Pangburn’s Ramsey named Ag in the Classroom Outstanding Teacher

Susan Ramsey was at it, again, two days after receiving Arkansas Farm Bureau’s 2023 Ag in the Classroom Outstanding Teacher of the Year award. A young white silky rooster named R.J. was her donation to the Pangburn School’s ag department fundraiser. A school board member, perhaps seeking re-election, laid down $90 for the spry but unproven cockerel.

Investing personal resources like poultry and extra time exposing youngsters to unique experiences make Ramsey (57) deserving of her recent honor. She teaches language arts during the week but can’t wait for Fridays when she slips across campus with third and fourth graders for garden class at the high school.

“Mrs. Ramsey offers many learning opportunities for students to grow in the world of agriculture, exposing them to experiences that they might not have, otherwise,” says Pangburn Elementary principal Mary Rieck. “She earnestly seeks partnerships with agencies and entities to promote and support ag with students and provides support to promote ag in other classrooms.”

Brian Harris, the school’s ag teacher, nominated Ramsey for the Ag in the Classroom Outstanding Teacher of the Year award. His high school students share a greenhouse and garden with Ramsey’s students. It’s a weekly ‘school of innovation’ project and Harris likes how it introduces students to his class at an early age. Fruits of their labor this year include squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

COCK-A-DODDLE

DOLLARS - A young white silky rooster named R.J. was teacher Susan Ramsey’s donation to the recent Pangburn School’s ag department fundraiser. A school board member, perhaps seeking re-election, laid down $90 for the spry but unproven cockerel.

“In my opinion, the best type of learning is where you can apply it to your life to better understand the importance of the skill,” Ramsey says. “I hope the teaching we do here is the beginning of a passion and understanding of the importance of agriculture in our society.”

Arkansas Farm Bureau started the Ag in the Classroom Outstanding Teacher of the Year award in 2006. It includes a $1,000 check and opportunity to attend the National Ag in the Classroom Conference in Orlando, Fla., as the state’s National Ag in the Classroom nominee.

Born in Iowa but raised in Canada and California, Ramsey fondly recalls visiting her dad in Hot Springs as a teen. “I always thought it was so beautiful, peaceful and open,” she says. At 40, Ramsey wanted something different, a “life change” and a Country Living magazine classified ad made the sale. The Boggs House, built around 1902 and on the National Register of Historic Places, was on the market –perfect for her antique collection, and it was in Arkansas.

Ramsey not only left California fast for the stately house with a variety of gables, porches and projecting sections on Austin Street but also quickly married and had a baby in her new hometown. Her husband Tommy works maintenance at the school and Rylee just completed her junior year at Pangburn High.

Ramsey wrapped up her 16th season teaching May 25 at Pangburn and 26th overall. She plans to do what she loves three more years, including the gardening class in the fall and spring. The second 9 weeks of spring are used for planting and the first quarter of fall for harvest. The school of innovation projects shift in the winter to other things like drama and “book buddies,” she says.

Most recently Ramsey was back in action, donating fertilized eggs for hatching in the school’s incubator to help students learn about the life cycle of chickens. Things like that are just what Arkansas Farm Bureau’s 2023 Ag in the Classroom Outstanding Teacher of the Year does. •