Celebrating National Agriculture Week

Celebrating National Agriculture Week
Posted on 03/23/2021
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Allix Cotterman with turkeysJacob King with plants



Indian Lake High School is celebrating National Agriculture Week by announcing that a record eight students will be receiving their State FFA Degree this spring. 

Senior Allix Cotterman and juniors Tori Blanks, Allison Culp, Kayla Cummins, Cheyenne Hill, Luke Jackson, Ethan Knief and Ethan Snapp have each earned the distinction.

ILHS/Ohio Hi-Point FFA Advisor Tanner Schoen is very proud of this achievement for these students and his program. 

He said, "There is a laundry list of accomplishments that they have to reach in order to receive the state degree. In a typical year, around 900 FFA members are awarded a state degree out of 23,000+ members throughout the state. These kids set this goal many years ago and all their hard work is paying off."

In addition, two Indian Lake seniors who have spent four years in the ILHS/OHP FFA program, plan to make agriculture their life’s work. 

Allix Cotterman earned money to go toward her state degree by raising chickens, which she showed and sold the Logan County Fair. In addition, in 2019 Cotterman raised fifty turkey poults on the ILHS campus. She sold half of the birds for Thanksgiving meals and donated the other half to a local food bank. Cotterman will attend the Ohio State University next fall. She says learning that very few women join the agriculture field inspired her to pursue a career in Animal Sciences.

“Growing up, I was always around animals and I had a passion for farm animals specifically. When I had joined Ag in high school, learning about the animals and what it took to care for them and provide for them and what they contribute to the agricultural aspect of life, it really drew me into wanting to care for animals and pursue a career with them.”

Meantime, Indian Lake senior Jacob King is on pace to earn his State FFA Degree in 2022. King has operated the ILHS/OHP FFA Aquaponics Garden System for the past three years. Known to his friends as “the plant man,” King plans to study Sustainable Plant Systems at the Ohio State University in hopes of becoming a plant breeder or greenhouse manager in the future. 

“Within that first year (of FFA) I guess I just kind of learned how great plants were. They’re kind of slower than most other things and I can relate to that sometimes. As for the future, I think that FFA teaches people hard work and just how important agriculture is in your everyday life. You wouldn’t have much of anything else if you couldn’t eat. As for that, I think it’s very important that we continue our Ag education so people don’t forget that.” 

Cotterman and the rest of the group of eight will receive their State Degrees during the Ohio FFA Virtual Conference at the end of April. National Agriculture Weeks runs from March 21-27.