The need for agriculture teachers continues to grow

INDIANAPOLIS — The National Teach Ag Campaign has been trying for the last several years to increase the number of agriculture teachers in the country.

During the 93rd National FFA Virtual Convention, Alan Green, program manager for the National Association of Agricultural Educators, made the pitch for high school students to major in agriculture education.

“I’m excited to be here and participating and excited to think of a career of an ag teacher and the ability to work with young people and make a positive difference in their lives every day,” he said.

Green said getting agriculture teachers in the classroom is the goal of the National Teach Ag Campaign. He said it is important to hear from and listen to agriculture teachers and explore the opportunities of how a career in agriculture education may look.

Jaysa Fillmore, an agriculture teacher at Cassia High School in Idaho, said she was sitting at the Idaho State Convention as a sophomore in high school when she decided to make the choice to teach agriculture.

“I’m an agriculture teacher by choice, not by chance,” she said.

Besides encouraging students to choose to major in agricultural education, the NAAE also has students who major in agriculture education across the country serve as National Teach Ag Ambassadors.

One of the 2020-2021 ambassadors is Grant Sanchez, who also served as the 2017-2018 Indiana FFA state sentinel and is a junior at Purdue University majoring in agricultural education.

Sanchez said one of his most memorable moments so far as an agriculture major was when he traveled to Slovakia and had the chance to teach fifth- and sixth-grade students about agriculture.

For more information on the National Teach Ag Program, visit www.naae.org/teachag.