“I showed with my friend Lily, so I named my cow after Lily.”
Seven-year-old Kinslee Boerner will spend her summer differently than many kids her age. The second-grader will show her heifer “Lily” in competitions across the state. Despite her youth, Kinslee is not at all new to the agricultural game. She has been showing animals since she was four. And this month, Kinslee begins showing with Boerne’s chapter of 4-H.
For the unfamiliar, 4-H is a nationwide organization that lets kids aged eight to 18 learn and develop skills in various arenas—sewing, food and nutrition, agriculture, and more. For Kinslee, that means opportunities to show Lily and connect with other Boerne kids. “It’s a way to get the kids out of their shells and mingle with kids they don’t go to school with,” says Kinslee’s mom, Ashlee.
It’s not Ashlee’s first rodeo either—she showed pigs for ten years, so she knows how good the activity can be. She’s loved watching Kinslee learn independence and responsibility from caring for Lily. Ashlee says her daughter is responsible for the complete care of her cow and is learning everything about how to care for her animals. “To us, you can tell when a kid has been involved in some kind of ag program,” Ashlee says. “Just kids being involved in that makes them a completely different person.”
One thing Ashlee likes most about Boerne 4-H is the tight-knit community. “Boerne is still small enough where everyone knows someone,” says Ashlee. “You become a family with those people.” When Kinslee is older, she will be able to enter more events, traveling and competing all around Texas. But for right now, Kinslee says her favorite part is “that I get to spend time with my cow.”
Meanwhile, Kathleen Young is a one-stop for all things Boerne FFA-related. This is good because she teaches agricultural science and mechanics at Boerne High School, is the Boerne ISD Barn Manager, and serves as an FFA advisor. If you’re under the impression that FFA only means livestock showing, Young quickly educates you that there’s so much more to get involved with under the FFA umbrella.
“A lot of people are still under the impression that it stands for ‘Future Farmers of America,’” jokes Young. Nowadays, the official name is the “National FFA Organization,” which provides agricultural education and extracurriculars to middle and high school students. Young explains FFA as a “third circle,” meaning it takes what students learn in the classroom and the lab and provides opportunities to apply it in real-world scenarios. “We take these lessons, and they all roll into what we do as an FFA Chapter,” she says.
If you or your student is in any agricultural class at Boerne High School, you’re automatically enrolled in Boerne FFA—meaning you have access to the numerous competitions and events FFA offers. While students can participate in showing all kinds of livestock, they can also grow in agricultural mechanics competitions (one of Young’s specialties, which includes welding), leadership development events, agriscience fairs, and much more. “We spend numerous hours on the road with these students,” says Young. “We’re really honing in their skills.”
“In FFA, these kids find themselves,” says Young. She gets excited at the numerous opportunities students can earn from their achievements in FFA. “They get scholarships from this. It prepares them for a career in agriculture if that’s something they’re interested in.” In addition to preparing students for the future, Young revels in the Boerne FFA family spirit and the strong bonds students and mentors form. “We’re always there for them,” she says. “We are 100%, wholeheartedly, in this job for the kids.”
4-H kendall.agrilife.org/4-h | 830-249-9343
Boerne FFA boerneffa.ffanow.org, boernechampion.ffanow.org
“You can tell when a kid has been involved in some kind of ag program… [it] makes them a completely different person.” —Ashlee Boerner