October 20, 2025
By MEALAND RAGLAND-HUDGINS
Rutherford County Schools
Smyrna High School’s FFA chapter has been selected as Tennessee’s only representative for a new program to designed help schools see what agriculture education looks like across the country.
The inaugural FFA Chapter Connect pairs chapters with one from another region of the United States. Only 30 programs nationwide were chosen, “creating meaningful opportunities for cross-regional learning, collaboration, and connection,” FFA said in an announcement.
Smyrna was paired with Vinita High School in Oklahoma, which is located about 35 miles from the borders of Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas.
Smyrna High ag teacher Jake Duke said the two chapters have met virtually ahead of the 98th National FFA Convention & Expo, which takes place Oct. 28-Nov.1 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
“We’re not a huge chapter and have about 30 active members,” said Duke, one of FFA’s National Teacher Ambassadors for the 2025-2026 school year. “I wanted to show them there is more to FFA than just farming like competition and leadership.”
One of the most exciting parts of the pairing, Duke said, is to see the differences in the programs.
“They do mostly crop production and a lot of our students don’t,” he said, nodding to the school’s greenhouse and small animal care programs.
While at the conference, the Smyrna and Vinita chapters will compete with and against each other.