Tennessee 4-H and FFA Provide Exceptional Opportunities For Youth

In partnership with: Tennessee Department of Agriculture

Tennessee 4-H and Tennessee FFA are preparing today’s students to be tomorrow’s leaders through multiple learning opportunities.

Meant to Bee

Paige Costello has been working with bees since she was 3 years old, smoking bees on command for her beekeeper father.

“I don’t know if I did it right,” she laughs now, “but I smoked the bees.”

The Carroll County 10th grader and Tennessee 4-H member now knows exactly what she’s doing. She assists her family’s honey business, Camp Costello Farms, in all aspects – helping with the hives, harvesting and bottling honey, selling at farmers markets, and leading community educational events. She’s the national winner of the 4-H Beekeeping Essay contest, where she explained beeswax’s purpose in the hive.

See more: Tennessee 4-H Gives Youth Life Skills Beyond the Barn

Beekeeping is just one of Costello’s 4-H projects. She was a state finalist in the Horse Portfolio at Tennessee 4-H Roundup and participates in the Entrepreneurship program. Costello holds leadership roles as well, serving as an area representative for the 4-H All Stars Western Regional Council and 4-H Healthy Living Ambassador. She attends conferences to hone her skills including the National 4-H Ignite Conference, Senior Regional Teen Leadership Conference and 4-H Congress.

“4-H leadership experiences have helped me grow stronger in my knowledge, whether it’s honeybees or horses,” says Costello, who plans a career in equine veterinary science. “Every kid should get the opportunity to join 4-H because there are so many experiences.” 

Eggcellent Adventures

Williamson County 4-H’er and Tennessee 4-H member Abigail Berny comes from a 4-H family. Her older sister Hannah’s Chick Chain project forged a path for Berny’s venture, The Poultry House. This USDA-certified and state-licensed hatchery averages 400 hens producing approximately 150 dozen eggs each week, which are sold to two Puckett’s Restaurant locations. Berny also raises baby chicks, selling about 18,000 from 70 breeds in 2023. “A focus on customer service led me to obtain rarer breeds,” Berny says. “I can guide people to the right breed for them.”

Berny’s older brother, Blake, introduced her to cattle, triggering her interest in beef genetics. She uses some Poultry House proceeds for her herd of Fleckvieh, Simmental, Angus and SimAngus cattle. The high school senior aspires to become a large animal veterinarian specializing in reproductive genetics.

See more: Tennessee 4-H’ers Have the Opportunity to Get College Credit for Project Work

These 4-H experiences have influenced her in several ways.

“My work with livestock has helped me with organization, record keeping and overall responsibility for taking care of another life,” Berny says. “I’ve also learned how to advocate for animal agriculture.”

Berny says the scope of available 4-H projects brings together a diverse group of people.

“You learn together and you become a team, no matter what project you are in,” she says.

Grade A Education From Tennessee FFA

Greenhouses or fruit sales are often expected from Tennessee FFA chapters, but Johnson County FFA raises hundreds of thousands of fish.

At Johnson County High School, agriculture students raise tilapia, koi and goldfish in 90,000-gallon tanks inside a 10,000-square-foot greenhouse.

See more: Growing Ag Education in Tennessee

“The students fillet the tilapia themselves and sell it,” says FFA advisor and agriculture teacher Tracy Dugger. “We market some of the koi directly, and we’re also raising koi and goldfish for a commercial hatchery and grower.” 

In the greenhouses, students grow tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce for school lunches in a hydroponic system. They grow and sell flowering plants and vegetable seedlings in the horticulture greenhouse managed by teacher Thomas Boyd. Instructor Cody Osborne teaches ag mechanics, where students can earn certifications in welding and learn in conjunction with a college diesel mechanics program.

See more: An Educational Edge for Tennessee Agriculture Students

“FFA students are often introduced to careers they never knew existed,” Boyd says. “And the leadership skills students develop will help them in whatever they are going to do after high school, whether that’s college, trade school or straight into the workforce. They are exposed to the larger ag industry and just life in general.”

The Future Is Bright With Tennessee FFA and Tennessee 4-H

Tennessee 4-H was founded in 1910.

Tennessee is home to more than 138,000 4-H’ers.

All 95 counties in the state have a 4-H program through the local Extension office.

Tennessee FFA has more than 30,000 members in middle and high school.

There are more than 235 FFA chapters in the state.

FFA members are easily recognizable in their iconic blue corduroy jackets.

FFA is an intracurricular activity so members must be in an agriculture class to join.

If you want to support Tennessee 4-H or FFA, visit tn4hfoundation.org or tnffa.org/foundation.