Sisters learn more than agriculture in FFA

Madison students take pride in organization

KNOXBORO>> Today’s FFA is not just for farm kids anymore, and Madison Central School students Taylor McNamara and her younger sister Anna are proof of that.

Both of the young ladies are committed to their work with the FFA -- with Taylor finishing her year-long stint as state FFA reporter and Anna looking forward to hopefully holding her own state office someday -- and just recently returned from what both agreed was a wonderfully educational and inspirational FFA State Convention at Morrisville State College.

And neither of them has ever lived on a farm, instead residing in their home in rural Knoxboro with their parents Adam and Melissa McNamara.

Taylor, 18 and an MCS senior, said she joined the FFA in sixth grade. She was always interested in animals, whether in visiting her grandfather’s farm or at the New York State Fair, she said. But when she took her first agriculture class with former MCS teacher Julia Hudyncia, she found a whole new world in both ag and FFA that welcomed her even without a farming background.

“Miss H. told me that it’s not just about cows, plows, and sows ... everybody needs agriculture,” Taylor recalled. “That really drew me in.”

She was interested in the leadership experience offerings of the FFA, and found plenty. Taylor said she quickly fell in love with the chance to teach other kids to be leaders as well. And she found a true kinship with FFA members from not only her home chapter but everywhere. There is a family dynamicmuch like that of a sports team in FFA membership, and that was evident in the some 1,500 like-minded young FFA members visiting the college earlier this month.

“There is nothing like the connection I have with my fellow FFA members, and nothing like reconnecting with themafter we have been apart for a while,” Taylor explained. “Some of my closest friends I only see once a year. That blue jacket really connects us all.”

Taylor’s FFA state officer role of reporter meant a lot of work, and often that duty took her away from her MCS studies. She needed special permission fromteachers and administrators to miss the amount of school days she did, but that loss was anything but detrimental to the senior. Not only did she have experiences far beyond the majority of her peers during that year, but she still ended up the salutatorian of her graduating class.

She also recently received the kudos as one of the Observer-Dispatch’s 2017 Teen All-Stars, their selections of the most outstanding seniors of the Mohawk Valley.

Meanwhile, Anna, 13 and an MCS seventh-grader, has been watching the fun her big sister has been having with the FFA and decided to join the group

herself. She is the Junior FFA historian, a post Taylor also held back when she was just starting with FFA.

Anna was at the State Convention for the first time this year, and got to see Taylor during many of the sessions but not much outside of them, she said. Staying in the dorm was quite the novelty for Anna, although she found it a bit small and very hot.

Anna said she was impressed by the blue wave of those FFA jacketed students as they crossed cam- pus. In fact, when someone wasn’t in full FFA regalia, they were sometime hard to recognize.

“It was almost weird seeing people without their official FFA dress on,” Anna said. Right in the midst of the convention, Anna traveled to her NYSSMA music competition in Norwich, earning a perfect score for her singing as well as also earning high marks for her trumpet solo. She was still in her FFA dress for that event, she added. Taylor went straight from the convention to her prom, and admitted she dozed off for about anhour before being awakened by her friends to go to the floor for the last dance. She didn’t miss a minute of the convention, though, she added. Taylor will attend Morrisville State College in the fall with a major in ag science and a concentration in agronomy, and work with their collegiate FFA chapter as well as the Alumni FFA group. She hopes to become an ag teacher someday, and has even interned with Johanna Bossard, the ag teacher and FFA advisor with the Hamilton Central School, she said. Anna plans to become a dance teacher assistant next year at Dance From The Heart in Sherrill. She has been an avid dancer for 10 years -- nearly her entire life.

And although she doesn’t actually have her own blue FFA jacket yet, she hopes to receive one in the near future so she won’t have to wear her sister’s anymore.

Their parents agreed it is great to see their daughters share such a strong commitment for FFA.

“This is something they are both very passionate about,” Adam said.

“The girls have each always had their own niche, and it’s really cool as a parent to see them have this common bond,” Melissa said. “To see them share the convention together was really something special, and now the FFA will be something Taylor leaves as a legacy to her sister.” To read more Your Neighbor stories, visit: www.OneidaDispatch.com/topic/yn Read other stories involving the VVS School District: www. OneidaDispatch.com/ topic/VVSSD

PHOTOS SPECIAL TO THE DISPATCH BY MIKE JAQUAYS The McNamara family of, from left, Adam, Melissa, Taylor, and Anna pose at their Knoxboro home on May 17.

Anna McNamara, left, and her sister Taylor look over some FFA documents online at their Knoxboro home on May 17. The Madison Central School students both just returned from the FFA State Convention earlier this month at Morrisville State College.

Taylor McNamara, left, and sister Anna work in the garden of their Knoxboro home on May 17. Even though they don’t live on a farm, both young women are heavily involved with the FFA.