St. Amant High School students who volunteered for the annual FFA Farmers Market and Plant Sale on March 29 learned valuable communication and entrepreneurial skills.
St. Amant High School Beta Club members Addison Lavigne, left, and Sarah Simon, both sophomores, volunteered to help at the school’s annual FFA Farmers Market and Plant Sale Saturday, March 29.
Rainy spring weather did not keep garden enthusiasts from purchasing plants and woodwork projects grown and created by the St. Amant High School chapter of the National FFA Organization.
The sale offered shoppers small and large carpentry projects built by carpentry students, including benches, outdoor furniture, small side tables and planters.
The popular student-organized event serves multiple purposes for both students and the community, said Mandy Savoy DeLaune, agriscience teacher and FFA adviser.
“Students get the full experience of choosing a project, developing a list of materials, determining cost and price, choosing a finish and applying and even creating the price tags,” DeLaune said. “They also learn to develop advertising materials to promote their product.
“This happens after they have mastered the skills of building, which they have exhibited through many other hands-on projects before their farmers market projects."
One-year-old Ivy Mullins, of Sorrento, pets a duckling with her grandmother Brandy Mullins during the St. Amant High School FFA Farmers Market and Plant Sale
The foundation of the farmers market and plant sale is set at the school.
“Our greenhouse and carpentry projects we sell at our farmers market every year are a part of our school-based enterprise,” Delaune said. “The students not only gain the skills and knowledge that goes with growing and building everything, but they also gain the knowledge of applying business principles and customer service skills to the entire event.”
While most of the event involved the FFA, other clubs and classes volunteered to help.
“The plant sale is a great community outreach opportunity for all students,” said senior Madelyn Long, a member of the Environmental Science club. “We use skills we have learned in class for communicating with the public.”
Agriscience students have various roles in this process.
“While the plants and projects are the most visible, all of our agriscience students contribute in some manner,” DeLaune said. “Our Agriculture 1 and Agriculture 2 students plant all the plants in February. Our Agriculture 2 students tend to their care and upkeep.
“They also develop signs about each plant that includes growing conditions for each plant to help our customers decide on the plant that best suits their need. They price and label and get the greenhouse retail ready for customers.”
Agriculture students learned about incubation and hatching of chicken eggs and made jelly and salsa to sale at the market.
The event also included an educational tent, petting zoo, games and picture backdrops all managed by the school’s FFA officer team.
“We found that the addition of other activities makes the market more of a family event, and that’s the atmosphere our FFA officers were aiming for,” DeLaune said.
The positive effects of the plant sale has on the community are not lost on the students.
“The plant sale gives students a chance to see all of the opportunities that we can help for the good of our community and school,” sophomore Beta Club member Addison Lavigne said.
DeLaune said the plant sale gives the students a purpose.
“Our students learn so much from this event but the thing I enjoy the most is watching the students develop a sense of pride and belonging,” DeLaune said. “It also never hurts to instill a sense of volunteerism and service in our young adults, and this activity allows us to do that as an extension of our classroom.”
For information about the St. Amant High School’s chapter of the National FFA Organization, visit .