Dr. Mona Jain Middle School starts FFA program

Josalynne Hernandez, a seventh grader at Dr. Mona Jain Middle School, held Queso, a small black and white rabbit, and gently petted him.

Since September, Hernandez has been learning how to properly care for rabbits and has been preparing to show Queso at the Manatee County Fair.

Hernandez said she's wanted to participate in FFA events and show a rabbit, but it wasn't until Mona Jain Middle started an agriculture and FFA program on campus this school year that she will have the opportunity.

Principal Kate Barlaug saw the benefits of having an agriculture program on a middle school campus while she was principal at Carlos E. Haile Middle School. When she became principal at Mona Jain Middle in the 2023-2024 school year, she pushed to start an agriculture program.

During the 2023-2024 school year, administrators polled students to gauge interest. Agriculture teacher Angelica Rivera-Benavides said there was overwhelming interest, so the program was created.

Photo by Liz Ramos

Dozens of students are enrolled in the agriculture course at Mona Jain Middle, and 13 students are involved in the school's FFA program.

Rivera-Benavides hopes by the end of the school year, students will be able to educate other students with what they've learned through the agriculture course, which hopefully will spark an interest in more students enrolling in the agriculture elective or joining FFA.

Rivera-Benavides said she receives a range of questions as students are introduced to agriculture. She's been asked if rabbits can produce milk and if chickens are birds. 

"You learn how important agriculture literacy is in our communities and how important it is for kids to know where their food comes from, how it's processed, what livestock we use, what plants we use and more," Rivera-Benavides said. "It's important for us here because we're not too far off from Myakka City, which is where a lot of production still happens."

Building a program from the ground up comes with the excitement of a literal blank landscape on which to build but also an overwhelming sense to exceed expectations.

"Not many people get the chance to start a brand new program, and the fact I have the privilege to do so, I was very awestruck at first," Rivera-Benavides said. "I want to do something that will last. I want to build something that when I'm long gone from this school, there can be something stable and that will continue. It's building a legacy, which is a lot as a new teacher."

Rivera-Benavides said she's proud of the progress the program has made since school started in August. 

With the help of Mona Jain's Technology Student Association students, the program has Earth boxes and other planters outside in a fenced area, giving agriculture students the chance to work hands-on with plants. 

If students aren't able to go outside, Rivera-Benavides has hands-on lessons for her students to do inside. Students have been able to make edible dirt cups and participate in a lab lesson on butter. 

Starting with plants has been an easy way to introduce students to agriculture and teach them responsibility. Students are responsible for planting and tending to the plants to ensure they don't die. 

Photo by Liz Ramos

In September, the FFA program branched out to allow three students to prepare to show rabbits at the Manatee County Fair. Rivera-Benavides said rabbits are an excellent first step for students who wish to show larger animals at the fair in the future. 

Rivera-Benavides said students have to care for the rabbits at home as the school builds a more permanent rabbit hutch. 

Next semester, students will start working with chickens. Chicken coups will be built on campus. 

Rivera-Benavides said it's important to have the facilities constructed on campus to ensue the program is accessible for all students knowing not every student can keep an animal at home.

Although the program has progressed, Rivera-Benavides said it hasn't been without its challenges. 

Hurricane Milton delayed work on the land lab as Milton destroyed the shade structure. 

Rivera-Benavides worried the damages to the land lab would cause students' interest in agriculture to fade, but she said constant updates helped keep students engaged and motivated to continue with enthusiasm. 

Students planted seeds a week after Hurricane Milton. Rivera-Benavides said she's pleased with the "phenomenal progress" the plants have made in a month. 

In the spring, Rivera-Benavides said she might implement lessons using the aquaponics equipment she has, which will give students an opportunity to create a system that will use fish to help sustain the health of plants.

Rivera-Benavides also is focused on the future. 

She said fellow FFA advisors and agriculture teachers throughout the School District of Manatee County, especially Jessica Jones at Haile Middle School and Carolyn Gilbert at R. Dan Nolan Middle School, have been instrumental in providing resources and guidance as Rivera-Benavides has started to build the program and curriculum. 

Photo by Liz Ramos

"It's a big community on sharing and exchanging because our students are going to interact with each other at the fair, at FFA competitions," Rivera-Benavides said. "Manatee County has a big, strong agriculture education community and agriculture in general. It's tremendous the amount of support I've gotten from our people and from the community."

In following years, Rivera-Benavides wants to continue to expand the agriculture program, both in numbers and opportunities for students. 

Next school year, she would like to have a greenhouse built on campus to allow students to grow and experiment with different varieties of plants. 

In the future, she wants to have goats on campus.

While other agriculture programs allow students to have cows and pigs on campus, Rivera-Benavides said with how Mona Jain Middle School is zoned, the school is not allowed to have large animals on campus. With permission, she said students would be able to care for pigs and cows at their homes and show them at the Manatee County Fair as members of Mona Jain Middle's FFA chapter.

"This year is a bit of a learning curve, but once this year ends, I feel like we should have something stable and something to build on," she said. "We will grow until there's nothing left to fit in the land lab. For the first five years, let's add something new every year."