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| Contributed photo FFA is a very hands on group — as shown above. At right, Caribou FFA chapter president Sara Huston learns about electronics during a course this fall. |
By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — For most people, a stalled engine or a bug infestation is a problem
Through the eyes of a Caribou FFA student, those same problems are learning opportunities — which they describe jubilantly despite the hardship.
For instance, a group of FFA students couldn’t seem to get the words out fast enough last week when describing how much they enjoy repairing tractors, Gators and the like around the high school, and they smiled and shook their heads as they spoke about the aphids that ruined their crop of tomatoes and lettuce.
“You freeze the plants!” said the Caribou FFA’s reporter Cindy Ketch of Caribou when asked how you get rid of the bugs. “You don’t want to, but it’s the best option in a worst-case scenario.”
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| Contributed photo FFA is a very hands on group — as shown above. At right, Caribou FFA chapter president Sara Huston learns about electronics during a course this fall. |
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| Contributed photo FFA student Stephen Kinney, of Washburn, is not only trained to successfully operate the zero-turn mower, he can expertly keep it maintained and grass-ready. |
As explained by the students FFA instructor Tom Hale, the youths did their best to control the pin-sized bugs first with chemicals; when that didn’t work, the fruits of students’ hard work was cast out into the cold, freezing the plants.
“Aphids hatch in a 10-day hatch period, so for 20 days we kept all plants out of the greenhouse hoping that we bypassed a couple of life cycles,” Hale said.
While no one wants a garden to fail, the students didn’t seem phased by the fact that their first crop of the indoor season was ruined; student Jeremy Butler of Fort Fairfield (the club’s unofficial resident artist) even found beauty in the infestation by capturing close-up photographs of the crop-ruining culprits.
Their group’s positive attitudes could very well be attributed to their ability to multi-task — without the greenhouse to tend to, they still had machinery to maintain, projects to create and, of course, there’s always studying to do on the functioning of a cow’s digestive tract (at least, that was the lesson last week).
Often, lessons learned in the classroom find a way of influencing daily life — whether it’s student Taylor Broome of Limestone applying his knowledge while working for Smith Farms or student Stephen Kinney from Washburn identifying tree species with his grandfather.
A well-known fact for Caribou’s FFA students — they’re always working to better the community.
For example, Ketch recently wrote a winning grant for the group that will benefit elderly, disabled and underprivileged residents of the region.
The $2,500 FFA: Food For All grant was awarded earlier this month and will allow students to follow through with a three-pronged attack against hunger.
Not only will the group be conducting workshops on micro gardening (growing small container gardens for those with limited space and resources) and expanding the acreage of the potatoes they grow for local food pantries, they’re going to be building platform gardens so those who no longer have the ability to get down and dirty pulling weeds can still enjoy fresh produce and the joys of gardening.
The group based their blueprints for their raised-bed garden off an idea they saw online. The group implemented their skills and general know-how learned from the multifaceted educational program and formulated a design that will allow an individual confined to a wheel chair to grow a small garden that’s narrow enough to reach across from a seated position and capable of being irrigated by pouring water into one convenient irrigation port.
Caribou’s FFA students have enthusiasm in abundance, and their efforts will be rewarded during their annual FFA banquet on Saturday, March 30 at the Caribou High School. High achieving FFA members, like Ketch, Butler, Caribou FFA sentinel Maurice Tardy, President Sara Huston, Stephen Kinney, Taylor Broome and Arianna Bard to name a few, will be honored with their fellow FFA members with an medals and awards. Extra supportive community members will also be receiving recognition during the event.
In fact, Ketch and Tardy have been on the radio this past week advising the community that this is, as officially proclaimed by Caribou’s city government, FFA Week.
