If only everyone understood Ag kids...

When a kid returns from missing a ton of school, what is your least favorite question?
The question that "grinds my gears" is, what did I miss? or did I miss anything?

Next week, I am taking 11 students to National FFA Convention. Naturally, to help them prepare with being gone we discussed informing teachers of the absence 3 weeks prior, and then each student provided a form for teachers, last week, to assign them work while they are gone. This is so kids can make sure they do the work, and not fall behind in classes upon returning. Simple right?

Apparently not! This year I have had more issues with teachers complaining about the missed school than ever before. I am having a really hard time understanding this? Why does a teacher think they get to de-grade (yes it happened) a student or program for taking an education field trip, just because they miss their class? How is this okay?

While I feel like I my kids are amazing, I am not naive to the fact that they are kids. I know that kid's aren't perfect, but FFA kids are some of the best you can have. They work hard in and out of class-- And the ones that don't, don't go on trips.

National Convention and even State Convention, provide students with invaluable experiences that will carry them beyond the classroom. From www.ffa.org, "In October nearly 63,000 FFA members and guests from across the country participate in general sessions, competitive events, educational tours, leadership workshops, an expo and shopping mall, volunteer activities and more. It is one of the largest annual student conventions in the world."

How can a general education teacher argue with that? How can they think that 4 1/2 hours of class is more important that gaining experiences at the largest student convention in the world?! I hate to burst their bubbles but it isn't. Class is important (I am a teacher), but so are all the skills they learn while gone. 


For many of these kids, it's the farthest they have been from their parents and they handle with class. They look professional each day, they work together, they meet industry professionals and have every college imaginable at their fingertips. Many years, I even have my students participate in a National Day of Service where they perform community service that betters the city we are in. Last year, we packed boxes of food at a local food bank that disperses 16 million meals each year. 
End of rant....
Honestly, I had to prepare for 7 days of a sub, but it's worth it. The kids that go to National Convention are:
Can't wait for next week and the amazing memories we'll make like these...

It's a once in a lifetime type of experience for many kids. How can I explain that to a teacher who thinks their class is the most important thing in the world? I think teachers forget, one subject or class doesn't teach a student everything they need in life. The entire school experience is what makes our kids successful. Programs like FFA and leadership conferences are helping make our kids successful. 


A. Some of my best and brightest
B. Want to be there for the experience (not to get out of school)
C. Are working towards something bigger than themselves. They are determined to be good people!

Constant Struggle of Quantity vs. Quality

Being at the CATA Summer Conference this week, just like each summer, allows me to reflect on the past year keeping the future in mind. 

Without a doubt, this has been one of the most rewarding years in my career. While it's been short, my career hasn't been without challenges. But I've maintained the mindset that I love my kids and if I'm not pushing myself to do better, I cannot ask the same of them. 

In April (and for a few months leading up to it), I experienced something I had never done before. I had a student run for State Office. Now, this was not only a challenge for me as a teacher, but it was unchartered territory for anyone in my chapter and community. I am not entirely sure how teachers have state officer candidates every year. Fortunately, I surrounded myself and my student with some of "the best in the business" to help her feel prepared. It was the most emotional and mentally grueling process and I DIDNT EVEN DO ANYTHING. 

We train our students to be remarkable. Plain and simple. I'm still not quite sure how my student handled the process so professionally, when at the end of the day-- she's a kid. I think that is one  of the parts of agriculture education that gets overlooked by some-- these are kids. But, these are extradorinary kids. We push, raise the bar and occasionally have unrealistic expectations of "our kids". 

The thing I've reflected on the past few days that has weighed heavy on my mind, has been what makes us successful, as agriculture education and FFA programs? Who determines how and why we are successful? Is it the numbers? Is it the championships? Is it the community involvement? Is it the recognition? Is it who laughs the most (I think this should be measured-- because we'd win). Although I have no answers to any of these questions, I am most certain that it is the lives changed and the constant balance of quality and quantity. 

As a profession, we need to reach all our kids to make a difference but we need to find those kids with endless potential and push harder. Does this mean that all kids don't have potential? Uh heck no-- but we need to open doors of possibility to as many kids as possible. Do we have to have a state officer to be successful?? Maybe for some you do. But I've decided that looking at my crop of seniors this year-- I was lucky enough to open doors for them and assist them with finding their passion, plan their futures and help them be as successful as they could during high school. 

Do I have a state officer? Nope. Do I have some extraordinary kids? Hell yes. I know that everyone judges success different but at the end of the day, we need to find the balance of high quality kids and their involvement with reaching the masses to make sure we are impacting more kids and their futures. 

Agriculture education is a family. Working together to serve kids and help them be and do better is one of our most important jobs. One of the speakers during the conference made the comment that we need to be "infusing the culture into the next generation". Our culture should be one of teamwork, high expectations, family and hard work. That's what we need to perpetuate to our kids so they know they are successful if they are working to always be better.

Some of my kids who do extraordinary work and have limitless potential as they leave high school for bigger goals and dreams. 

Never ending fight...

I vividly remember sitting with my high school counselor in her office towards the end of my freshman year. I was about to schedule my classes for the next year. It was a pretty exciting time as I would no longer be a weird freshman (well partly correct). I had already been elected as an FFA officer-- the reporter actually, which may be why it remains my favorite office, who doesn't love being stationed by the flag???

I had already selected classes I wanted on my paper schedule, now all my counselor needed to say was "looks good thanks!" Unfortunately, she looked at my paper, looked and me and blurted out, "you know if you take this class, you won't be on our track for college, so I won't counsel you to be college prep anymore". The class she was referring to was my Ag class. I replied that it was fine and she took a red pen and crossed out my name on her "college prep" list in her scheduling binder. From that day on, she never met with me again to schedule classes. I continued to fill out the papers each year so that I would have all the requirements for a CSU-- by myself. When other kids in my classes got call slips for scheduling, I just dropped off my paper schedule in the office.

Having someone completely ignore my existence for taking a different path than she thought I should, did not hurt my feelings. It really shaped my high school experience, because I knew that not only did other kids think Ag was lame, but adults did too. I think that is one of the reasons I enjoyed college so much? Yes, college life is good but I think I enjoyed the experience because I was around people who had the same appreciation for agriculture that I do. I felt empowered by going to college because I was simply around people who were like me... Well had the same interests, anyway.

I very much appreciate my high school experience because it taught me that if I wanted something, I had to work for it to make it happen. I wanted to go straight to a CSU and therefore, I had to make it happen because I loved agriculture and no adult at my school understood that I could have my cake and eat it too!

I think I had forgotten the subconscious fight I had while in high school? I had forgotten that some people just don't get that agriculture classes are important? I had forgotten that not everyone values people who work hard within the agriculture industry? Until recently. It's an interesting thing to work diligently through high school, then college and even grad school to then have someone tell you that none of it matters. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I know I do a good job for myself and my students. If you disagree-- please stop reading my blog lol.

People forget that every person who attends high school is going to have some impact on our community. Good or bad, high school teachers have the ability to put some pressure on kids to make sure it's a good impact. That is the hope right? Making kids into community minded citizens who will contribute? By not providing different outlets for kids to find what they are good at, we will stifle communities. If we make every kid do the exact same thing and take the exact same classes, some will always feel like they are not good enough. They will live the rest of their life thinking it too. But if kids find out what they are interested in and excel at it, why should we cross their name off the list? Just because it doesn't fit into the cookie cutter mold? Last time I checked, plumbers don't go to a 4 year college, yet they are successful community members whose work is important.

My question is... Why do people who go to school for long periods of time think they are so smart? Now, don't get me wrong, I got my Master's-- but just because I took some classes and wrote a paper doesn't mean I am smarter than a teacher that didn't??? I think anyone who puts in the time to get experience working, is way more knowledgeable than someone who didn't. They understand the process more than a person who learned about it in a classroom. Takes me back to part of the FFA motto, "Learning to Do, Doing to Learn..." If teachers, administrators, everyone and anyone took that approach, we might start being successful in the grand scheme of life. We need more people who are learning to work, more learning to be good people, more who want to succeed and more who have dreams.

One of the things I am certain of... Every kid is innately good, it's the processes and influences that change that. Every kid has more potential than they are ever given credit for because some adult somewhere, doesn't recognize it. Get to know kids, do what's best for them to help them succeed! Pretty simple.

These are the reasons I love my job, regardless of someone else's opinion of my qualifications...

Serious Success

My first summer at Healdsburg I took five of the seven FFA officers to a day retreat in San Francisco at the botanical gardens. They spent  some of the day planning, creating goals, and working on a reflection of what worked previously and what they would like to do different. 

A common theme, among all of them was that they wanted to be taken more seriously on the sectional and regional level. They each had individual plans for how they thought that should happen, but having never been extremely successful themselves, they were so unsure about how to get there. 

Weren't they cute?! They look so tiny...

I figured out very early on, that the important thing for these kids was going to be figuring out how to make them the most successful in the shortest period of time. I decided that making them better leaders, more professional at events, and amping up their SAE's would be the quickest way to help them. Which would then allow them to seek out leadership positions in the section and region, while being recognized for their efforts with state degrees and proficiencies. 

I would really like to say it's been easy! It definitely hasn't... There has been a lot of paperwork, a lot of late nights, a lot of early mornings, a few tears, some arguing, and countless signatures (those damn applications). 

Seeing a kid's potential and pushing them just enough for them to realize that they can do it, is difficult. There's a fine line between pushing so they see their own potential and pushing them so far it creates resentment. Sometimes I still lose sight of this, and I have to stop, backup and reevaluate. 

Bottom line:

I want them to push themselves, 

I want them to be successful, 

I want them to be well-liked, 

I want them to be professional, 

I want them to be passionate, 

I want them to gain life skills, 

I want them to want it.

Last Saturday at our North Coast Spring Regional Meeting and State Degree Ceremony, my hopes and their hardwork came to fruition. The last two years of hardwork paid of... For me and for them.

My most proud moment was after we had collected 3 regional proficiencies (2 state finalists), regional star administrator, 2 state finalist speakers, 2nd place program of activities, and 6 state degrees... Both of my students slated for regional office were elected!! 

It was a great day for Healdsburg FFA, as a program, for the students individually and for me too (I know, slightly selfish). And the reason I feel like the day was so successful was not because of the ribbons, certificates, or plaques won... But because my kids finally felt like they had been taken seriously... That's a win all by itself! 

"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand." -Vince Lombardi

They all were pretty awesome! And the looked sharp! 

State Degrees

Proficiencies

The 2015-2016 NC Regional Officer team (with my two kiddos!!)

Convincing kids takes time...

Last year when I came to Healdsburg, I had a couple of diverse classes, one of them was Ag Biology. 

The thing about small schools, is that when you teach one of the only biology classes, you get a random mix of kids and they don't always necessarily want to be in an agriculture class. Sometimes I get students placed in Ag Bio because it fits with their schedule, some because they want to be there, and others for various unknown reasons.

I remember very vividly speaking with a student in the first month of school about why he was in my class and he said it that it was because administrators wanted to keep him away from his friends. Such a typical kid thing to say right?! 

A couple months later, I was speaking with my principal after an evaluation and he asked about the same student and his performance and behavior in class. I replied that he was a model student, extremely respectful and did really good work. My principal was shocked with that reply. Long story, short-- the student had issues with many of his teachers, and had a dark past that many wouldn't be proud of...

Having had no problem with the student previously I asked him a few days later in class about why he had issues with some of his teachers? In addition to asking why him and I did not have issues? The student replied, " You respect me, so I respect you". 

From that moment on, I made it my personal (and silent) goal to get this nontraditional FFA kid to show up to a meeting or put on the FFA jacket before he graduated. I knew he was smart and could benefit from FFA (whether he knew it or not).

After over a year of slowly pushing, today I met my goal!!! Jose volunteered at the Sonoma County Farm Bureau Ag Days at the fairgrounds. He was great with the little kids and was really fun to take outside of the classroom to participate in an agricultural experience. He was actually so excited to put the FFA jacket on this morning! And was so proud to wear it all day. When we got to Ag Days, I told him I had to have a picture as proof that this actually happened... Miracles do happen... Goals are met with persistence... 

Convincing kids that the blue jacket is actually cool, mission accomplished!

All my kids did a great job today! I am so proud of them... I even got two super quiet freshmen to go! I've been working on them all year. 

"Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in"