Adeile Jackson is 15 years old and lives and works on her family's dairy farm in Clymer, complete with a little more than a thousand animals.

"What I love the most is the family interaction and being able to love animals, and share what we do is very important," said Adeile.

What You Need To Know

  • Future Farmers of America program marks a return to Clymer High School

  • The program teaches would be farmers leadership and career exploration

  • Students get to travel to other farms to see operations up close

She's also vice president of Clymer High School's Future Farmers of America chapter to help further her opportunities in agriculture, as part of one of the nation's leading organizations.

Not only is she upholding a time-honored family tradition, but she also presides over meetings, organizes fundraisers and serves as an ambassador to one of the state's leading industries.

"And we have 23 active members at the moment, which is a lot for a small school like us. And, it's awesome that everyone cares about agriculture and everyone is doing their part," said Jackson.

Ag and tech teacher Robert Slava is doing his part as the relatively new chapter advisor at Clymer, bringing the program back after a brief hiatus, and providing more opportunities for students in career exploration, leadership and personal development.

"I went to a high school that didn't have FFA. I grew up on a small beef farm. And I have my own beef farm now, and I get to pass on that knowledge and everything that goes along with it, with my group here and it's pretty rewarding," said Slava.

Other producers get to pass along their knowledge as well, like those at Adams Dairy Farm in Randolph, where students from both Clymer and Sherman recently got an up close and personal look at the large-scale operation, including the rotary parlor.

"It's a good experience for them. Just the way grandpa used to do it isn't necessarily the way things are going now. Times have changed dramatically, especially in the last 15, 20 years. Technology has kind of really taken over, even in the ag industry," said Robert.

And while operations for Adelie are similar to life on her dairy farm, she says it's important to explore others and help cultivate future generations.

"It's really nice to have this type of opportunity. These field trips are extremely important to make sure that we have kids going into careers in agriculture to keep it alive. The world is really trying to steer away from it and it's important to keep it alive," said Jackson.

There are nearly 140 FFA chapters in the state and 7,000 members. Nationwide, there are roughly 9,000 FFA chapters across all 50 states, with more than 850,000 members, and hundreds of supporters.

Anyone interested in signing up can contact their local member's office.