The Wellsville-Middletown FFA chapter will get new advisers for the 2024-25 school year.

Both come from different states. One is from down the road in Bowling Green, while the other is 300 miles away in Arkansas.

Courtney Bradley and Larissa Gamm will replace Emily Holbert and Audrey McDowell as W-M’s new advisers. Bradley taught agriculture classes at the Bentonville (Ark.) School District for five years, while Gamm will be teaching for the first time. Bradley and Gamm were introduced during the W-M FFA banquet on May 3 at the school’s gymnasium.

“I actually know an older man who runs our fundraising in Arkansas,” Bradley said. “He gave me a phone call and let me know about the job for Wellsville, which I thought was the perfect opportunity since I’m getting married and he lives in Middletown. It just worked out. It was definitely a blessing and an answer to our prayers.”

“I was applying at different places around Missouri and I noticed that Wellsville opened up,” Gamm said. “It’s a community I’ve been through a lot for sports and other events. I thought it would be a great community to come teach.”

Bradley graduated from Bentonville High School in 2015. She attended Northwest Arkansas Community College and the University of Arkansas before starting her agriculture education career.

Bradley said she is excited to teach agriculture classes and co-lead the W-M FFA program next year.

“I’m extremely excited,” Bradley said. “I think it needs some fresh change and I’ll get to experience a smaller school for sure. I come from a school with 3,000-4,000 kids, so this is going to be nice having something a little bit smaller.”

Bradley has been heavily involved in FFA since she was in high school, when she served in the Bentonville High School FFA chapter for three years.

“I wanted to become an ag teacher because of my ag teachers and how much (ag) grew me,” Bradley said. “I pursued ag education in college and taught science for one year and then I moved to my alma mater and I taught there for four years. I got involved to try to build up the chapter. The ag department kind of depleted a little bit since I left. From the moment I started, we had 25 members. This year, we had our banquet on May 2 and we celebrated about 85 members and all of their achievements.”

Bradley plans to get married on June 15. Her new last name will be Ankrom.

Gamm graduated from Bowling Green High School in 2020 and from Northwest Missouri State University this year. She said she is looking forward to going to work at W-M this fall.

“I’m very impressed,” Gamm said. “I’m very excited to work with these kids. It’s going to be a great opportunity.”

Holbert will teach ag at the Warren County R-III School District next fall. She was W-M adviser for three years. She graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in May 2021 before being hired at W-M.

“Three years ago, the school community gave me a chance and trusted me as a first-year teacher to not only educate the students, but also spend countless hours with them at ag contests, banquets and trips,” said Holbert, a 2017 Clopton High School graduate. “I’m generally grateful to everyone who has supported me throughout this.”

McDowell, a 2022 Mizzou graduate, worked as ag teacher and co-advisor at W-M for two years. She plans to be a stay-at-home mom.

“I grew up with a dad who is an ag teacher,” McDowell said. “So one time as he was switching jobs, he told us that some schools will feel like slices of pie and some will feel like scoops of ice cream. But when you’re at the right school, it’s going to feel like that slice of pie with ice cream on top. The day I interviewed for the Wellsville position, I really knew that they were my slice of pie with ice cream on top.”