ELDRIDGE, Iowa (KWQC) – Students in North Scott High School’s FFA chapter are working to change the world through agriculture.
The program serves 400 students with a mission to help empower them to pursue agricultural careers and teach them to become leaders and communicators.
Students win awards with creative projects.
Freshman Nora Diep won first place in the Agriscience Fair for her sugar cane cultivating project.
“It was really cool,” she said. “My plants grew taller than me. It’s a fun project.”
Senior Jordan Jones made an app using artificial intelligence to create personalized stress assessments for people working in the agricultural sector.
“So that they know what kind of stressors they were enduring and how to fix those or possible solutions,” Jordan said.
Scholarships reward student work.
Through FFA, students also have the chance to earn college scholarships, learn from industry professionals, and gain hands-on experience.
Jacob Hunter, agricultural teacher and FFA advisor, said students like Jordan have earned full-ride scholarships through the program.
Jordan received a full-ride scholarship to Loras College last year.
“This helped set her trajectory in life, pay for all of her college, and access education at a really high level,” Hunter said.
Hunter also said most students in the agriculture program have their first few years of college paid for through merit-based scholarships.
Projects address global challenges.
Nora’s working on a project to grow dinosaur kale seeds in material similar to Martian soil, and freshman Sebastian Jones is building a robot that can kill weeds.
All projects aim to make an impact in the world.
“I’ve always loved agriculture mainly because it’s the way forward in humanity” Sebastian said. “We only have a rising population, and to maintain food security, we need to advance agriculture. Hopefully, this will help improve that.”
Estefanía Pinto Ruiz is the water, ag & environment reporter for KWQC TV6 News and The Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. She is also a Report for America corps member.
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