From the Range

BY: TERRY BAIZE 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 HAMILTON HIGH SCHOOL AGRICULTURE SCIENCE TEACHER

20 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. 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 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 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 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.”

and if we are going to continue to grow and be a successful program we have, we must embrace that. We have to find new ways and methods to meet the needs of a changing industry and the changing needs of students. A well-known German general, Heinz Guderian, once said “New weapons require new tactics. You don’t put new wine into old bottles.” I believe this to be true of education as well.

I know one of the biggest challenges I face every day is keeping students engaged. As our enrollment has grown, so has our FFA membership. It is a challenge to engage so many students in the FFA program. Change is difficult, painful, and requires work. It is easy to continue to do things the way we have always done, but we may not be meeting the needs of our students, our ultimate goal.

We can meet the challenges of the future. I see evidence every day of what teachers are doing in their classrooms and what we are doing as an agricultural education program to embrace and meet these challenges. I believe the agricultural education program, coupled with FFA, can have a great impact on the lives of our students. There is an old proverb, “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” Challenges, in the end, make us stronger by having us examine what we are doing and find ways to improve. We have faced serious challenges in the past and overcome them and I have faith we will continue to meet those challenges in the future.

As we continue through the craziness of the spring semester, I want to remind you of my superintendent’s faculty meeting closing remarks, “Act right, do your job, and have fun!” I want to wish everyone a great finish to the year and will see you from the range in the next issue.

“AGRICULTURE IS CHANGING, AND IF WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO GROW AND BE A SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM WE HAVE, WE MUST EMBRACE THAT.”

A N E X C E R P T F R O M T H E F E B R U A R Y 1 9 8 1 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 OF TEXAS NEWSLETTER

80 THINKING PAST YEARS OF THE

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"Agriculture Day, proposed to communicate the story of what agriculture means to America, is a nationwide observance with the theme, 'Agriculture: It’s Your Heartbeat, America!' Legislation passed by Congress and signed by President Carter proclaims March 19, 1981 as the first national Agriculture Day. America’s consumers may get no closer to agriculture than the supermarket, they don’t know that agriculture is this nations’ leading employer, exporter and nations’ No. 1 industry; they don’t understand agriculture; they don’t understand you. The message is a simple one: Agriculture is important to the Texas economy and vital to the well-being of the people of our state. Agriculture Day is your chance to speak out, to tell American consumers how important agriculture is to them."