Never have I ever…
…competed in a National FFA Career Development Event.
…worn an FFA jacket.
…been an FFA member.
But I have…
…prepared FFA members for career development events (CDEs).
…helped FFA members order their blue corduroy jackets.
…served as a CDE judge at the local, state, and national levels.
And I am a lifetime member of the National FFA Alumni and Supporters.
While my FFA story begins much later in life than most, FFA has profoundly impacted my life. I was not enrolled in an agriculture class in high school, but I remember seeing other high school students wearing FFA jackets and hearing about their competitions. Back then, students in agriculture classes were directly involved in farming, and I did not grow up on a farm. My first agriculture class was at the University of Illinois during my junior year.
It was this educational path that led me to FFA.
I attended my first National FFA Convention when I completed my animal science degree and began course work for a master’s in agricultural education. I remember the passion and enthusiasm that radiated from FFA members everywhere I turned. I returned to campus and told my agricultural education professors, “I am energized and ready to become an agriculture teacher.”
Fast forward a few years, when I accepted my first teaching position in a small rural school in Illinois. Shout out to Heritage High School in Broadlands, Illinois, where my first agriculture students taught me much more than I taught them. Most of my teaching career was at Waterloo High School in Illinois, where I had the amazing opportunity to teach agriculture alongside my husband for eight years.
Then I made the difficult decision to leave the agriculture classroom to work for Bayer Crop Science. Now, as a learning and development specialist within Bayer’s Digital Farming Solutions division, I utilize the same skills I used in my classroom to develop training materials for our farmers, seed and crop protection dealers, and field sales teams.
I am proud to work for a company that recognizes the value of FFA. Even though I am no longer in the classroom, I remain involved in FFA by serving as an officer for the Bayer FFA Alumni Chapter and assisting our local chapter when needed. My goal this year is to increase the connections between Bayer and local programs throughout the U.S.
One unique event that we coordinate each spring at the Bayer Crop Science headquarters in St. Louis is inviting local chapters to participate in a plant sale. This allows our employees and FFA members to interact, showcase their horticulture skills and network with employees from a global agribusiness company.
To quote a line from Tim McGraw’s song “Humble and Kind,” “When you get where you’re going, don’t forget, turn back around . . .” I know how much the FFA shaped me as an agriculture teacher, and I witnessed the impact on many students. The alumni organization is one way business professionals like me can help provide FFA members with opportunities to develop into future agriculture leaders.
