Longtime Hopkins FFA chapter advisor and agriscience teacher Jessica Couch was awarded. An Honorary American Degree Friday at the National FFA convention in Indianapolis.
The honoree joked on Facebook, “My 30 seconds of fame. It truly is an honor to be recognized by the National FFA Organization today! Thank you Michigan FFA for the nomination! I guess we are doing something right in our small town.”
Couch also is president of the Michigan Agriscience Teachers Association. She said she learned last month she would receive the award.
Couch told WOOD-TV Channel 8, “FFA is a leadership organization that is based on the principles of agriculture, but it’s more than that… “It’s about teaching students leadership skills and career skills they’re going to use in their life, no matter what they do.”
Though she encourages students to continue in the agriculture industry, she said she understands they have other interests and career plans.
Couch insists FFA is not just a club, it’s part of the agriscience program. Though Hopkins is a smaller, more rural community, FFA exists in some of the biggest cities.
She said, “It’s more about learning those career skills and building those leadership skills that are going to benefit them in the future and, at the same time, learning about where food comes from and hopefully teaching others about where their food comes from,” she said.
Couch’s students now are involved a chicken-raising project, in which they document how much feed each chicken eats daily and how they are growing.
For example, student Emma Langlois, secretary of the local chapter, said she doesn’t plan to go into agriculture, but is looking at a career in the medical field and her FFA experience still benefits her in many ways.
“Mrs. Couch is always super busy and involved in everything. Her helping us learn about agriculture is so important in our society today, helping kids get hands-on knowledge,” Langlois told WOOD-TV.
“I think it’s a huge honor to have our local program, Hopkins, being such a small school, recognized at a big level,” Couch said. “Our students are pretty competitive at the state and the national level. We are continuously ranked amongst the top chapters in the state of Michigan when it comes to our program activities through the National Chapter Award program, so it shows we are very involved in our community and doing the right things to develop our students.”
Couch and her husband, Jon, have been married for 21 years and they have a daughter, Bailey, and sons Dylan and Logan.
