North Carolina Agricultural Education and the North Carolina FFA Association work hand in hand to provide the very best for the agriculture students and teachers of North Carolina. We also receive support from the NC FFA Foundation through sponsors and donors, and work with the NC FFA Alumni Association to provide support back to our local chapters.
Agricultural Education
Agricultural education prepares students for successful careers and a lifetime of informed choices in the global agriculture, food, fiber and natural resources systems. Through agricultural education, students are provided opportunities for leadership development, personal growth and career success. Agricultural education instruction is delivered through three major components:
- Classroom/Laboratory instruction (contextual learning)
- Supervised Agricultural Experience programs (work-based learning)
- Student leadership organizations (National FFA Organization)
FFA
FFA is a dynamic youth organization that changes lives and prepares members for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. FFA develops members’ potential and helps them discover their talent through hands-on experiences, which give members the tools to achieve real-world success. Members are future chemists, veterinarians, government officials, entrepreneurs, bankers, international business leaders, teachers and premier professionals in many career fields. FFA is an intracurricular student organization for those interested in agriculture and leadership. It is one of the three components of agricultural education.
The official name of the organization is the National FFA Organization. The letters “FFA” stand for Future Farmers of America. These letters are a part of our history and our heritage that will never change.
FFA is structured on three levels:
Local FFA Chapters
The heart of the National FFA Organization is at the local chapter level. FFA chapter may be chartered in any public school with an agricultural education program. Leadership is provided by student officers who are elected each year by the chapter’s members, and by the agriculture teacher who serves as the advisor for the chapter.
State FFA Associations
FFA is an organization made up of state associations; those state associations are made up of local chapters. State FFA Associations function within the constitution of the National FFA Organization but may also create individual leadership structures, awards, programs and competitions. State FFA officers lead the membership of the state associations and are elected by state FFA convention delegates. Local FFA chapters are chartered through the state associations.
National FFA Organization
At the national level, FFA is led by a board of directors and six student national officers. Together they act on recommendations from the national convention delegates and agricultural education’s stakeholders to set the vision and policy for FFA. The founding principles, authority, objectives and procedures of the National FFA Organization are established by the National FFA Constitution and Bylaws. The National FFA Organization is a federally-chartered organization.