‘FFA is a family’: Unique approaches to ag education

ST. LEON, Ind. — To McCord Snider, FFA is not just a club, organization or another group at school.

“FFA is a family,” he said. “With more than a million members nationwide, FFA provides engaging opportunities that are like no other organization.

“Students have the opportunity to explore agriculture topics, but simultaneously allow for members to learn more about themselves and grow into strong community citizens later in life.”

Snider teaches several ag classes at East Central Middle School in St. Leon, where he loves watching FFA help students find their voices.

“Personally, I enjoy how through FFA students find their voice in a crazy world we live in,” he said. “Without the blue corduroy FFA jacket, members are just one person, just one voice. But with the jacket members know that more than a million members have their back helping them tackle some of the world’s toughest challenges.

“Agricultural practices may look different across the country and the world, but the goal is the same and this organization unites the members around that goal.

“Being able to guide students to foraging their own paths through the FFA program and into a career of their choice later in life is what I love most.”

Becoming An Ag Teacher

Spending time on his grandparents’ farm as a child, Snider found the agriculture industry to be challenging and rewarding. He wanted to be a part of that.

In high school he was introduced to FFA — a program that changed his life for the better.

“During my time in high school, FFA allowed me to expand outside of my comfort zone and explore an industry that was close to my heart,” he said.

“In high school, I had the honor to serve as the McCutcheon FFA Chapter historian. While at Purdue University, I had the privilege of serving as the Purdue Collegiate FFA vice president and president during my college career.

“All of these things combined, and more, led me to major in agriculture education and allowed me to become the teacher I am today.”

Teaching Philosophy

Reflecting on his career, Snider recalled a memory that he holds close to his heart.

As a new teacher in 2018, he had a seventh-grade student who was intrigued with agriculture and FFA.

“This particular student was always bombarding me with questions about how I was planning on developing my program since I was a new teacher and new to the community,” Snider said.

“He and I worked together after school on multiple occasions while he practiced to compete in FFA CDEs and LDEs.

“I coached him for the contests and he ‘coached’ me on what would work best for middle school students in agriculture classes within our school community.”

The back-and-forth process shaped how Snider teaches now.

“Since teaching this student, I have learned that middle school students learn best through hands-on experiences; therefore, I cover a wide range of topics in my courses so that students can participate in as many labs as possible,” he said.

That student has since graduated from high school and has gone on to fill multiple leadership roles.

Snider ran into him at Greensburg Rural King, where they spent more than an hour catching up.

“He told me, “Snider, I still do not know how you survive every day with middle school students, but you sure do know how to leave an everlasting impact that will forever be a part of me,’” he recalled.

“This comment honestly brought me to tears as this student had seen me at some of my lows during my first couple years of teaching and about ready to call it quits.

“He knew then that I had a spark in me to continue pushing through some of the hardest points in my career and always reassured me that everything was going to be OK.”

The students remind him of his goals as an teacher.

“My goal as a middle school agricultural educator is to have my students leave my class with an understanding of how and where their food comes from,” Snider said.

“I want them to know how basic animal care and husbandry practices can help improve the quality of life for their pets at home.”

Creativity In The Classroom

The East Central FFA program is always finding creative ways to keep students and the community involved.

From competitions to their newly established mealworm farm, these opportunities keep students engaged.

In March 2024, the East Central Middle School Agriculture and FFA Program was selected as a recipient of the 2024 National FFA — Lilly Endowment Classroom Enhancement Grant for $10,000 to establish the Middle School Mealworm Farm.

“The Middle School Mealworm Farm was established to provide a simple, yet unique way of agriculture education that could not be found anywhere else,” Snider said.

“This farm operates in six grow racks that each have 12 grow-out trays. Every two weeks, students go through and rotate the trays to the appropriate sizing of the mealworms.

“In the meantime, students are feeding, cleaning, sorting, sifting and educating their friends about their mealworm experiences.”

Five of the racks are mealworm grow-out racks and the sixth is utilized as the breeding rack.

The breeding rack is home to over 1,000 Darkling beetles that are laying thousands of eggs every two weeks to hatch into mealworms.

These mealworms are then sorted by age and sold to the community.

“During this time, students are preparing orders for our customers and gaining real hands-on experience operating an agribusiness,” Snider said.

“We offer three main products — live mealworms, dehydrated mealworms and frass,” or feces.

“Students engage with customers, collect money, listen to possible concerns from customers and more,” he said.

Students are then tasked with generating reports about how the business is doing.

The program has led to major, positive changes at East Central.

“Due to the interest of the mealworms, the positive impact it is making within our community and the interest level of our students, our school has agreed to renovate our middle school agricultural room to fit the needs of our farm to become more productive,” Snider said.

“Our classroom will be receiving $250,000 worth of renovations to better suit our mealworm farm needs.

“This building project is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2025. Today, East Central Middle School is the only school in the state that is providing innovative ways for students to be actively engaged in an entomology agribusiness to this scale.”

Teaching Legacy

Snider strives to be a teacher that goes above and beyond for his students.

“Being an educator in today’s world is not the easiest job and it is not for everyone,” he said.

“I want to be known as that educator who is actively pursuing unique, nontraditional, approaches to the agriculture industry.

“I also would like for students to know that I am always open to listening to their goals and dreams, or even when they are having a bad day that I will always be here for them.”