Students from across the region gathered at Critter Barn in Zeeland for the first day of West Michigan FFA on Thursday, August 27. West Michigan FFA is a new partnership between Hamilton Community Schools and Critter Barn that provides hands-on agricultural education to students in grades 7–12.

The program is open not only to Hamilton Community Schools students, but also to students from other public schools, private schools and homeschool families throughout West Michigan.

“We are so excited to be here at Critter Barn for the first day of West Michigan FFA,” said Hamilton Community Schools Director of Career, College and Innovative Programming, Mat Rehkopf. “We have students from all over West Michigan. They’ve been in the classroom starting to learn about safety, they’ve already started to count how many animals are here at Critter Barn, and now they’re doing their first chore of the day cleaning one of the goat barns.”

For students such as Mara Davis, a homeschooled student from the Caledonia area, West Michigan FFA provides access to agricultural education that might not otherwise be available.

“It gives me the opportunity to take FFA, and the way they’re doing it is great because we get hands-on experience with the animals and have very educated and knowledgeable instructors,” Davis said.

Jocelyn DeYoung, a senior at Unity Christian, joined the program because she hopes agriculture will remain part of her future.

“I really wanted the hands-on agriculture experience,” DeYoung said. “I plan to continue working in agriculture and working with animals, and I really enjoy it.”

West Michigan FFA allows students to learn by doing. Participants care for animals, explore plant and food systems, develop leadership skills through FFA, compete in events and gain career-ready experience through projects, internships and other work-based learning opportunities.

The partnership also marks the launch of Hamilton Community Schools’ newest state-approved Career and Technical Education program. The high school course is a two-year program in which students complete agricultural coursework before expanding into work-based learning experiences.

“This is a pivotal point because we have the students here for agricultural education for the first time on the farm,” Critter Barn executive director, Tony McCaul said. “We are so excited to offer this opportunity to West Michigan and to have our next state-approved CTE program for Hamilton Community Schools," Rehkopf added.

Leading the program is Grace VanKampen, Hamilton Community Schools’ new agricultural education and CTE instructor. VanKampen has spent her life around agriculture and previously worked with students at Critter Barn, providing an ideal combination of agricultural knowledge and educational experience.

“We were so fortunate to hire Grace VanKampen as our new CTE teacher,” Rehkopf said. “Grace has been in the agriculture world her entire life, and she has been working with students here at Critter Barn for a couple of years. We believe she is going to be a perfect fit.”

The program gives experienced young agriculturalists an opportunity to strengthen their skills while introducing other students to animals, agriculture and possible career paths for the first time.

“I think this is a really cool experience for kids who don’t have agriculture in their lives,” one student said. “I think it will be very beneficial in the future.”

Another student is looking forward to learning “basic veterinary skills” and becoming familiar with different breeds of animals.

Whether students participate for one year or continue growing through the program, West Michigan FFA offers an opportunity to learn, lead and discover potential futures in agriculture—all through an active educational experience at Critter Barn.

Families can learn more about the program, available courses and how to participate on the West Michigan FFA webpage.