BY: T E R R Y B A I Z E A G R I C U LT U R E T E A C H E R S A S S O C I AT I O N O F T E X A S P R E S I D E N T A N D H A M I LT O N H I G H S C H O O L A G R I C U LT U R E S C I E N C E T E A C H E R
FROM THE RANGE
I
am excited to be writing for the inaugural issue of Growing Our Future: A Texas Agricultural Education Magazine. I am very happy with the new name for the publication because I think it fits in very well with our agricultural roots. I believe it is also fitting because it gives me the feeling the best is yet to come, and I really do believe that. This change to a more expanded and relevant format has been needed for a long time, and I applaud Ashley Dunkerley for having the forethought to propose this change and the initiative to take on this project. I know this is no small undertaking, but I have the utmost confidence in her ability to make this a topnotch publication for not only agricultural educators, but for all of team ag ed, school administrators, and any other interested parties.
1930s, most of the farmers in the part of Texas where I grew up were still farming with horses or mules. Tractors were still very new on the farm and my grandfather told my great uncle that he was thinking about buying one. My great uncle, who was also a farmer, told him, “Clebe, if you go out and buy one of those tractors you are going to go broke.” Luckily my forward thinking grandfather didn’t listen to my great uncle. He went out and bought a brand new John Deere tractor and, within a few years, he expanded his farming operation and was able to purchase more tractors and equipment. And what about my great uncle? In just a few short years, he had quit farming, moved to town, and took a job working for someone else’s dream. He did not embrace change and consequently, could not move forward.
Change is an inevitable part of life. I have always believed if you are not moving forward, you are moving backward. There is no such thing as standing still. I often remember a story that my grandfather told me. Back in the late 1920s or early
Change is a part of agricultural education. When I started teaching, the program was predominantly made up of boys; now we are about half girls. There were no computers in use at all, and when we did start to get them they were 20
large, unwieldy and slow. Now every student in our school is issued one to use. When I started teaching the courses were Ag I, II, III and IV and then semester courses. I remember when each area had an area supervisor and the staff at TEA in Austin was three or four people who took care of just the agricultural education program. Now we have only one staff member and he has other responsibilities in addition to our program. The students we teach have changed as well, they are more plugged in and technologically savvy. Gone are the days of the World Book Encyclopedia. They have instant information at their fingertips, albeit it may not all be factual. Agriculture
is
changing,
“CHANGE IS AN INEVITABLE PART OF LIFE. I HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED IF YOU ARE NOT MOVING FORWARD, YOU ARE MOVING BACKWARD.”
