When 18-year-old Whiteland FFA Member Cian Cribbs from Indiana approached his agriculture teacher unsure about his horticulture Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE), she had a better idea.
“She noticed I was always hanging out in the special education classroom,” Cribbs says. From there, they turned the place Cribbs enjoyed being in into a spot where he could advocate for agriculture.
For his SAE, Cribbs planned and delivered an agriculture lesson each week for special education students in his school. Not only did he enjoy his project, but so did his students.
“They had math right before the class, so the lessons I taught always brought back a smile,” he says.
Cribbs strategically plans the lessons to each student’s needs. “If I had one student who had a low attention span in the butter-making lesson, I’d let them pour the milk since it doesn’t take long,” he says. “But for the hyperactive students, I’d let them shake the jar to use it almost as a fidget.”
While adapting the lessons was successful, Cribbs also describes it as the most difficult part. “It’s like I’m creating a lesson for every individual,” he says.
Recently, his project has taken off. This year, his SAE placed first as an agricultural proficiency award in his district and state. He will now compete at the 97th National FFA Convention & Expo this October.
“I was like, there’s no way I will get this,” Cribbs says. “Other people have been doing this for four years, and I’ve only done it for two.”
While Cribbs is celebrating his success, so are those alongside him.
“I have to credit my hard work ethic to my mom, my Grammy, and Pappy,” he says. “They’re all extremely hard working. My Pappy taught me the lesson that if you give up now, nothing will ever get done.”
Cribbs says that lesson taught him even if he stayed up until midnight writing a paper and he didn’t have his presentation done, he would need to stay up later. “I had the mindset that if they don’t learn it from me, who else are they going to learn it from?” he adds.
Cribbs’ family members aren’t the only ones who are proud of him. Hannah Goeb, one of the Whiteland FFA advisors, is as well.
“Cian has always been passionate about special needs students, and this passion truly shined through his SAE,” Goeb says. “He loved coming up with fun and unique ways to engage with students and provide them with opportunities to learn about agriculture. His students adored him, and if you walked down the halls of our school with him, you would see these students running up to him every day, eager to connect with him. I am proud to have been his advisor and to watch this SAE grow and succeed!”
Cribbs is a freshman at Spalding University, where he majors in criminal justice. Next year, he plans to add special education as a minor or double major.
