APPOMATTOX COUNTY, Va. – At Appomattox County High, you would be lucky to actually catch Cassie Long and her students in a traditional classroom. WSLS News and Blue Eagle Credit Union did just that recently, to honor her as the August recipient of the Education Impact Award.
“I really enjoyed just working with the students, regardless of whether it’s in class or with the FFA chapter. I was a member of FFA (Future Farmers of America) when I was in middle school in high school, and I just wanna help my students be able to get some of those opportunities and experiences that I got.”
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Long is in her 7th year as an agricultural educator and her 6th at the home of the Raiders. She specializes in horticulture and helps maintain an ‘on-campus’ greenhouse.
The schools ‘Greenhouse Production’ and ‘Floral Design’ classes help provide the basics for a working agriculture business model that produces flowers for a floral arrangement of the month program.
“I tell them (students) that I know not everybody in this room is going to have a career in agriculture, but my goal as an educator is to make you aware of agriculture and what it provides,” Cassie explained.
“We want to invest just as heavily into our CTE program because we have lots of kids that are not going to go on to four-year universities,” said Appomattox County High School principal Luke Cunningham. “We want to also prepare them to have a skill set to step right out into the workforce with credentials and the skills that will make them hireable.”
As an FFA advisor dedicated to all phases of agriculture education, Long’s efforts to teach total student development—and not just subject learning—are the key to future success.
“She’s teaching them soft skills, interviewing skills, public speaking skills, leadership skills, things that are gonna be success-oriented for them for life,” Blue Eagle Credit Union Marketing Director Laurissa Thompson said.
Both Long and Appomattox County High School received $250 each for the honor.
The FFA Alumni in Appomattox County maintains a land laboratory. It’s a working farm complete with sheep and goats that gives students yet another real-life classroom to get hands-on skills for a potential agriculture career.