FFA member Owen Gray shows his animal project at the Pearland Expo.
For the last five years, Pearland FFA in Texas has hosted an event called “The Pearland Partner Show.” The goal of the show is to allow special education students to participate in preparing and showing a livestock project.
Jayden Cole, a former Pearland FFA member and Boy Scout, started this event. For his Eagle Scout project, he created what has now become a vital event in the chapter. He organized it with an agriculture teacher and special programs to select students to partake in it.
Starting with only four kids, the partner show now involves at least 12 special education students annually. Each year, Pearland selects several FFA members to serve as hosts and partners in running the event.
For the 2024 show, five hosts were selected. Two of these hosts were Pearland FFA seniors Anaira Garcia and Owen Gray. Their job was to pair the students with mentors, run meetings and help put on the show. Preparation for the show lasted four weeks. Each week, the students and their mentors met and worked with their animals. Gray has been involved in the partner show for the last three years, helping as a ring steward, goat partner and host. Garcia has been involved for the last two years of the show, helping as a goat partner and host.
Anaira Garcia shows her goat project at the Pearland Expo.
The partner show impacts both the special education students and the FFA members. Garcia shared, “Expo has played a major role in my life. It’s given me a family. I love seeing the smiles on kids’ faces when they get to achieve a goal they didn’t know they were capable of doing.”
Gray also shares, “This show has shaped me into a better individual and leader. Helping these kids get involved in showing brings me so much joy because it’s something that means a lot to me and my growth as a high schooler. My cousin will get to be involved in the partner show next year, and I wanted to help make a lasting impact that she and other future participants will get to experience.”
The partner show, now lasting for half a decade, is impacting the lives of everyone involved or witnessing it. This story inspires others to grow, achieve, and make change where they see it needed.
