The Agricultural Education Teacher
Its 5AM and the agricultural education teacher’s alarm clock rings. He wakes up tired, but ready for the long day of work ahead of him. He slowly and quietly gets up, trying not to wake his sleeping wife. His sleepy self makes his way down the stairs to the kitchen. He immediately goes towards the coffee pot where he begins to brew a warm strong pot of coffee. The aroma of fresh brewed coffee wafts through the air. When the coffee is done brewing, he pours himself a cup and drinks it black. He is now ready to start his day.
He heads out to the barn in his dirty muck boots and Carhartt jacket. It was calving season and kidding season and he had lots of young animals to look after. He starts his chores by giving the goats fresh feed, water, and hay. Then he grabs a heavy bale of straw and beds down the new born kids. He stands there a minute making sure all the babies are healthy. Next, he heads over to his heard of cattle. He gives them grain, hay, and fresh water. He notices one of his pregnant heifers acting strange. She paws at the straw and doesn’t eat. He knows this is a sign that she is going into labor. This would be her first calf; however, he didn’t have time that day to stick around and wait for the birth.
He comes in from the barn after his morning chores and its already 6AM. He walks into the kitchen to the aroma of bacon and eggs. His wife is up, cooking breakfast for their two kids. He sits down and eats. He tells his wife about their farm’s heifer, then he hops into the shower. He prepares himself for a day at school. He wears dress pants and shoes and a Holloway collared shirt. The shirt is national blue and on the right breast area there a National FFA emblem. He’s an agricultural education teacher.
He heads into work at the local high school. He walks into his wing of the school which includes the ag classroom, a workshop, an office, and a computer room. When he reached his classroom, you can see national blue and corn gold banners hung around the room. They symbolize various career development events (CDEs) that his students have won. Awaiting in his classroom is the FFA’s officer team for their 7AM meeting. They meet to discuss National FFA week. National FFA week takes place during the week of President’s Day. His FFA chapter would organize events every day to promote the National FFA Organization… The meeting ends at 7:30AM and the school say begins at 7:45AM.
The freshman ag class starts heading into the agricultural education wing of the school for their first class of the day. The teacher is greeted by a variety of kids wearing boots, hats, and tractor apparel. They sit down for class and on the board, is a list of animals. The board reads sheep, cows, and goats. The students ponder about what the lesson would be for the day. The sharp school bell rings meaning it was time to start class. The ag teacher gets up from his desk with a smile on his face. Today’s lesson was on common ruminant farm animals.
Its 7:45AM, he passes out a worksheet to all his students. On the paper is a list of foreign words to the students. Words like rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum. The teacher begins his lesson. He explains that a ruminant animal can digest plants for energy, where our human bodies cannot. He explains the four chambers of the stomach and their purpose. The lesson makes the class go by fast for the students. They all enjoy agriculture. The bell rings and class is over, but his day is not. He has three more classes to teach ruminant digestion to, the Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors.
His classes go by fast and its 3PM, the end of the school day. Some of his best Junior and Senior students arrive in his classroom after school to work on their State FFA Degrees. He sits down with each student individually and reviews their application. He gives advice to the student just like a father.
It’s now 5PM and he heads home for dinner with his family and to do the evening chores. He helps his wife cook a delicious steak and potato dinner. The steak is from one of their cows that they raised last year. His family sits down at the dinner table and enjoys dinner together and everyone talks about their day.
Its 5:45PM and time for evening chores. Just like the morning chores he goes into the goat barn. He gives the goats fresh water, feed and hay. Then he makes his way to the cattle barn. He gives his cattle feed, hay, and water again. He checks the heifer who is in labor. She’s in destress from contractions, but he knows it will be a few more hours before her calf is born.
Its 7PM and he must head back up to the school for an FFA chapter meeting. All his students attend the meeting and it is held in the school cafeteria. His officer team is to run the meeting from start to finish. They are seated at the very front of the room in a straight line. At 7:30PM at the dot, the president starts the meeting using Robert’s rule of order or parliamentary procedure. Two taps of the gavel are made. The officers begin the opening ceremony tradition. The meeting is first run with officer reports, then committee reports, followed by old business, new business, and then advisor comments and adjournment. The meeting runs professionally and flawlessly. Each officer knows all the rules of parliament. The FFA advisor smiles in the back corner of the cafeteria. He is proud of his officer team and what he has taught them about parliamentary procedure. The meeting is adjourned with one tap of the gavel by the president.
He doesn’t get back home until 9PM he goes out to check the heifer in labor. The calf is coming; his front legs are starting to stick out of the heifer. The ag teacher notices his heifer struggling to push the calf out. He immediately knows the calf is a big one and he’s going to have to pull the calf. He runs over to get the chains and quickly fastens them around the calf’s ankles. He carefully pulls one leg at a time helping his favorite heifer give birth. He knows by doing this he is preventing the shoulders of the calf getting stuck between the pelvis. He pulls for a good 45 minutes before the calf is born. It’s a shorthorn bull calf. He waits in the pen as the mother licks her new baby clean. About an hour later he gets up and starts to nurse. The FFA advisor is relieved to have a healthy nursing calf. He understands the importance of colostrum and getting the calf to eat within the first 24 hours of life.
Its 11:30PM and his day is coming to an end. At the end of the night, he kneels beside his bed to pray. He’s exhausted, but he never complains. He thanks God for all his blessing in his life. He loves his job, his family, his student, and his life. He is more than just an agricultural education teacher he is an FFA advisor, a farmer, a mentor, and a dad.
This FFA advisor is a hardworking and humble individual. They put countless hours of overtime in for their students simple because love agriculture and the National FFA Organization. They want to change kid’s lives and instill that same love for agriculture that they have into them. They may not get overtime pay or recognized for all that they do, but they get to go to work every day loving their job.