Central Valley Christian is a private Christian school in Visalia and is called home by families from all over Kings and Tulare counties. A large percentage of students who attend CVC come from families with agricultural backgrounds, and represent a variety of specialties, from dairy farming to agriculture construction. CVC is centered in the most productive agricultural land in the nation and has long been supported by the Ag industry. Until recently, the National FFA Organization did not permit private schools to have a chapter. While many of our parents were unfamiliar with FFA, our community jumped on the opportunity to establish a chapter as soon as we heard National FFA was permitting private schools to join. Since then, our chapter have received immense support from our school and community. Thanks to such support, are proud to say that 159 students - nearly half of the CVCHS population - is involved in our FFA chapter and we have grown to be a successful and thriving atmosphere for high schoolers.

 

FFA was a new concept for many members of the administration and staff at CVC. The process to expose and educate them was started. Over the course of 18 months, momentum was gained. The committee was strong and resilient, overcoming many obstacles along the way. Numerous advocates volunteered to give personal testimonies about the positive effects that FFA has had on them. The committee stressed the leadership development aspect of the curriculum to overcome the objections by those in the CVC community who thought it was only about raising livestock. A couple of the committee members were able to get some administration and staff to attend the state convention that is held in Fresno every year. It is a very impressive display of youth who are all in, totally committed to FFA, and who have developed leadership skills that impress everyone who attends. The impact that FFA has on students runs deep, and lessons learned from their experiences in the organization lasts a lifetime. 

 

After getting over the initial hurdles, funding the program became the next challenge. The committee made a commitment to the school to fully fund the program for the first three years so no negative budget impact would be felt by any other program at the school. A campaign was started to raise the needed funds and the local Ag industry responded whole-heartedly. We were able to raise the money required to begin the next phase and start recruiting an advisor for the new program. This was a critical part of success because of the unique role that agriculture advisors have within a school and chapter. The FFA program requires an advisor who is willing to spend a lot of time after school and on weekends with the kids, on top of teaching several classes daily. Leadership conferences, judging competitions, fairs, and practices for all of these things require a special person who is willing to go the extra mile to help their students achieve success. By 2016, we were urgently ready to hire our chapter's pioneer. 

 

CVC was blessed to find a highly qualified young lady named Kadie Calac. Miss Calac accepted the huge task of starting a new program five years ago. Many changes and adaptations were made to develop a strong chapter, and now we are guided by our three current advisors: Mrs. de Jong, Mr. Orique, and Mrs. Maciel. 

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While the 2020-2021 school year is very different than we expected, our FFA chapter has been busy keeping up with activities and involvement. We have an excellent team of chapter officers leading us and still offer 6+ FFA courses for students to continue their academic growth. Together, we will Adapt, Overcome, and Thrive. 

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