Clay County High School FFA students Allie Reagan and Jackson Randolph are state champions in the FFA’s Bullpen Innovation Contest.
Clay County High School Agriculture Teacher James Matthew Craighead said the competition functions as a “Shark Tank” for agriculture students. The event requires participants to develop a product or a theoretical concept to pitch to a panel of judges.
“So they pitched a few products, and they ended up settling on a robot that monitors cattle herds, and it has artificial intelligence integrated in it, and it can tell a lot of health parameters and do some predator control, things like that,” Craighead said. “They sat down and put together a presentation, they ironed out some details on how that their robot would theoretically work, and pitched it to a few of the other teachers here at school that we have.”
Craighead said the students conducted market research on existing products to refine their design. The team also collaborated with the school vice principal to narrate a commercial for the product, which used artificial intelligence to demonstrate how the robot would function.
“While these two students was not traditional agricultural students, i.e. they don’t come from a farm, they’re interested in the field of agriculture, and through this business and product design side they found a spot where that they could fit in and find success,” Craighead said. “And I truly think that it’s gonna have an influence on their future careers.”
Craighead said the agriculture industry is one of the largest employers in Tennessee and includes marketing, product supplies, and business support systems. He said the school aims to provide students with a “leg up” by connecting them to the industry in realistic ways.
“You know, these students got the opportunity to show some creativity, come up with an idea on their own, and they’ve ended up winning state and got success from an idea that was theirs,” Craighead said. “You know, they had true ownership in this whole process, and it led to a reward and an outcome, so that’s just gonna solidify that these ideas that these students have are worthy of recognition and have merit.”
Craighead said the Clay County FFA program currently has 160 members, representing more than half of the school’s total enrollment. He said 100 percent of the students in the school will have completed at least one agriculture education class as of this year.
“I mean, you build a strong chapter and people start to associate that being a member in the Clay County FFA chapter has value,” Craighead said. “And this value comes from the members, so obviously if you’re a member in the chapter, you’re bringing leadership skills, you’re getting a good education, and you’re getting opportunities.”
Craighead said the school also received a Superior Chapter award and saw its food science technology team finish as the state runner-up. He said that team consisted of four seniors who had competed in the contest for three consecutive years.
“And this year they had the opportunity to get on stage and even though they didn’t win state, they was state runners-up and got to stand on that stage after three years of hard work, which kind of solidifies that, you know, this is an organization where if you put the work and the effort in, you’re gonna find that reward,” Craighead said.