When you look at the title of this Footnote you might think the writer of this Footnote has been eating locoweed. The title actually refers to two different Louisiana Leadership Development Events smashed together.
Soon after starting this series of state focused Friday Footnotes [the first was about Alabama on August 18, 2023] I quickly learned that a number of states have unique programs or events not found in any other state. In this Friday Footnote we will learn about several unique FFA events in Louisiana.
The Gulf of Mexico FFA Leadership Development Event
To get your brain in gear, how would you answer the following question?
The Gulf of Mexico FFA LDE event is focused on
- Agriscience projects conducted in the Gulf of Mexico looking at water pollution
- Research looking at agricultural imports and exports flowing through the Gulf of Mexico
- Aquaculture production techniques and facilities in the Gulf of Mexico
- A prepared public speaking event where the topic is Gulf of Mexico related.
This event was first held in 1995 and was sponsored by the Louisiana Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). It is basically a prepared public speaking event. It was designed to promote stewardship and create public awareness of the environmental issues concerning the Gulf of Mexico. Today the event is sponsored by the Sabine River Authority.
The objectives of the event are:
- To promote stewardship and create public awareness of the environmental issues concerning the Gulf of Mexico.
- To educate the members of the FFA on the Gulf of Mexico environmental issues, the Gulf of Mexico watershed and major river basins and these connecting water bodies functioning as an ecosystem.
- To promote youth leadership in environmental and agricultural issues.
- To provide community opportunities for FFA members to share Gulf of Mexico related environmental concerns with agricultural, environmental, educational, and industrial groups.
The rules of the contest are the same as the traditional prepared public speaking contest A student may enter the Gulf of Mexico Speech and the Prepared Speaking Leadership Development Event as long as the speech manuscripts are significantly different. The top two competitors at the area level (there are 4 areas in the Louisiana FFA) advance to the state competition. The rules can be found at https://la-ffa.org/file_download/inline/79a8c834-2392-4ff7-9a2c-3f11e30b4edb
It appears that at one time one of the requirements to be eligible for this event was to make a presentation to a civic group. In Figure 1 below, we learn that Brandon Touchet gave his Gulf of Mexico speech to a local Lions Club. This was in 1996.
Figure 1. From the Crowley Post-Signal. May 23, 1996.
Gulf of Mexico Speech Topics
A variety of topics have been covered in the Gulf of Mexico competition. In 2016 Bali Quick was the 2nd place finisher with a speech on the brown pelican and its population fluctuation. The state winning speech in 2016 was given by Kelsey Shoemaker and she spoke about the Asian Tiger Shrimp. Both were members of the Lakeview FFA Chapter in Campti, Louisiana.
Allie Hubbard from the Northshore FFA Chapter won the Gulf of Mexico Public Speaking LDE in 2022. Her speech was about lionfish and the impact that they have on the environment of the Gulf.
“Lionfish are non-discriminate eaters with no predators, so they are threatening the economic security of the Gulf’s fishing industry,” Hubbard said.
Participating in the Gulf of Mexico Public Speaking LDE helped Hubbard to understand more about the state’s top marine commodities.
“This speech gave me new insight into the daily struggles and issues faced by Louisiana’s fisherman,” she said.
Figure 2. The 2022 Gulf of Mexico state winner is on the right, Allie Hubbard of the Northshore FFA Chapter. State FFA officer Grace Manuel is on the left. Image from the LSU Ag Center.
Geaux Teach Ag
Several years ago “Agricultural Education” was recognized as a new Proficiency Award area by the National FFA. Many states have such an award, and it is handled like other proficiency award areas. FFA members fill out the proficiency award application and submit it for judging. This proficiency area is labeled simply as “Agricultural Education.”
In Louisiana “Geaux Teach Ag” is a live competitive event. It was started in 2008. If you are not familiar with the word “Geaux” it is pronounced “Go.” Geaux is a recognition of the Cajun influence in the state. It is very common to find last names in Louisiana that end in eaux such as Thibodeaux, Arceneaux, and Boudreaux. You sound the eaux as an “O”. If you are familiar with LSU athletics, then you have probably seen the “Geaux Tigers” logos.
The objectives of the event are:
- To encourage students to pursue a career in agricultural education.
- To develop students’ ability to prepare a lesson plan.
- To develop students’ abilities to teach effectively to achieve student learning.
- To develop students’ abilities to assess for student learning.
In the Geaux Teach Ag event there are eight state finalists, two from each FFA area. Each contestant must prepare a lesson plan using the LSU lesson plan format. Each year a subject area such as Animal Science or Agribusiness (plus 4 more areas) is designated as the subject matter area and the lesson plan must be in the area but must also match the state curriculum. In 2024-25 the lesson plan is to be on Natural Resources and Conservation. There are seven required elements in each lesson plan. Contestants can pick any or all teaching strategies they want to use.
The lesson is taught to a group of four competent and impartial people who will play the role of students. There are three judges with agriculture teaching backgrounds. The lesson has to be 12 to 15 minutes in length. An additional three minutes is used for the judges to ask questions. The contest rules and scoring rubric can be viewed at https://la-ffa.org/file_download/inline/06b58de8-0777-46ff-a1ee-df92bc6882b2.
Figure 3. Audrey Rayborn of Dutchtown FFA won the state Geaux Teach Ag competition in 2022.
Carpentry, Electricity, Small Engines, Welding
At the national level there is one FFA agricultural mechanics career development event identified as Agricultural Technology and Mechanical Systems. In Louisiana there are four separate career development events focusing on agricultural mechanics. They are:
- Carpentry
- Electricity
- Small Engines
- Welding
I wonder why Louisiana has competition in each of these areas? I have some ideas. To learn more about each of the events go to https://la-ffa.org/what-we-do/career-and-leadership-events.html?page=1.
Figure 4. From the Abbeville Meridional, March 21, 2023
Concluding Remarks
An underlying question posed by this Footnote is “Who or what should determine what to teach in an agricultural education program?” There are a variety of answers to this question; some are better than others. Let’s look at several possible answers:
- The curriculum should be driven by FFA contests.
- The curriculum should be based on what the agriculture teacher likes to teach.
- The curriculum should be uniform in a state and be determined at the state level.
- The curriculum should be based on the needs of the community.
I know some agricultural teachers who teach contests. If there is a FFA contest (sanitized by calling it a career or leadership development event), that is what is taught. The teacher might start with soil judging in the fall and end with livestock judging in the spring. After one contest is over, the training starts for the next one.
Even if there are no poultry farms or dairy cows within 100 miles, that doesn’t matter. Let’s go ahead and train teams for poultry judging or dairy judging. We can always justify this approach by speculating someday the students might move to an area where they need to know this.
I know of an agricultural education teacher who was big into sheep production. He taught a lot about sheep and numerous students had sheep for their Supervised Agricultural Experience programs. Once that teacher left, the sheep projects gradually disappeared. It is nice to teach what you have a passion for, but that is not the preferred way to decide on the curriculum.
In the modern era of curriculum development many states have standardized what is taught in each agricultural course. Often a team of teachers are involved in developing the course content. In the more progressive states there is time allotted in the curriculum for local adaptation. So, if you are teaching the animal science course and are in a big dairying area, you can spend more time on dairy production.
In the early days of agricultural education, when teachers had a free hand in developing the course offerings, the curriculum was based on the needs of the community. This approach was advocated by such agricultural education icons as Rufus Stimson and H. M. Hamlin.
The fact that Louisiana has some unique FFA events might be an indication that the needs of the state have been considered in establishing these events. If it doesn’t already, should your state have unique events appropriate for the agriculture in your state?