiry. She used the moment to counsel them on overcoming their fear of new things and the unknown.
“There are a lot of missing details and I understand,” Holbert said, referencing the national FFA. “In order for us to know more about why we’re here and the importance of it, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to learn more.”
Holbert delighted in Wednesday’s session.
“What’s really cool about high school students is there’s a lot of things I’m throwing at them, but all of them will take one thing from today. I can’t ask them to take everything, but they’ll take one thing.”
Ag teacher Michael Kingsbury joined FFA after his brother asked him to do so. For him, life is all about taking chances.
“What I always preach is don’t be afraid to start doing that first thing, and then they’ll hopefully grow to love it. That’s exactly how I started out. You can’t be afraid that one time to say yes.”
Over the years, each of his students’ willingness to step into the unknown has varied, Kingsbury said.
Many easily meet the challenge, but others: “You have to push them right into the fire. It takes a little bit longer for them … to get them going on their passion.”
MHS ag students have moved on to work as veterinarians, mechanics, game wardens, floral shop owners and an array of related careers.
“Even if you don’t choose agriculture, there are so many skills that are wholly applicable in any career,” he said.
The ag center is taking applications for the 2019-20 school year. For information, call 860-704-4599 or visit mhs.middletownschools.org.