Sunday marked the beginning of National FFA Week, and like a vast majority of chapters around the country, the Hillcrest FFA chapter has celebrated the week in a variety of ways.

On Monday, Hillcrest FFA students were encouraged to wear their blue jackets to school, and hosted ag trivia at chapel. In addition, the chapter hosted a Dress Like a Farmer Day, and tried a few new things as well, including John Deere vs. CASE Day. The chapter will finish the week with Ag Olympics, featuring various physical activities related to agriculture.

Hillcrest’s science and agriculture teacher, Mike Severino-Patterson, also serves as the school’s FFA adviser. He says the chapter has had an overall solid year, with one student advancing to districts in extemporaneous speaking and several other students performing well in competition. In addition, Severino-Patterson says that the chapter’s fall fruit sale saw the chapter sell around $8,000 worth of fruit, averaging out to about $400 of sales per student.

Severino-Patterson says that students thinking about joining FFA should understand that it’s an organization for everyone, “It’s really anybody that has an interest or a passion in agriculture. That you don’t have to be from a farm or planning to go back to a farm.”

National FFA Week runs through the end of the week.