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Eastside, NCCA FFA programs recognized nationally as 3-Star Chapters
FFA Student Leaders
From left are Meredith McCorey, NCCA FFA Student Advisor and Tony Leonetti, Eastside FFA President, are members of their school’s nationally recognized 3-Star Chapter. (Special to The Covington News)
COVINGTON, Ga. — Both Eastside High School and Newton College & Career Academy’s (NCCA) FFA programs have each been named as a 3-Star Chapter by the National FFA Organization. This is the highest ranking an FFA chapter can receive in the Star program. The two FFA programs were recognized at the recent 2020 National FFA Convention and Expo. 
The FFA Star program recognizes outstanding FFA chapters from throughout the country that actively implement the mission and strategies of the organization. These chapters improve chapter operations using the National Quality FFA Chapter Standards and a Program of Activities that emphasizes growing leaders, building communities and strengthening agriculture. Chapters are rewarded for providing educational experiences for the entire membership. 
“Eastside Chapter Officers and Committee members worked hard to create 12 activities that 171 members had the opportunity to participate in,” said Eastside High School FFA Advisor, Dr. Catrina Pollard. “Activities range from the annual Dodgeball Tournament that raises over $500 for Relay for Life to the Real Life Luncheons where speakers teach a brief lesson over life skills. Eastside FFA has earned the 3-star ranking for the past five years.”
“We strive to create an agricultural education program where every student can find success,” noted Dr. Marcus Pollard, NCCA FFA Advisor. “Thankfully, we have had a lot of that lately. We are in a really awesome cycle where kids are seeing each other succeed and are becoming motivated to work hard for their own personal success.
“We simply could not create the program we have here in Newton County without the support from people and organizations like Farm Bureau, Arbor Equity, Oldcastle, and more. The list of supporters goes on and on, and we’re very fortunate and thankful for all of the support. We take the ‘NCSSBeTheBest’ to heart. Being named a 3-Star Chapter is quite literally saying we’re the best. There’s a lot of great things going on in Agricultural Education in Newton County.”
“It's an honor to be named a National Gold 3-Star chapter again this year,” said Cecily Gunter, NCCA FFA Advisor. “I believe that this recognition speaks volumes to the total program that we have to Newton College and Career Academy and to the hard work and dedication that our students put in. We have a great thing going on with NCCA FFA and I'm proud to play a small role in that success. 
The National FFA Organization provides leadership, personal growth and career success training through agricultural education to 649,355 student members who belong to one of 7,859 local FFA chapters throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The organization is also supported by 225,891 alumni members in 1,934 alumni chapters throughout the U.S.

“Our FFA chapters at Eastside and NCCA consistently perform at the top of the pack across Georgia and the nation, said Dr. Tim Schmitt, NCSS Director of CTAE and Workforce Innovation. “3-star chapter recognition reinforces the hard work and dedication our students, teachers, and community put into these programs. As the district's CTAE director, I'm grateful to be able to support these programs and look at them as examples for others to follow.”