Indiana FFA Showcases an Innovative Horticulture Competition
In partnership with: Indiana State Department of Agriculture
In April 2024, 15 students competed in the first-ever Unified Horticulture Career Development Event (CDE), designed to give FFA members with intellectual disabilities a chance to compete and build up their life skills and knowledge as they prepare.
The Unified Horticulture CDE is the brainchild of Amanda Mullins, Indiana FFA assistant director of career and leadership development. Before moving to the state leadership level, Mullins spent 15 years in the classroom.
“As a high school ag teacher, I saw many students with disabilities,” she says. “One year, I had a whole horticulture class of students with severe intellectual disabilities, and they had a special place in my heart. In my role with Indiana FFA, one of my goals has been for FFA members who are intellectually challenged to compete and have the full experience of being an FFA member.”
See more: AgrAbility Provides Help and Hope to Hoosier Farmers with Disabilities
Competition for All
In August 2023, Indiana FFA joined a National FFA cohort focusing on equity, diversity and inclusion. Mullins began to ask questions: What content area would be useful to students with intellectual disabilities after high school? What can they use in the real world?
The answers helped Mullins and a team of teachers develop the contest and practice materials. During the contest, students not only identified fruits, vegetables, nuts and flowers, they also recognized items that weren’t safe to eat, ranking them based on quality. Finally, they used occupational skills to solve a workplace scenario.
One of the team members who helped develop the contest was Joseph Dunn, an agricultural education teacher and FFA advisor at Indian Creek High School. Indian Creek FFA sponsored the contest, providing awards and materials for the event, and Dunn helped develop and organize it.
“In my role with Indiana FFA, one of my goals has been for FFA members who are intellectually challenged to compete and have the full experience of being an FFA member.”
– Amanda Mullins, Indiana FFA assistant director of career and leadership development
“This is the first-ever event held like this in the state of Indiana,” Dunn says. “FFA is all about inclusion. The organization changed its name in 1988 from Future Farmers of America to the National FFA Organization because they saw a need to include everyone. This is just one step further in the direction of including students in all capacities in Indiana.”
Mullins plans for the Unified Horticulture CDE to become an annual event. She’s perhaps most excited about the awareness the contest raises.
“I hope this will show folks there are jobs out there for these students,” Mullins says. And for students who are still in school, she adds, “FFA truly can be for all students, no matter their intellectual ability.”