Lockwood Lions Leaving a Legacy in Agriculture

Lockwood High School has created its legacy in agriculture by having Agriculture Education courses for students to take each semester and starting an FFA chapter. Because Billings is the best city in Montana, it is crucial for agriculture and FFA to be present in schools. As the largest city in Montana, Billings is a major hub for our state's agriculture industry. It is vital that our students are exposed to ag through programs such as FFA and agriculture education curriculum. With the help of the Lockwood school board, administration, and community members, Lockwood FFA has already been to two major events in the area this year.

In September, Lockwood FFA traveled to Shepherd for the Southeastern District Leadership School run by the Montana State FFA Officers. Advisor, Lindsey Harper, took 37 students from Lockwood to learn about the FFA Organization opportunities and begin developing their leadership skills.

Lockwood FFA represented the community and school at the NILE livestock judging and ag sales event on Tuesday, October 19th. They competed against 123 other individuals, and two of Lockwood’s FFA Sales team individuals were in the top half of the competition. Clayton McElvain, McKenzie Colpitts, Norman Banderob, and Luke Ulrickson practiced for this contest on a “help friday” for this Career Development Event contest. They enjoyed the product they had to sell, John Deere Gators, and they had fun. At NILE the Ag Sales product was John Deere Gators, and the Lockwood FFA Sales Team will also compete at John Deere Dealers Ag Expo in Bozeman, November 11-13.

Held at the Billings Metra each year, the NILE is a significant event for the agriculture industry. Livestock judging is a large contest for local FFA chapters and 4-H groups across the state, so much so that four hundred and seventeen individuals judged high-quality livestock. Lockwood FFA was one of the teams to compete against 189 other FFA varsity livestock students. “What a sight it was to see a Lockwood FFA jacket in the crowd of all those NILE judgers.” Ms. Harper brags. The Lockwood FFA livestock judging team, Molly Alexander, Audrheanna Williams, Alex Luhman, and Austen Vermillion, are young but enthusiastic about learning and practicing.

Not only is Lockwood FFA competing in contests, but they have a nine-person chapter officer team for their chapter. The team Officer candidates had to fill out applications and attend a mini officer retreat to plan goals, budget, and events for the year. The number one goal of the chapter is to become a chartered chapter at the 2022 Montana State FFA Convention in Bozeman. To be a chartered chapter, Lockwood has to have an officer team, a program of activities, monthly meetings with minutes, and a roster of members. The Lockwood FFA chapter wants to travel to conferences and Career Development Events contests, but entry fees, travel, hotels, and FFA jackets cost money. To create and maintain a club activity fund, the FFA members at Lockwood have been working concessions and selling LHS shirts at sporting events. Concessions and LHS shirts are two ways clubs at Lockwood can raise money, and the profits are split between clubs.

Lockwood FFA is making history and learning about agriculture for our changing world. To help support these students, please feel free to contact Lindsey Harper at 406-839-2177 or harperl@lockwoodschool.org. The first FFA Alumni meeting will be Thursday, Nov 18, 2021, in the Don Reed CTE building at 7 pm. This is an excellent opportunity to make sure agriculture stays a part of the school. There will also be volunteering options, including the opportunity to help coach an FFA CDE team.