Courtney Champagne arrived at Silsbee High School in Texas in 2019 to lead an FFA chapter that “just needed a little love,” she says. Now, the chapter is not only literally blooming, but also passing that love to the community.
Champagne teaches floral design and runs a full-service, on-site floral shop, called The Tiger Lily, with her advanced students. While they mainly serve the school district, they do extend one particular service to local townspeople — complimentary floral sprays for veterans’ funerals.
The program, called Honoring Heroes, is the brainchild of Champagne’s husband, who suggested her class make a spray for their neighbor’s father, a veteran of the 101st Airborne Division during World War II (the Screaming Eagles). “My students didn’t understand the history of paratroopers and WWII, so we stopped and had a history lesson,” Champagne says. “We talked about how some of our veterans don’t have a lot of people still around to celebrate their lives.” That’s the moment she knew this needed to be an ongoing project.
She partnered with a local funeral home in August 2021, and they have served one to two funerals every month since. “[The families] are appreciative to the point that they donate to the program,” notes Champagne, the daughter of a veteran herself. “The funeral director always has a special spot for our stand, front and center.”
A Twofold Teaching Tool
The arrangement is standard and simple: a wire stand with a grapevine wreath; bow; red, white and blue flowers; the veteran’s military branch; and a note that reads, “Thank you for your service.” It’s also a twofold teaching tool: Students learn a basic floral-design skill, should they apprentice with one of the six florists in their small town, and they also learn the power of human connection.
“I teach human emotions, not just flower arrangements,” Champagne says. “How to take something, create and give back, and I think that’s something kids don’t have anymore — how to connect with people. Giving them a language of flowers gives them something to connect with people again.”
Cheyenne Cooley, former chapter president, now understands that human connection well. “One of the first times I delivered, we met the family and to see the genuine gratitude they had for teenagers who took the time out of their lives for complete strangers. It was eye-opening that sometimes we need to take little moments to thank the people who got us where we are.
“Everyone in this program is so diverse, but we can all agree that the gratitude unites us,” says Cooley, now a freshman at Texas A&M studying to be an ag teacher, thanks to Champagne’s influence.
“If I can teach my kids to give back and give them a sense of community,” Champagne adds, “I’m one step closer to making the world a better place.”
Consider this activity for your chapter’s Program of Activities and the National Chapter Awards. Learn more about the National Chapter Awards at FFA.org/Participate/Awards/National-Chapter. For inspiration from Silsbee’s Tiger Lily, visit Facebook.com/SHSTigerLily.
