Words From the Wise



Townsend Ag Instructor Jemma Morrow shares
the rewards of starting a new FFA chapter



I grew up in 4-H with my sister. We had small animals including chickens and rabbits. When I was in the 8th grade, students from the Agricultural Center came to recruit students for the Ag Program the following year. I was really interested so I signed up for the class. As a sophomore I got really involved with Career Development Events and attending FFA Meetings. My passion for agriculture and FFA grew quickly.

At the beginning of my senior year, I knew I wanted to pursue Agricultural Education and I applied at the University of Idaho. My four years there allowed me to meet teachers around the state of Idaho and start to network. I am so lucky to have had that experience. Once I graduated, I accepted the job in Townsend, Montana, starting a brand new program. I was glad I got to see what Idaho Ag Ed was like and mix my experiences to create the program that I am at.

I teach in a school of roughly 200 high school students. I teach 8th grade through 12th grade students. My curriculum is based on a four year program. I get 8th graders for a semester at a time. With the Ag I-IV classes, I also teach an Ag Elective. This rotates between Natural Resources, Wildlife Management, Vet Science, and Horticulture.

The community that I am in is very welcoming and active in agriculture. The program has grown so much in a year. We are planning the an 18’-36’ greenhouse to be built this spring. We also won a grant to build a chicken coop at school. We have had many generous donation in the last year including a Drone and a handful of cattle. The community has endured the immense growth of this program.

I have to brag on my kiddos. They are wonderful. I have really enjoyed getting to know them and helping them learn new things. They have really started to buy into FFA and the Ag program. The FFA program started right away with electing officers. We signed our charter last spring. Students were really excited about career development events. Our Livestock Evaluation team won third place, we had a creed speaker in 4th, and a prepared speaker took second at state. I am beyond proud of my kids and their abilities. I will be sad to see this group of kids graduate. I invite you to visit our facebook page (facebook.com/broadwaterffa)

Jemma Morrow
Second Year Teacher
Townsend, Montana

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