LEXINGTON, Ky. – When Jonathan Pinkston began his Supervised Agriculture Experience (SAE) four years ago, it left his FFA advisers and others scratching their heads. Jonathan took on the arduous task of tool making.

Pinkston’s goal with his SAE was to forge steel into tools for other blacksmiths to use. Not your standard SAE task. He could have taken a much easier path to meet this FFA requirement. But then, Pinkston is not your ordinary student.

“I’m not from the farm. I was raised in a rural community,” Jonathan admitted. “My grandparents were farmers and teachers. Agriculture and education has always been the makeup of my life. My sophomore year I wanted an SAE that would someday be a part of my life and I always wanted to start a business.  My SAE idea was blacksmithing. I know it’s a bit odd, but I’ve been blessed with a lot of drive and determination.

“I wanted to design and create tools that I could use and I wanted to be able to market these tools, whether it’s tools for farriers, blacksmiths or simple cookware for cooks,” Jonathan said. “I realized early on that I had a passion for making tools for other blacksmiths and after taking a class in tool making I began marketing these tools for sale.”

During his senior year, Jonathan diversified his SAE into teaching classes. He designed a blacksmith curriculum and began teaching blacksmith tool-making to others in Kentucky and surrounding states. His experience with his SAE and his newly found business led him to the University of Kentucky, where he’ll major in Career and Technology Education. His long term goal is to become a high school agriculture educator.

A creative individual? You bet! Then it should come as no surprise that Pinkston’s drive and determination was noticed by others as he was elected Kentucky’s FFA President for 2021-2022.

“Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a very analytical person, so when it was announced that I was elected president there was a flood of emotion and a sense of honor about the coming responsibility,” said Pinkston, of the Bluegrass FFA Chapter in Mercer County.

It helped that his older brother and sister were in FFA. It also helped Jonathan that he has such an outgoing personality, one that is contagious. Jonathan says he owes his accomplishment to a speech class in FFA, one he took while in middle school.

“It was my first speech class, talking in front of a lot of people,” he said. “I will tell you it was probably the worst speech I ever gave and I was quite nervous, but it helped me get to where I am today.”

Jonathan was a junior officer team member his freshman year at Mercer County High. He became hooked on FFA after meeting many of the FFA state officers at that time. “I was blessed to have had interactions with state officers my entire FFA in high school,” he said. “I admired them and wanted to have that impact on people.”

It didn’t take Jonathan long to realize he wanted to serve others, lead others. Early on he always knew he wanted to be a state FFA officer of some kind, even president perhaps. Mission accomplished.

“This wasn’t just something that Jonathan Pinkston accomplished,” he said modestly. “Being elected FFA president is something my ag teachers, FFA advisors who invested time in me, as did my parents. I’m so blessed and thankful.”

Confident, no doubt. Nervous? Calm will take over in time. “There’s a little fear,” he admitted. “How do I lead a group of extremely qualified individuals who are ready to serve in a similar capacity?”

Pinkston is good at forging tools. In seemingly six short years Jonathan forged his own path towards the highest state rank FFA has to offer. “I’m just so blessed,” he said. “I am so dearly blessed.”