At North Hollywood High School, a community targeted towards taking care of animals and plants, instills discipline and passion into its members.The Future Farmers of America community consists of students and officers who compete at competitions, and who have to prepare months prior to these events.
Mr. Lepore is the adviser of the FFA community, and has been for the past 10 years now at NHHS! Mr. Lepore’s job regarding FFA consists of preparing students that would be attending the competitions and getting to direct the other schools on where to set up when competitions are held in the agricultural area, in a sense Mr. Lepore is in charge during these situations due to his authority and familiarity with the area.
Competitions are scheduled to take place months before the new school year starts. Typically FFA officers and some FFA members are notified about competitions months earlier and begin memorizing paragraphs to present themselves as well coordinated and composed. Scarlet Garcia, a senior officer states, “memorizing speeches can be a lot sometimes, but the fact that we have months to prepare in advance creates less stress on me and other members.”
Myriam Apolonio, a senior officer in NHHS FFA describes the process of preparing for the competitions as anxiety inducing due to the memorization. “Learning 5 paragraphs of the Spanish cred and then imagining a large crowd of people can really get my anxiety up and can cause me to sometimes stutter.” Says Apolonio.
Although large crowds can get Apolonio nervous, the pay off of reciting the speech perfectly and without missteps makes up for the long preparation process. “Once I’m up there, all of the anxiety washes away and I’m able to think and talk clearly.” States Apolonio.
FFA officers not only get the experience of public speaking and preparing for a competition, but they also get to create new bonds and friendships since the officer group only consists of 8 members. Apolonio states, “ The environment with the officers is really welcoming, we get to bond with each other, and also get to meet other kids like us at competitions and talk with them.” These competitions help FFA members and officers attending the competitions see how other schools present themselves to the other schools.
These competitions are a great way of learning about animal and plant science, but they also include a very strict grading scale for their students. Not all the judging lies on Mr.Lepores hands, other judges and advisers come in from LAUSD and other schools official advisers.
All attending members must wear either black slacks or a black skirt matched with nice dressing shoes tied together with a white looking professional button up. Members are judged on appearance, speaking abilities, and the way they present themselves.
Points can be docked for messing up a speech, not wearing the correct attire, or behaving inappropriately. “During our most recent comp, some of our members got docked points just for having their pants ironed.” states Myriam.
Being a part of the FFA community isn’t just about having another extra curricular to put on your college resume, but is a personal passion for some students. Garcia has always had a passion for agriculture and animals since she was very little, beginning at her grandma’s house. “Being a part of FFA really means a lot to me since I’ve practically grown up with animals and a variety of fruit trees in my grandma’s backyard.” and “taking care of the animals at the farm brings me back to my childhood when I used to take care of the birds and cats with my grandma.” states Garcia.
Joining the FFA family means more than just another academic activity, it brings teenagers around LAUSD together with a shared love for animals, plants, and their community! These types of communities can help kids who are interested in animals and plants pursue their passion with these competitions and classes here at NHHS.
