FFA week: Chavez, Wooten kiss a lamb for charity

For the second year in a row, Manteca High teacher Anna Wooten kissed a farm animal in the name of charity. Wooten was among the top fundraisers for the Delta Humane Society. (Photo contributed)

By JESUS SARMIENTO & DARIO RODRIGUEZ
The Tower

During lunchtime at Manteca High School, with students sitting in anticipation, a high school staff member sits at a table making eye contact with the farm animal she is about to kiss – a small, timid lamb named Sofia.

Manteca High vice principal Debi Chavez kisses Sofia, a lamb from the Manteca Unified School District farm, during FFA Week. (Tomasi Sovatabua/The Tower)

As she goes in for the kiss, she can hear the students beginning to yell all around her as she feels the soft and gentle lips of the lamb pressing against hers.

The high school staff member who kissed the lamb during the first lunch was Debi Chavez, the school’s newest vice principal in charge of discipline and passionate about creating student leaders. She won a schoolwide fundraiser for the Delta Humane Society as part of the school’s annual FFA Week and was one of two staff members picked to kiss a farm animal. The other was teacher Anna Wooten, another top fund-raiser, who kissed the lamb during second lunch.

Manteca High School’s FFA week is a celebratory event that benefits students interested in agriculture education. It aims to raise awareness of FFA programs, provide hands on learning experiences for students, and highlight the achievements of FFA members in the school in community.

In a recent interview with Wooten, she informed us of the importance of FFA and why she passionately participates in FFA week.

“We have an amazing Ag program at Manteca High and our students are really engaged because we have outstanding teachers who do amazing things here,” Wooten said. With this year’s “Kiss a Farm Animal” event, Wooten participated for the second time since last year. She loves and encourages supporting FFA and loving animals.

A message from Manteca High School’s FFA President, Madelaine Patterson: “FFA is a super important part of our community because it shows the students where the clothes on their back and the food on their tables come from. FFA is my family and I whole heartedly support them because they bring out the best in and others.”

If you have ever had the desire to support your community and bring out the best in yourself, join FFA.