Lewis County Herald - Serving Hohenwald, Lewis County Tennessee Since 1898

Tennessee’s FFA program is

among the top fi ve largest in the

nation and new state leaders are in

place at the Tennessee Department

of Agriculture (TDA) to ensure the

program remains strong.

“Youth agricultural education is a

priority for TDA,” Agriculture Commissioner

Charlie Hatcher, D.V.M.

said. “We are proud to be a part of

the early agricultural experiences

that FFA provides to help Tennessee

develop our future ag industry leaders

The FFA leadership team at TDA

is in place and already working with

students, teachers, and stakeholders

to bolster FFA programs.”

FFA is a youth organization

that develops personal growth and

leadership skills for its members

and prepares them for success in a

broad range of agricultural career

pathways. TDA’s State FFA leaders

focus on learning activities outside

the classroom including competitions

and events. The team also designs

and facilitates immersive Supervised

Agricultural Experience

programs.

The team includes FFA State Director

Ryan Inman, Middle Tennessee

FFA Regional Coordinators Terra

Davis and Summer Major, West

Tennessee FFA Regional Coordinator

Josh Eason, and East Tennessee

FFA Regional Coordinator Stena

Meadows.

Ryan Inman directs FFA programming

for 220 chapters representing

more than 30,000 members

statewide. Inman previously served

with the Tennessee Department of

Education as the Tennessee FFA

Executive Secretary where he implemented

statewide events such

as State Convention and Tennessee

State Fair competitions.

Prior to joining state service,

Inman was an agricultural teacher

and FFA Advisor for 11 years, serving

at South Gibson County High

School, Dyersburg High School, and

Henry County High School. Under

his leadership, the FFA chapters experienced

exponential growth and

his programs achieved numerous

national and state honors and recognitions

including fi ve National

Chapter Award Three Star Ratings

and three National Chapter Award

Two Star Ratings. In addition to outstanding

chapter and team awards,

many of Inman’s students were selected

as regional and state offi cers,

and even more earned profi ciency

honors and state degrees.

During his tenure as an educator,

Inman was honored with awards

from the National Association of

Agricultural Educators and the

Tennessee Association of Agricultural

Educators, awarded the West

Tennessee Outstanding Teacher

and twice recognized as Tennessee’s

Agricultural Education Outstanding

Teacher.

Middle Tennessee FFA Regional

Coordinator Terra Davis was an

agricultural educator and FFA Advisor

at Cumberland County High

School for nine years and before

that, she served as the 4-H Youth

Development Agent with the University

of Tennessee Extension in

Warren County.

Davis was named the 2020-2021

Outstanding Agricultural Teacher

by the Tennessee Association of Agricultural

Educators and awarded

the Region V Outstanding Early Career

Teacher in 2021 by the National

Association of Agricultural Educators.

She received the Tennessee

Young Farmers and Ranchers Outstanding

Young Woman award in

2021 from Tennessee Farm Bureau

Federation.

Summer Major is also a Middle

Tennessee FFA Regional Coordinator.

Major returned to her alma mater

Lebanon High School as an agricultural

educator and FFA Advisor

for 16 years. She was named the 2018

and 2021 Outstanding Agricultural

Teacher for Middle Tennessee by

the Tennessee Association of Agricultural

Educators Major is a member

of the Tennessee FFA Alumni

and Lebanon FFA Alumni as well as

a member of the Tennessee Association

of Agricultural Educators, National

Association of Agricultural

Educators, and served as secretary

and treasurer of Tennessee Holstein

Association.

Josh Eason is the West Tennessee

FFA Regional Coordinator. He

worked as an agricultural teacher

and FFA Advisor for nearly 16

years at Riverside High School in

Decatur County and for six years at

Scotts Hill High School in Henderson

County. He also coached FFA

member teams to compete at state

and national levels in leadership

development events and career development

events. For more than 10

years, Eason served the West Tennessee

FFA Region in various capacities.