There are a lot of great things happening at Catoosa Public Schools. One of those is the launch of the school’s Future Farmers of America club. The school has tapped Hailee Hankins and she is excited to get the program off the ground.

“What brought me to Catoosa was the opportunity to create a brand new chapter with a blank canvas and give our students here at Catoosa Public Schools an opportunity for personal growth and career success through enrollment in an agricultural education course,” she said. “Here in Catoosa, we have a ton of agricultural production that takes place each and every day. For many students within CPS, they have very little knowledge over anything having to do with production agriculture. The thought of getting to educate these students on such a key industry in our state while strengthening their leadership
skills was something that drew me to Catoosa.”

FFA has been a part of Hankins’ life for many years. She says that it started as a student and did not end when she graduated.

“My FFA journey began as a high school freshman where I was a member of the Tomales FFA Chapter in Northern California,” Hailee said. “I was an active member, serving as a Chapter officer and receiving my State FFA Degree. Because of my time in the blue corduroy jacket, I decided to pursue a degree in agricultural education from Oklahoma State University where I graduated in the Fall of 2019. I began my teaching career at Claremore Public Schools where I have spent the last three years as an agricultural education instructor and FFA Advisor.”

Along with the launch of the program, they needed to elect the first officers for Catoosa’s first year of FFA. Ta’Nei West is the chapter President, Karely Hernandez is the Vice-President, Abigail Sadler will serve as the Secretary, Reid Ragsdale is the Reporter, and William Fraley is the Sentinel.

West, who is a junior, is excited to be a part of the inaugural year of the school’s FFA program. She says that it has been a long time coming.

“Being one of the founding members for Catoosa FFA means the world to me,” Ta’Nei stated. “I think I can speak for our whole community when I say I’ve been wishing for an FFA program since I was a kid. Being able to have the opportunity to help Ms. Hankins build a great foundation for this program means more than words can explain and I am so excited to see what the future holds.”

While he is proud to be a part of the group, Ragsdale, a freshman, is looking forward to seeing the group grow into something big.

“I’m most excited to get people excited to join the FFA club and to see this organization expand farther than it is now,” he said. “I can’t wait for the new building to come in next year. I also love being able to help plan and fix any problems that the FFA might have.” Though the term FFA brings images of agriculture and livestock, Hankins says that there is more to the program than just that.

“The thing I enjoy most about FFA is watching the personal growth in students throughout their time wearing the blue jacket,” she said. “For some students this might be having their hard-work pay off within the show ring. For others, it could be as simple as gaining the confidence to publicly speak in front of their class. At the end of the day the awards, banners and trophies can be flashy, but the most rewarding feeling is witnessing first hand a student gain confidence in themselves through wearing the jacket.”