Brighton FFA hosts more than 1,200 students at their annual Pumpkin Patch.
As the fall season winds down, many chapters in West Tennessee are wrapping up a successful season of events. Brighton FFA, located in Tipton County, holds a yearly Pumpkin Patch event, welcoming over 1,200 students from seven different schools. For the past 13 years, this event has occurred at Brighton High School in a plot where they grow their pumpkins and hold events catered to kids, like a petting zoo, agriculture-based games, hayrides, face painting, and snacks.
Pumpkin photo opportunity at the Brighton FFA Pumpkin Patch.
What Is the Pumpkin Patch?
These trips to the Brighton FFA Pumpkin Patch promote agricultural literacy to all students who attend. The primary amount of people from Tipton County may not have come from a rural area; therefore, promoting agricultural literacy is crucial to these families and students. Through these trips, Brighton FFA provides a fun, educational experience. These trips also include interactive lessons about the life cycles of a pumpkin, information on other crops, and the ability for children to plant their seeds to take home. These activities lead the initiatives to connect the local communities with agriculture.
Brighton FFA President Houston Stewart said his favorite thing about the pumpkin patch trips is “seeing the kids having a good time and learning about agriculture simultaneously; not having to worry about school-related things or whatever they might have going on.”
“Kids get to see animals, play games, get their faces painted, go through a corn maze, plant seeds to keep, learn about how a pumpkin grows, and get to pick their pumpkin to take home,” Stewart said. “It took us a lot of work to get all this ready, but with our officer team, we knocked it out quickly.”
Brighton FFA chapter officers working in the Pumpkin Patch.
Terri Lea, a Brighton FFA advisor, said, “Many students, including most of our current officer team, first experienced our program as preschoolers attending the pumpkin patch field trips. Now, they are the ones leading and organizing these events. Watching high school students gain valuable life skills through these experiences is inspiring.”
“Another highlight is witnessing the excitement and enthusiasm of the elementary students at each station,” Lea said. “They listen attentively as the high school leaders guide them and share knowledge about plants and agriculture. Above all, I love being able to help meet the needs of our community in a way that educates and inspires the next generation.”
How Else Does Brighton FFA Give Back?
This event is not the only way in which Brighton FFA gives back to the local community. Alongside the pumpkin patch, there is a milpa garden that enriches the soil and gives back to the community through produce that is donated to the Tipton County Foodbank. Brighton FFA also holds agriculture awareness camps in the summer for children 4-10 years old. This plants the seed of agriculture in the lives of so many students in the community. Brighton FFA also participates in a food drive during their Wildlife Week. This past year, Brighton FFA also partnered with other career and technical student organizations on projects like supporting the victims of the recent floods in East Tennessee.
Brighton FFA has continuously shown ways to give back to its local community, ultimately upholding the motto and meaning of the National FFA Organization.
