Erica Goodson – Broken Arrow FFA
In her first year at Broken Arrow, Erica Goodson, and her teaching partner Jenna Dupree, who is in her third year, have taken the FFA program at BAHS to knew heights.
“We were both very active in our high school ag programs. Dupree graduated from Porter High School, and I graduated from Vanoss High School,” Goodson said. “We were both FFA officers and involved in leadership and judging contests. Dupree was involved in meat evaluation, and I did land judging, livestock eval, and diary judging. I was in shop classes in high school and took any ag class I could. I student taught at Altus and have taught ag for 12 years now.”
With 94 students in the FFA program and the ag class, Goodson and Dupree stay busy, but they are always looking to add new students to the program.
“One of the biggest challenges we face is recruiting students and making sure they know we have an FFA program. We are located at Vanguard, so these students see us every day. We do not get to see the students at the high school so many don’t know we are here,” Goodson said. “Recruiting students from so many middle schools is a huge struggle for us. Just reaching kids, and also competing with all of the other organizations and groups that Broken Arrow has to offer. Students also think that they have to be a Vanguard student to be in our ag classes and that is not correct. Our program is through the high school but housed at Vanguard.”
Goodson points out, FFA is more than just livestock.
“We offer classes on a wide range of agriculture topics such as ag mechanics and power tech, horticulture, floral design and greenhouse management, Vet science, ag communications, wildlife management, animal science, food science. We offer students opportunities to participate in leadership events and a variety of contests to prepare students for their future,” said Goodson.
Students involved in the program can expect hands-on learning in a fun filled environment that encourages students to step out of their comfort zone and learn about agriculture.
“We focus on the same skills, and topics that all agricultural education programs in Oklahoma offer so ours is not that different, even being in an urban area. We try to prepare students for a career in agriculture once they graduate from our program,” said Goodson.
Overall, it’s been a great year for Broken Arrow FFA. “This year we have 18 seniors in our program and three of those are getting their State FFA Degree. Our FFA officer team has juniors and seniors on the team. Our team is open to any student who wishes to run for office, and we are open and encourage those younger kids to try too,” said Goodson.
