Hometown: Granby, Mo.
Age: 18
Parents: John Skaggs and Courtney Farley
FFA Chapter: East Newton FFA
What is your involvement in FFA?
“I my freshman year, I really wasn’t into it. My sophomore year, I really got involved, working more in my SAE and really wanting to strive in it. I started working more at my mom’s kennel and showing more dogs. Now, I am president of my chapter and an Area 11 officer. I was really shy, and I didn’t have my friends. I was afraid to branch out and stayed to myself. Now, I can talk to anyone and am comfortable around new people.”
What is your SAE?
“I actually have three. For one, I work at a friend’s kennel where I groom their dogs. Then I have a kennel with my mom. I take care of the feeding, the watering and making sure the dogs are all well and groomed, and I take care of the nursing puppies. My third one is my own grooming business. The pet industry is a part of FFA, but it isn’t livestock. I take care of my animals like people do with their cows, pigs and horses, and then people show livestock.”
What other animal experience have you gained through FFA?
“I raised three pigs last year from our FFA program. We got them processed this summer; two people bought one and then we kept one for ourselves. We also have some cows, but the pigs were my project.”
What advice would you give to a young person considering FFA?
“Just do it. I wasn’t sure about FFA when I joined, because I thought you had to have livestock, but you don’t even have to have an SAE. You learn so much about leadership, how to be a leader or how to step back and talk to people, and you learn to help people grow. FFA can help you in your career path with those skills. FFA has been a life changer for me.”
