Submitted photo Above: Pictured is the FFA chapter of GHEC School’s officers.

GRANADA — Granada-Huntley-East Chain Agriculture teacher Star Schipper is going into her second year at the school. Schipper provided an update on what’s going on at the school’s agriculture program and Future Farmers of America at GHEC schools.

Schipper started teaching at GHEC last August and before that she taught for one year in South Dakota. For this Fall there are plans of a fall retreat for current officers in FFA and there will be contests throughout the year.

In the past events that have been put on by FFA include a car wash and garage sale last week that the students put on and did everything for. That included the clean-up, working the events, and pricing everything for the sale.

“I do want to put in a shoutout for my current and past officers,” Schipper said. “We had an officer team last year and our current officers are doing a really good job of getting involved and doing fun things.”

Other activities range from cleaning up the highway in Granada of trash and this past weekend going to a Twins game.

Schipper said that the GHEC FFA is always looking for more members. There are monthly meetings for FFA and that anyone wanting to get involved should not be afraid to contact her.

For the agriculture program, there are several different classes offered at GHEC schools. At the middle school level, there is a brief over-class of what animal science is like and lasts a quarter long.

For freshmen, there is an introductory to agriculture which is a semester-long class. In that class, there are things taught such as animal science, plant science, ag power, and other things that are a quick overview. It is designed for the students to get a better understanding of what they want to continue on to learn in the agriculture program as they get older.

There are agriculture classes for sophomores that will focus on nutrition. For juniors, there is an agriculture business class that teaches the students financial information and how to run their own agriculture business. There are also plant science classes that students learn about plants and soil. There is an animal science class that teaches about animal functions and the nutrition of animals.

Schipper will also be teaching for the first time next school year an environmental science that will focus on the students learning about the resources in their area. Schipper hopes that the students will get to spend a lot of time outside learning about the wildlife in their area and learning how to fish.

Schipper said the agriculture program also does fun field trips as well.

Schipper’s overall message to the readers and the community is to come out and support their new FFA chapter.