~by Lora Koch, The Scranton Journal
The Ram Restaurant at Greene County High School was the place to be on Thursday morning, March 5, as the FFA chapter cooked and served breakfast for about 150 people.
Pictured performing pancake duty are FFA members (from left) Mason Burkett, Tom Gannon, Lucas Fisher, Austin Wailes, CJ Muir and Cassidy Adamson.
“We do the breakfast as a way to give back to the community and former FFA members,” said Wade Wuebker (pictured, right) FFA chapter president. “We also wanted to celebrate National FFA Week, but had to move it a week due to the weather.”
Vocational ag instructor Cortney Schmidt (pictured, left) began her role as FFA advisor last year and is excited with the fast growth of the program. “When we started last year we had 15 students in FFA. This year we have 86 students, plus with our out of school FFA members, we total about 100 members.”
Caiti Schaben (left) and Gwen Black were among the many FFA members who helped with pancake duties Thursday.
With so many new members, much of the record-keeping process for Iowa and American FFA degrees is starting from scratch. “Next year our goal is to have a number of Iowa degree recipients,” said Schmidt. Only then can they progress toward American FFA degrees.
Wuebker has been involved in FFA for three years and has strong family ties to FFA. “My grandpa has a farm in Rockwell City and my aunt, Kathy Wuebker Carlson, was a FFA state officer.”
Wuebker is running for a district position and wants to do more. “I want to take my FFA career to the next level with district officer and then hopefully state officer someday.”
When talking about the growth of FFA at Greene County High School and the success of the breakfast, Schmidt was reluctant to take much credit, though it’s clear she is an enthusiastic and respected leader for the program. “It’s the kids, it really is the kids!” she said.
