Dear Parents....

An open letter to parents from an Ag Teacher during FFA Week...

Dear Parents,

First, I want to thank you for having children that in some way shape or form take agriculture classes. Without each kid in a seat on a daily basis, my job would seize to exist. Many times when people talk about FFA week, conferences, showing livestock, or all the other great reasons they loved being in FFA, they tend to forget that they had to take some initiative to sign up for a class on day 1. Some of my best kids, never travel on trips, but they show up every day and want to know more about agriculture and science and they indulge in my wild ideas and crazy labs.

Also, I want to thank you for allowing your kid to participate beyond the classroom. Without the out of classroom experiences, Ag Education and FFA would not have such a profound impact on student's lives. From leaving at 4am for a field day or indulging in my very specific uniform expectations, I appreciate that you help your child be their best. The time I spend in the car with your children is invaluable. I love every road trip and time for them to sing together or tell stories or spill their guts (I know too much, but it's always why I love them).

Many parents do not understand Ag education or FFA involvement until they have seen it first hand and endured the entire process from Greenhand Conference to their American Degree. Some parents try to remember what FFA was like when they were in high school, but it's changed so much even in the past 10 years. Taking parents to National Convention to watch their kids get an American Degree is like watching a 1st grader during the first week of school-- big eyes and amazement at what their kids have been doing the last 5 years.

I want to say thank you for allowing me to have expectations of your child, push your child, and help them do their best because they represent themselves and the chapter name on the back of their jacket. While I know that at times I seem rigid, please know that I treat your children as my own. I would give them the shirt off my back in a heartbeat because I care about their success and growth as people, and I see their potential to be good humans.

Parents, remember high school?  Remember, how it might not have been great... Remember, what made it great... Remember they are kids, they screw up, they have more attitude and sass than needed, but also remember, high school is hard, hormones are insane, friends occasionally suck, etc.-- they are already doing a better job of being better humans because they chose to be in an Ag class. Whether they participate in 1 FFA activity or 100, they did something, they are trying and they want to be good.

Thank you for your support, your appreciation, and free rein to help your kids be good people. FFA Week is always a good time to reflect on growth and appreciation of the FFA. Where the blue jacket took you for instance... I always take a little time to appreciate the shenanigans that I participated in while in FFA and Ag classes. Now as a teacher, it reminds me that "it's all gonna be alright".

Sincerely,
The Crazy Ag Teacher

Even with the bloopers... They turn out just fine!

Why can't they just be more like us??

This week I attended the Supervising Teacher Institute in Sacramento. We spent a significant portion of our time discussing how we can best support student teachers and new agriculture teachers. We also talked about our “AgEd family” often and the support that we provide each other to make sure that we are not just being successful as individuals but as an entire profession. On the second day we were fortunate to visit the State Capitol and meet with our assembly members and senators (or their staffers). Our first meeting was with Mike McGuire’s Senior Legislative Aide. She was great and one of the comments I made, was that “it’s so nice to not have to convince Mike about importance of agriculture education, because he is a product of it”. He gets it, he loves it, he rallies for it, because it is part of who he is. We then got a special extra meeting with James Gallagher (way to go Heidi!). I again thanked him for not having to convince him of the importance of agriculture education—he too is a product of the 3 ring model. James was great to talk with and he asked questions about CTE and how we can make sure we have a workforce ready to do the jobs that we as a state demand (specifically the rebuilding after the fires in multiple counties).

Meeting with James... Product of Mrs. Laurie Goss &  East Nicholas FFA

I started thinking on the way home from our conference. I have heard many times about how AgEd has the best model for education and how we will have over 100 student teachers coming out  in the next year. But why and how is AgEd continuing this uphill climb while other CTE programs seem to be in a constant state of simmer? The state is begging for more CTE and budgeting millions of dollars towards CTE, and then just hoping that program numbers will increase and the number of students produced will continue to climb. This is all happening without much thought to the infrastructure to how programs grow and become successful. It’s pretty simple—TEACHERS!

Non-Ag CTE teachers do not have the structure, support or lines of communication that agriculture teachers have. AgEd definitely has the FFAmily idea worked out and it’s part of the reason we are successful. We have meetings regularly and are updated on state funding and legislation. Other sectors don’t have that… Other sectors don’t produce kids that graduate high school passionately dreaming to teach that industry to others, like AgEd does.

How can we continue to promote all CTE industries if we don’t have the teachers in all those areas? Why don’t kids want to be construction teachers, culinary teachers, child development teachers, etc? There are 15 industry sectors provide CTE opportunities. But why have we as an AgEd profession not worked with them to make their structure and communication as good as ours? Why do they promote just their industry and not becoming a teacher of the industry???

Teachers are the backbone of agriculture education. When you look at programs throughout the state, teachers are the reason their program and students are successful. Other CTE sectors really need to model the teacher-educator programs we have to ensure the fate of CTE programs is a successful one. Kids leave agriculture programs and want to become agriculture teachers, that’s just not the same in other classes like culinary and construction. But we cannot continue to offer CTE programs in California without more teachers getting CTE credentials. CTE programs need to build the infrastructure to attract kids not just to the trade but also to the classroom. If you don’t have students that want to do what you do, unfortunately you might not be doing it right… 

Success breeds success...

Passion for a job breeds passion for a job... 

Continuing education breeds life long learners...