Santa Maria is located along the beautiful
central coast and is home to a vast array of
agriculture production including strawberries,
broccoli, beef cattle, wine grapes and a variety
of row-crops. Santa Maria High School (SMHS)
has a deep rooted history and a tradition of
success.
Beginning in 1931, the Santa Maria FFA
Chapter was originally a home for the “farm
boy” but today as the demographics and
community have changed, the program serves
students that are from urban non-farming
backgrounds. Although the community is a
large scale agriculture community, most of
the students in the program live within the city
limits and have limited firsthand agriculture
knowledge. While this poses some challenges
for the agriculture department, the traditions
of success and student achievement have not
changed or waivered over the 88-year history of
the program which includes winning the 2017
NAAE Western Region Secondary Program
of the Year. The traditions of the program are
evident as four of the eight teachers (Marc
DeBernardi, Clemente Ayon, Mark Powell and
Amanda Rodriguez) are graduates of the Santa
Maria FFA Program, and have chosen to teach
at SMHS and to give students the opportunities
they once had as Santa Maria FFA members.
Today Santa Maria FFA is the second largest
California FFANEWS • PAGE 4 • Spring 2019
chapter in California and the third largest in
the nation with 949 members. The success of
the students is a reflection of the passion and
dedication of all eight agriculture teachers within
the program. Their approach to Agriculture
Education has always been “hands-on” and
“learn by doing” in all three circles of the FFA.
There is a great deal of diversity within the
community and among the students of Santa
Maria FFA. In order to create a program that
is successful the department has worked hard
to develop a diverse program which allows
all students to have numerous opportunities
to become involved. One of the ways that
students become involved, includes being on
one of the 12 different CDE teams. On any
given afternoon during the spring you can walk
the halls of the agriculture department and find
over 75 students preparing and practicing
for the upcoming CDE contests. The members
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