FFA members planning events for National FFA Week

LA SALLE, Ill. — Giving lollipops to all the students at La Salle-Peru High School is just one of many activities planned for National FFA Week by the members of the La Salle-Peru FFA Chapter.

“We are going to stand at the doors and when the students walk in we’re going to give each of them a sucker,” said Mollie Thomson, committee chair for National FFA Week.

Each lollipop says: “From our FFAamily to yours — have a SWEET day.” The note also includes a QR code that will take students to a folder that features a lot of FFA information.

L-P students have the opportunity to take agriculture classes and participate in FFA activities this school year when the program was reinstated, which they have not been able to do for the past 16 years.

“Molly Mudge and I went to meetings to talk about getting ag back and explain to them how this would help our student body,” said Thomson, who is now the vice president of the FFA chapter.

During National FFA Week, Thomson said, dress-up days are planned for each day, there will be a scavenger hunt and the lockers of all the FFA members will be decorated.

Local businesses donated money for special T-shirts for National FFA Week that will be given to all the teachers and the FFA members.

“The T-shirts say National FFA Week on the front and all the sponsors on the back,” said Alayna Washkowiak, who is the chapter sentinel.

Currently, three agricultural classes are offered at L-P High School.

“We have Intro to Ag, which covers topics such as plant science, animal science and the FFA,” said Riley Hintzsche, agricultural educator and FFA adviser at the school.

“The animal science class covers genetics and animal systems and the veterinary science class goes into more hands-on activities such as bandaging and injections,” he said.

“I knew right away I wanted to take all the agricultural classes because I want to be a large animal veterinarian,” said Thomson, a high school sophomore.

“I have done a lot of FFA activities this year including food science, agronomy, vet science and horse judging career development events and I have also attended leadership training conferences.”

For her FFA project, Thomson raises Boer goats on her family farm.

“I have 12 goats in my breeding herd and I have 10 replacement goats,” she said. “I am the first one in my family to show goats and I also show beef cattle.”

“I was really sad my freshman year that we did not have ag classes, so I was glad to hear that Mollie was trying to get them back,” Washkowiak said. “As soon as I heard it was back, I was so excited and I applied to be an FFA officer.”

She has a veterinary science and a horse project.

“I am a vet assistant at Ancar Veterinary Hospital and I want to go to school to be a vet tech,” she said. “For my horse project I take care of people’s horses and I do training.”

Participating in the recharting of the La Salle-Peru FFA Chapter during the spring of 2025 was a special moment for the future members.

“It was cool that we got to sign the recharter and keep the pens that we used to sign it,” Thomson said. “That was fun to be part of the foundation for the new ag program.”

With the addition of the agricultural curriculum at the school, Kate Lance, interim principal, has seen student engagement, especially for students that like hands-on, experimental type classes.

“Students are seeing the direct connection between other classes they interact with daily and beyond the textbook they are developing technical skills,” she said. “These classes have attracted a diverse cross-section of our student body, breaking the stereotype that ‘ag’ is only for one type of student.”

This year is developing a foundation that will continue to expand in the future, the interim principal said.

“Now that we have the coursework, I want to see our FFA presence grow to give students competitive leadership opportunities and allow for year-round experiences,” Lance said.

“I hope to see this program build connections with local businesses and environmental agencies to create relationships for our LPHS students,” she said.

For the 2026-2027 school year, a fourth class — horticulture — will be added to the department, with the completion of the Ag Center, which will include a greenhouse.

“Substantial completion of the new building is planned for May because we want this group of seniors to be able to walk through the building and see what it will look like,” Hintzsche said.

The entire building, the ag educator said, was community planned.

“Last spring they loaded up a bus with students, alumni, parents and community members and drove around to local ag programs,” he said. “They made a list of what they wanted in the new building.”

In addition to the greenhouse, the Ag Center will feature classrooms, a shop, a commercial kitchen and a teacher’s office.

“One thing I am excited about is the FFA work room,” Hintzsche said. “And between the two classrooms there is a prep room to make it easier to prep for classes without having the stuff in the classroom.”

Another feature of the Ag Center is a student store that will be located at the entrance of the building.

“Students will be able to sell stuff from their FFA projects like eggs or honey,” the adviser said. “And anything from our ag program will be available in that area such as items from our floral design projects.”

“I’m excited for this program to take off,” said Hintzsche, who is in his 12th year of teaching high school agriculture. “We have about 50 kids in the chapter now and the kids are excited about next year.”