O-E: Otto-Eldred High School’s FFA program is gaining momentum, and attention.

On Tuesday, the Lancaster Farming news https://www.lancasterfarming.com/ featured the group with a wonderful story and some great photos.

“If you picked 10 students at random from Otto-Eldred High School, chances are at least six of them would be in FFA,” the story begins. “This small school in northwestern Pennsylvania is excited about FFA, with about 125 of the 200 high school students being members, and half of the school being active members. The strong participation is all the more notable given the chapter only started in 2020.”

The journalist, Philip Gruber, spoke to several students and their ag teacher and advisor, Brandon Witmer.

“In the classroom, ag teacher and FFA adviser Brandon Witmer offers two freshman ag exploration classes — ag science and ag mechanics.

For older students, Witmer and aide Stacy Gould use the flipped classroom model, in which students pursue the category of their choice — agribusiness, animal science, plant science, natural resources, ag mechanics and food science.

In any class period, a few of the 25 students might be studying animal science or agribusiness, while others could be welding or tearing apart an engine.

Students must also have a supervised agricultural experience in their chosen subject.

“It’s a little busy and chaotic, but it’s organized chaos and really good,” Witmer said.

Agribusiness is a particularly popular track thanks to The Rustic Duck, a student business.

FFA members make soaps, candles and other items using agricultural products, and they market their wares at craft shows locally and, around the holidays, in Pittsburgh.”

It’s a wonderful story about the Little School That Could, as we like to call it. We’re proud of those kids, and of everyone making this happen for them. Kudos!