The area around Bartlesville, Okla., is known for its expansive, generations-old ranching operations. Yet, before 2018, the school district had no FFA chapter or agricultural education program.
In 2018, the district’s new superintendent invited staff to submit ideas as part of the “Big Dreams” 2020 vision initiative. Middle school English teacher and fifth-generation rancher Courtney Gagan saw an opportunity ripe for harvest and proposed growing the community’s agriculture legacy through an agricultural education program and FFA chapter.
“There is such a rich agriculture foundation in our area, and I knew there was some untapped potential without any agriculture programming offered through the district,” says Gagan.
A committee of community stakeholders was formed to chart the path forward, which began by hiring two agriculture teachers who would serve as FFA advisors. Marty Jones and Cameron Dale stepped into those roles and immediately got to work recruiting FFA members and building a program from the ground up.
An obvious hunger for agricultural education was revealed.
Bartlesville FFA was chartered in 2019. First-year membership totaled 80 individuals and surged to 149 members in 2020. In only its third year of existence, Bartlesville FFA received a 3-Star National Chapter Award, earned a third-place agriculture communications team honor and celebrated a top 10 individual award at the 94th National FFA Convention & Expo.
In 2021, community members approved a bond issue for the construction of a new $6.75 million agricultural center. The facility will include animal barns, labs and a livestock show arena, plus greenhouses for production and research, including hydroponics and aquaculture. Bartlesville FFA members actively participated in gaining community support ahead of the vote.
“I learned that people know much less about agriculture than I thought,” says 2021-22 Bartlesville FFA officer Ragen Hodge. “We had to convey how this was important for all students and our community to be educated in agriculture.”
Matt Fries, 2021-22 Bartlesville FFA vice president, adds,“Working to get support taught me valuable skills in public speaking, understanding our audiences, and utilizing our individual strengths and weaknesses to inform our community.”
Jones and Dale are thankful for the strong community support. Jones knows the program will impact generations to come.
“The growth and success of our program come back to having a supportive community and school district,” Jones says. “Both have provided us with resources and funding that provided an excellent foundation to build from so that we could focus on recruitment. We take every decision we make seriously and know this program will have a lasting impact, maybe even long after we’re gone.”
