05/27/2026
I posted this on my personal page; as I connect on a transfer flight to come back to 🇺🇸.
This needs attention. Fun little fact: WE, the Keeners do not use FFA {homeschool problems} but we see the importance and necessity it is for our community.
Take a read. Then take a stand. If you are in Alabama; more so these location:
-House District 11 or 12
-State Senate District 4
-Cullman City School District
-Cullman County School System
GET ON THE PHONE. Send an email. It’s your future too.
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This is incredibly disappointing and heartbreaking for Cullman County.
If the reports are true, losing FFA would be one of the most damaging decisions made for our agricultural community in decades.
First, let’s talk about the people. Educators like Ms. Romana are not easily replaced. They pour countless hours into developing young people, teaching responsibility, leadership, work ethic, and skills that last a lifetime.
But this issue is much bigger than one teacher or one program.
FFA isn’t just about livestock shows and blue jackets.
FFA teaches public speaking, leadership, business management, entrepreneurship, financial responsibility, teamwork, problem-solving, and career readiness. It develops future farmers, veterinarians, welders, mechanics, agribusiness owners, educators, and community leaders.
For those of us in the agricultural community, the ripple effects would be enormous:
• The Cullman County Fair would likely lose many of the livestock exhibitions and youth competitions that have been a tradition for generations.
• Fewer young people will be exposed to agriculture as a career path, at a time when the average American farmer is approaching retirement age.
• The connection between our children and the source of their food becomes even weaker.
• Local farms and agricultural businesses will lose one of their primary pipelines for developing future employees, producers, and business owners.
• Students who may never attend college lose access to valuable hands-on skills and career opportunities.
• Our communities lose one of the strongest youth leadership organizations in America.
• Alabama loses another piece of its agricultural heritage.
Agriculture is not a thing of the past. It is the reason we eat. It is national security. It is economic security. It is community security.
Every day, we hear concerns about food prices, supply chains, workforce shortages, and the loss of rural communities. Eliminating programs that prepare the next generation to solve those problems makes absolutely no sense.
Alabama’s roots were built in agriculture. Cullman County’s roots were built in agriculture.
If we continue removing opportunities for young people to learn where food comes from, how businesses are built, and what it means to serve their communities, we shouldn’t be surprised when those traditions disappear.
The question isn’t whether we can afford FFA.
The question is whether we can afford to lose it. Because it is the FUTURE OF OUR FARMERS
Cullman students and parents are fighting to save the school’s FFA program after beloved advisor Ramona Weeks was not renewed.
