Newsroom

For the kids, it’s about more than just showing animals. If you were to ask high school teacher Justin Gillespie, he’d tell you that the point of agricultural education is to help students with their growth personally, professionally and as leaders.

“You know with agriculture—a lot of people when you say that word think you have to wear overalls and drive tractors everywhere you go,” Gillespie explained. He hopes that he can help dispel that myth. With agriculture being North Carolina’s number one industry, he wants more people to realize that there’s a lot more to it than just production farming.

At North Buncombe County High School, he’s been educating students in agriculture and helping to prepare them for the future for years. As part of the agriculture curriculum, FFA students at the high school help raise and prepare animals for livestock shows across the state. For many students, the State Fair livestock shows are their goal show each year.