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“In the last three years it has been really good to feel the accomplishments that I have gained and getting to where I want to be,” said Cody Rowell, a 2019 graduate of Snowflake High School and recently appointed Vice President At Large with the Arizona State FFA.
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Born in Show Low and raised in Taylor, Rowell shared that when he started high school, life was not great. “My parents were going through a divorce. There was a lot of fighting and arguing between them; then my mom left, moving to Pima, and my dad remarried.”
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Shortly after the new marriage began, Rowell said both his stepmom, Lacy Rowell, and his dad, Trevor Rowell, began to push him to do more. “Lacy refilled the mother position in my life,” continued Rowell. “She helped me through a lot of hard times, giving me advice and bring horses and agriculture into my life.”
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While Rowell was not big into agriculture before high school, he was very familiar with the world of meat processing as his family is part of the Malapai Meat Packing heritage in Taylor.
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“I worked at Malapai throughout high school,” Rowell shared. “I had one of the most important positions which was the night clean up where everything had to be cleaned and sterilized for the next day from the counters and floors to the cutting blades and knives.”
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So, it was not too surprising when Rowell, along with his teammates, Josalynn McIntyre and Caleb Johnson took first place as a team, with Rowell taking first place as an individual in FFA Meat Evaluation at the Northern District Conference in February.
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In addition to the meat evaluation, Rowell also worked with Swine Production, learning not only how to successfully raise pigs but also how to be competitive in the world of marketing and selling.
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Rowell also gives a lot of credit to Snowflake High School agriculture teacher Heather Scott who took over the FFA program four years ago. “When Mrs. Scott took over the program, there was not a lot of interest in what FFA really meant,” Rowell shared. “Competitions were down and it was seen as a freebie class where no one was really expected to do anything.”
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Four years later under the guidance of Scott, the Snowflake chapter of the FFA has achieved bronze level at the national level. “It’s pretty amazing to go from no competitions and no wins, to being a bronze level chapter and a local chapter that is bringing home first places in a lot of areas,” remarked Rowell.
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Within that, Rowell is excited at how he will be able to help out the Snowflake FFA as well as others around the state this year in his role as vice president. “I hope to get an associate in science through Northland Pioneer College and then transfer to the University of Arizona to life sciences. From there I want to become an agriculture teacher.”
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After watching Scott, Rowell began to realize that agriculture teachers are not in abundance at the high school level and it is a field that desperately needs people with passion. He acknowledged that finding his passion in life is probably the greatest gift he has received from his time with FFA.
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“When I first started with FFA, I had no idea what I was passionate about, or what I wanted to do. I had always been choir before. This was a new step for me. Mrs. Scott and Jack Babb did a lot to help me find who I was. I want to do that for other kids as well.”
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In another bold step, Rowell submitted his application in February for the State FFA leadership. At the end of March, it was announced that he was among the 17 students chosen to attend the State Leadership Conference at the University of Arizona last June. During that time, he went through several rounds of interviews along with the other candidates before the final choices were made.
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“I felt I did best in the personal round, because it was where I had a chance to share my story as a high schooler; where I was in my personal life and how I used what I had learned from FFA to find a successful way through it,” said Rowell.
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At the conference Rowell was appointed as one of four Vice Presidents at Large, the first Snowflake High School student to hold that position in over 20 years, and he has literally been in training ever since that moment.
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“I am actually in the middle of training with the state right now. We will be going to Washington, D.C. later in July for the State Officers Summit. From there I will continue training and working to help facilitate and teach kids in their home chapters,” Rowell continued.
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The state FFA reimburses the state officers for their travel and pays for events, as the goal is to make this affordable for every kid who wants to pursue it.
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The three main areas that FFA works to promote the lives of each of their members is premier leadership, personal growth and career success.
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“We try to push our members forward and enable them to apply for higher positions because they have the knowledge, skills and passion for that job,” noted Rowell.
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With less people working in the farming industry and the average age of the farmer rising, Rowell feels that he can make an impact. “There is new technology and new ways of doing things, not just in farming, but in marketing and technology, which gives me a chance to have an impact on my generation.
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“FFA helped me through many times in my personal life during high school,” continued Rowell. “I remember the first time I got to give a speech, I was terrified; and now I have spoken in front of the whole state. FFA is not only educating students in agriculture, but in job skills and personal gains. It helped me find my passion and realize my true potential. Through that I have been able to help a lot of kids on a personal level.
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“At Snowflake FFA we see ourselves as a family,” concluded Rowell. “The most important things are to make sure there is unity and being able to know what everyone’s story is.”
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