By DAVID HAZLEDINE
InkFreeNews

Lucas Parson

AKRON — Tippecanoe Valley High School FFA President Lucas Parson will soon be graduating; however, like many other FFA members, he will enter college — and then the “real world” — with a set of skills and experiences that increase his chances of future success.

Lucas is the son of Ryan and Angie Parson, and he grew up in Akron where the family raises beef cows. “Dad was in FFA and he encouraged me to join,” Lucas recalled.

Right away, Parson enjoyed success as a member of the forestry team. “We won state three times in a row.” The team also competed in the national contest at the end of his sophomore year. Unfortunately, due to COVID, the competition took place online.

In forestry, Parson learned how to identify trees in several ways, including through the leaves, seeds and cuts of wood. He is particularly fond of black walnut as there are “quite a few” growing at his home and because it is a “sought after wood,” especially by furniture makers.

Parson credited advisor and agriculture teacher Mike Jones with much of the team’s success. “Jones knows what he is talking about.” Parson is also a member of the poultry and dairy judging teams.

He decided to run for FFA president after seeing the posted sign-up sheets. “I figured, ‘why not?’” He modestly described his presidential responsibilities as “overseeing meetings” and “doing a little talking at banquets.” However, even these tasks are invaluable in developing leadership skills, particularly when added to activities like the district leadership competition demonstrations, which Parson was preparing for at the time of this writing.

Maintaining a regular schedule, leading meetings, public speaking — through these and other activities, FFA gives members the “ability to do it now, to practice for the real world. … It teaches kids responsibility,” said Parsons. He added that FFA can also provide a supportive “home away from home,” and can be beneficial for kids who may not have stable family situations.

For his supervised agricultural experience, Parson has been working in a family construction business. He has picked up additional skills as a mechanic from his father who works on semis. He is also looking forward to driving his tractor to school during FFA week.

In addition to FFA, Parson is a 10-year 4-H member and has shown beef cows and pigs. One 4-H highlight was winning a showmanship award at the Fulton County Fair for showing pigs. A showmanship award reflects skill, not only in the interactions with the animal, but with the judges as well, and requires situational awareness about several things at once, such as making sure you don’t get between the animal and the judges.

Speaking of situational awareness, Parson was also a starting center on the Valley football team and won the Three River Conference championship two years in a row.

To call Parson “well-rounded” would be an understatement.