FFA members attend school board meeting to share land judging knowledge, update on club activities

Published 12:24 pm Friday, April 14, 2023

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Polk County Board of Education members spent part of their April meeting learning how to do land judging.

Perhaps that’s not a typical item on the agenda for a board meeting, but Polk County FFA members offered that bit of instruction and more during an appearance at the board’s monthly meeting at Stearns Education Center.

Several PCHS FFA members joined agricultural teacher Chauncey Barber in giving a presentation to the board on land judging competitions, the school’s Veterinary Science program and attendance at the National FFA Convention. Students Lily Gosnell, Brooklynn Lewis and Banks Barber led the presentation, which included showing board members how to complete a land judging form just as club members do during competition.  

Chauncey Barber and his students also discussed the substantial learning and growth afforded students by participating in these types of leadership and extracurricular experiences.

Board members commended Barber and his students on their presentation and outstanding work representing Polk County Schools.

In other business:

The board participated in a 2023-2024 budget work session prior to the regular meeting.

The board heard a presentation from Linley Foster on the district’s latest efforts to support students and families and summarized how her team works to provide resources and connect families to resources.

Accountability Coordinator Adrian Hammond gave the board an update on the end-of-year testing and assessments.

The board approved three overnight field trips related to students earning the right to participate in state-level competition – Polk County Middle School’s Science Olympiad team, the PCMS Bridge Building team and the PCHS FFA National Land Judging team.

The Board approved the district’s annual Local Budget Operations and Capital Funding requests, several budget amendments, Food Service bids and a grant application to receive additional funding in Head Start for COLA adjustments and Quality Improvement.

The next Polk County Board of Education Meeting will be held on May 8.