NEWS A Texas Team Ag Ed Publication
January 2018
Toot Your Own Horn Michael Meadows, Simms
I hope that each of you had a great Christmas break where you had the chance to enjoy your family, celebrate the birth of our Savior, and get some rest for the busy semester ahead. Major stock shows, county shows, CDE teams, speaking contests, auctions, banquets, and much more will have all of us chasing our tails before you know it. Many of your students will reap the benefits and enjoy the successes of their, and your, hard work through these and other events. Unfortunately for many, the only people who will hear of these remarkable results are those who are close to them, or close to us. Why? Most of us are too busy to promote our program and students. Besides, most of us have been taught not to “toot our own horn.” I challenge you to change the way you think and devote some time this spring to promote your FFA chapter’s accomplishments. It will not only shine a light on your students, but will also help improve the public perception of our programs. For my first teaching job I was hired to fill the shoes of a man who had taught for 42 years. I was very nervous and felt inadequate. Another ag teacher realized what I was stepping into and advised me
to find something the man before me didn’t do and do it. He told me to put in the effort to be successful and publicize it as much as possible. This would help me make a name for myself and put my stamp on that program. It ended up being some of the best advice I ever received. Over time, people in that community started to recognize what our students were able to accomplish, and the comparisons bean to go away. Through this, I experienced the power of public relations. The key to that community accepting and supporting me and my program was promoting student successes through local media. You must find what works for you and your local community. Social media can be a very useful tool, some may even reach out to their local television station. Whatever the vehicle is, just do something to publicize and promote the positive things going on in your program. You, your students, and your school will benefit. It is a win, win situation. I encourage you to have a public relations plan going into the spring. If you are not intentional going in to your busy season, public relations will be
one of the first things you will put on the back burner. Most of our FFA events and activities are not spectator events. The public has no idea what we do in our profession or what great things our students are accomplishing. If we don’t “toot our own horn”, who will? If you want to control the narrative about your program, you need to be the one telling the story. Agriculture receives its fair share of bad press by those with negative agendas and who don’t know the true story. Promoting our students and what we teach is one way we can advocate for our local programs, agricultural education, and the industry of agriculture.