Mia Kloewer of the Atlantic FFA Chapter is the first-place winner in the area of Specialty Animal Production, sponsored through the Iowa FFA Foundation Gold Standard Partners. Kloewer worked in the school’s greenhouse caring for the fish and plants.
Upon graduation, Mia would like to open her own greenhouse. Mia began her Supervised Agricultural Experience project while participating in Horticulture at AHS. “During a class field trip, my interest peaked in plant science and greenhouses because once I walked into the greenhouse that we went to I knew that is what I wanted to do with my life outside high school,” said Kloewer. As part of Mia’s SAE program, she began her project in the horticulture class and one of her responsibilities was to take care of the fish in the high school greenhouse. As the semester ended, Mia also took responsibility for taking care of the fish on weekends. That duty transitioned to being part of the team of students who took care of the fish during the summer.
Mia’s responsibility in the greenhouse increased as the summer continued. She began with just feeding the fish to learning how to clean the tank and filters. While Mia was taking care of the fish, she also helped water the plants in the greenhouse. Mia said, “I always knew I wanted a career in Agriculture, taking care of fish has helped me explore this career choice because ever since I took horticulture class. This experience has taught me that I wanted to be more involved in the plants and agronomy side of things and less involved in the livestock side of things.”
100 percent of Atlantic FFA members have proficiencies as part of the agricultural program and the FFA. These proficiencies range in the areas of Agricultural Communications to Service Learning and from Diversified Agricultural Production to Swine Production. Proficiency Award winners have excelled in their Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) Programs. These awards encourage members to develop specialized skills that will apply to a future career. State winners will advance to the National FFA competition where they will compete against winners from other State FFA Associations. The four national finalists who are selected from each area will be recognized at the National FFA Convention and Expo in October.
*This story was edited for clarity.
