What career allows a person to discuss breeds of beef cattle, create a floral design, discuss selling corn on the futures market, and make ice cream all in one day? An agricultural teacher is able to do all of these things and so much more in one day. An agriculture teacher is not only an educator or an FFA advisor, but they are a mentor to all of their students which includes guiding them to figure out their career interests and determine future plans. Although the career can be demanding, crazy, and hectic, it is extremely rewarding and no two days are ever alike.
In today’s society, a surplus of jobs in most industries does not exist, and many college graduates are struggling to find jobs. However, in the agricultural industry, this is not the case. As the world population continues to grow, all of these people have to be fed and clothed and the only people that can get that job done are farmers and other professionals in the agricultural industry. For this reason alone, it is vital that agriculture is taught in high schools. If young people are not exposed to agriculture through high school programs and do not know about the opportunities the agricultural industry provides, there will not be anyone to meet the future world demands nor anyone to fill those 300 + careers related to agriculture.
By having agricultural classes in high school, agricultural educators are given the opportunity to share their passion of agriculture with students and get them interested and curious about a major industry that provides so much. Today’s agricultural classes are no longer just about “cows, sows, and plows”, but they incorporate so many more aspects, such as horticulture, natural resources, agribusiness management, and leadership and communication. These classes will not only prepare students for the many careers available in the agricultural industry, but they also teach students valuable life skills which include how to keep financial records, how to speak in front of groups, and how to effectively communicate with others in a diverse settings.
In many of today’s schools, administrators believe that agriculture is not an important part of the school curriculum because it is not teaching subject matter related to the standardized tests. However, the curriculum used in agricultural programs incorporates all of these subjects that students are being tested on annually. For example, in one day students may be writing an essay on the benefits of GMOs, or reading an article about wind energy, or calculating interest on a car loan, or testing the pH of different substances. All of these activities relate to core concepts like reading, writing, math and science, taught in schools but agriculture classes just focus on them in unordinary ways and put them in a context students find meaningful.
If you are not fortunate enough to have agriculture in your school, there are a multitude of resources available to use to incorporate agriculture into your daily lessons. One of the best resources to use that will give you a lot of useful general knowledge about different areas of agriculture is the Illinois Farm Bureau-Ag in the Classroom website, www.agintheclassroom.org. This website has great activities that do not take very long and are easily implemented yet at the same time teach key agricultural concepts to students. Another great resource for information about corn is the Illinois Corn Growers Association. This resource has great ideas for how to teach students about corn and many different activities that can be used with all different ages. If you want to know more about agricultural education or get a program started in your area, contact FCAE (Facilitating Coordination in Agricultural Education) by visiting their website, www.agriculturaleducation.org.