Members of the Escalon FFA kicked off the 2025-26 school year with a successful event. The chapter hosted its annual Welcome Back Meeting on Aug. 27, where over 200 new and returning members participated in dodgeball games, enjoyed delicious pulled pork sandwiches, and met this year’s new officer team. The sizable turnout has the FFA team looking forward to a great year filled with many fun events and amazing classes, led by the chapter officers and EHS Ag teachers.

This year, Escalon FFA is proud to offer 11 incredible Ag classes, for both incoming freshman and returning members, encompassing a wide variety of fields including mechanics, floral design, agricultural sciences, leadership, food production, and animal science. The outstanding EHS Ag Program is made possible due to an excellent leadership team consisting of six FFA officers and four knowledgeable advisors to guide them. This year’s Escalon FFA Chapter President is Gracie Airola, a senior at Escalon and a four-year FFA member. Assisting her is Chapter Vice President, Matix Trimble, who is also a senior and a four-year FFA member. These two are both returning officers, having served the previous year as Chapter Sentinel and Treasurer, respectively. This year’s Chapter Secretary is Trenton Silva, who is a junior and a three-year FFA member. Serving as Chapter Treasurer is Brooklyn Dugo, who is also a junior and a three-year FFA member. The Chapter Reporter for this school year is Nathan Watson, a junior and a three-year member of the program. Finally, the 2025-26 Chapter Sentinel is Juan Navarro, who is also a junior and a three-year member.

Supporting these FFA officers are a group of advisors who guide the organization and bring their significant experience and perspective to assist the team. First is Gypsy Stark, who teaches the Floral Design and Animal Science classes as well as running the Ag Internship program at Escalon High. She also teaches the Ag Leadership class, where her experience as head of the department is essential to the program’s success. Next is Rachel Pimentel, who teaches the Food Science and Farm-To-Fork classes, as well as helping to run the various community service events and prepare the food for the FFA meetings and fundraisers. Last are the two newer additions to the Escalon FFA program: Mallory Brenner, who teaches the Welding and Ag Mechanics programs, and Jonathan Moules, who teaches the Ag Chemistry and Ag Biology classes. As new members of the advisory team, these two bring fresh perspectives and energy to the program. These exceptional teams, as well as many others, have been putting all their efforts into ensuring that this school year will be even better than the last. They are excited for members to participate in career and leadership development events, community service activities, supervised ag experiences and much more during the 2025-26 school year.

This article was contributed by the Escalon High School FFA.