Agriculture creates unique opportunities at schools
May 21—Agriculture has long been a major part of the lives of families across the southern part of Ashtabula County.
Grand Valley and Pymatuning Valley high schools have significant amounts of students connected to agriculture through classes offered by the schools and the Future Farmers of America organizations at the schools.
More than 60 members of the PV FFA attended Ag Day earlier in May to help first-grade students from all over Ashtabula County learn about where their food comes from and the many businesses that stem from farming.
PV FFA Advisor Tom Mazzaro, who was honored by a consortium of business organizations and agencies for his work with students, said as many as 400 students are connected to classes and FFA.
He earned the Golden Eagle award earlier this year which included a $1,500 donation to the schools' FFA program.
He said not all students are involved in agriculture.
"Some just want to benefit from the leadership," Mazzaro said.
Many of the students brought their own animals to show the younger students and also greeted the visitors.
"I think it is great. This is where it all starts," Mazzaro said of his students reaching out to the first graders.
Pymatuning Valley Local Schools officials are waiting to hear about a grant that would allow the building of an on-site barn that would include classrooms and active working stations.
"The target date for notification is May," said PVLS Superintendent Chris Edison.
He said the FFA program is extremely important in the life of the school.
"Our FFA program is a major staple of our school district. The students involved in the program are true leaders within our community. FFA is not just for 'farmers' ... we have many students involved who have not lived or worked on a farm. They learn life skills and have multiple opportunities to participate in competitions, leadership development, and community service," Edison said.
He said he is extremely proud of the program.
PV junior Brayden Shinault said he enjoyed assisting at Ag Day to help the young children learn.
Students from Grand Valley were also on hand at Ag Day assisting their younger counterparts.
GVHS Principal Roberta Cozad said the agricultural component to the school is very important.
"The FFA program has a really big influence," she said.
Lowell Moodt and Erin Smolinski are both very involved in the program, Cozad said. She said not all FFA students work on farms but many learn valuable skills through classes taught at the school.
Moodt earned the Golden Eagle Award for his work with students in 2022.
Smolinski said there are about 80 students enrolled in Ag/FFA and are very active in helping the community. She said the students picked up 75 bags of trash during road side cleanup efforts, gave $500 to Country Neighbor and made more than 20 "goodie bags" for local fire, emergency medical service and police.
