By Tom Rohrer
Three years ago, AnnaLisa Moore was a completely different person.
She had yet to find her outgoing nature, a passion for FFA and livestock or the drive to promote and improve the Rainier community.
Now, Moore is entering the summer before her senior year at Rainier High School coupled with accomplishments and awards from an eventful past.
“The changes I’ve seen in her are pretty remarkable,” said Moore’s mother, Kathy. “She’s a little more driven, focused and just has this enthusiasm that’s contagious.”
Moore’s biggest and recent accomplishment came in May, when she tied for first place in the FFA Hunger Heroes Challenge video contest.
Participants were required to submit a two-minute slide show video highlighting how their community and the local FFA chapter were working to combat hunger in the area. Moore’s first place finish among contestants across the country earned the Rainier FFA $500. (You can find her video here.)
“I was extremely surprised and didn’t think much of it going into the whole process,” said Moore. “Honestly, I still can’t believe I won.”
Moore, the secretary for the Rainier FFA, was initially hesitant to produce and submit a video. After encouragement from Rainier’s Ag teacher, Angie Karnes, Moore got to work.
“I spent about two weeks on it. I had to go through FFA and get photos of each event and the Rainier Community Garden,” said Moore. “I had to find a site that I could make a video on and eventually did. Then I uploaded each photo and typed a description for every shot.”
Moore’s entry focused on the Rainier Community Garden, which was created by environmental science and agriculture students in 2011 in an effort to fight local hunger and increase awareness on community and personal gardening. According to Karnes and Moore’s video, the community garden generated 3,000 pounds of food. 2,500 pounds went to the local food bank while the remaining 500 pounds went to families and individuals involved with the garden.
Also mentioned in Moore’s presentation was the FFA’s partnership with local groups such as the Lion’s Club. Through events such as Caroling for Cans in December and Trick or Eat, the FFA and Lion’s Club generate as much as 2,500 pounds in a single night.
Throughout the year, the FAA holds workshops involving the garden, both in the classroom and outdoors. Such workshops focus on canning, making raised soil beds and nutritional information.
In their involvement with the community garden, both Moore and Karnes have seen an impact at a local level.
“You see people wanting to garden at home, wanting to do stuff themselves,” said Karnes, who noted the FFA and the community garden run about four or five workshops a year. “It’s expanding, and I think it says a lot about the community that people are focusing on their impact.”
“It’s cool to see people working together and working for a good cause,” said Moore, who plans on running for a officer position within the Washington State FFA. “You feel some pride and being involved with it, you feel like you have made a difference.”
Despite her major involvement with the community garden, Moore’s main passion focuses on cows and livestock.
Moore obtained her first cow only a few years ago and now holds six alone on her family’s property. Throughout the year, Moore shows the cows at events such as the upcoming Thurston County Fair and spends about four hours per day with her animals.
“She skips dinner to be with her cows,” said Kathy Moore. “She’s always talking about them, and you can tell she’s always thinking about them. I don’t know where she gets the time.”
“She was terrified of her first cow, absolutely terrified,” said Karnes. “Now, when someone else needs help, it’s her offering advice and help.”
In her few years of bovine care, Moore has birthed a cow in a snow storm and been kicked, licked and bumped more times then she can count.
“There’s always something crazy going on,” she said. “You just have to react and roll with the punches.”
Since her passion lies with showing cattle, Moore suggested the Rainier FFA spend the prize money from her video on a cattle blower. The machine is used to groom and clean the animals prior to a presentation.
“Let’s just say we need it,” she said with a laugh. “I’m really looking forward to using it.”
Forward is the direction AnnaLisa Moore continues walking towards. Prior to her involvement with FFA, Moore dreamt of becoming a hairdresser and owning a salon liker her mother (who owns and operates Tangles in Tumwater). While she may end up following her mother’s footsteps, there are other possibilities as well.
“I’ve been thinking of becoming an agriculture teacher, but I’m not 100 percent sure where to start,” said Moore. “I know I would like to live in Eastern Washington on those big rolling hills and get into beef production.”
For now, Moore will focus on helping her younger sister Laura-Lee, an incoming freshmen at Rainier, adjust to high school and continue mentoring younger FFA members.
“That’s part of the fun, seeing where I once was and helping them improve and branch out,” she said. “It’s nice to have the confidence and knowledge to lead.”
Karnes knows she is blessed to have a student like Moore by her side. “She’s the prime example of what you can become if you just trust yourself and work hard,” Karnes said. “I’m thankful every day for knowing her and having her in my life.”
