NEWS A Texas Team Ag Ed Publication
July 2017
Spotlight on Agriculture Education Shane Crafton, Henrietta
Welcome to summer! That statement sounds good, but as many of you know, ag teachers don’t get much of a summer vacation. By the time you read this article, many of you will be on your way to Corpus for the State FFA convention. Be safe in your travels and remember the important cargo you carry. It seems as I get older, the downtime between school terms shrinks every year. Make sure each of you takes time away from school responsibilities to spend time with your families and recover and refresh yourselves before we start all over again next month. This month I would like to briefly touch on what I feel is a crucial subject that we all need to be thinking about: leadership for the future. I am not trying to step on toes with this article, but I feel this is important and needs to be said. We as ag teachers preach leadership to our students in everything that we do at the local, district, area, and state levels. We tell our young people in our programs to step up and take a leadership role in the FFA organization. Don’t get me wrong; I feel it is important that we have great student leadership if we want the FFA to thrive in the years to come. What about us as
ag teachers? Many of us for one reason or another have dodged a leadership role in our careers. Leading by example is one of the best forms of leadership you can model for your students. How can we expect our students to step forward and take a leadership role if we as ag teachers are not willing to do the same thing? The next couple of years are paramount to the success of our programs in the future. We are undertaking a tremendous task of area realignment, and there is a significant need for leaders to step forward and take charge of new areas and new districts while maintaining the leadership needs we have already established. Many of you feel that you are not qualified, or maybe too young, or too old, or ready for someone else to be in charge. Whatever the reason, take another look at yourself and your situation and think what you can do to help improve the odds for all students to be successful and have a chance to be in the spotlight. We are experts at standing back and telling others how things should be done and how our problems can be fixed. I challenge each of you to get off the back row, speak up, and take a leadership role in your district,
area, and even your community. The title “ag teacher” already identifies you as a leader whether you choose to be or not. John Quincy Adams once said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” Isn’t that what being an ag teacher is all about? It is time for all of us to take action, step forward, and take a leadership role because Texas Team Ag Education is a crucial part of the future of Texas leadership training. Doing this will help ensure that all our students remain in the bright spotlight of agricultural education.