‘Giving back the kindness and support’: Ag classes led to big changes in life

WESTFIELD, Ind.— Chris Kaufman has been teaching agriculture for 24 years, but he remembers when life looked very different.

He was not a farm kid. He had few connections to the world of agriculture. But an agriculture class at Cloverdale Junior High changed his life.

“I grew up very poor in Cloverdale with a single mom,” he recalled. “We did not have the money to travel, eat at nice places or do fun things.

“I was forced to take an exploratory ag class at Cloverdale Junior High my eighth-grade year. I decided that the class was interesting and I liked the teacher. So, I changed my four-year plan and incorporated ag classes into my schedule for high school.

“Throughout high school, the FFA became a way for me to succeed, have fun and find my passion.

“After high school I wanted to give back the kindness and support that was shown to me from my high school teachers. If my teachers had not pushed me to be a better person, I have no idea where I would have ended up.”

Were it not for that eighth-grade ag class, he would not have studied agriculture. He would not have gone to Purdue University or met his wife.

He also wouldn’t be a finalist for the Golden Owl Award — an honor for his commitment to excellence in the classroom.

Kaufman is thankful for the journey that’s led him to teach at multiple schools.

“I like to help and inspire my students to be better humans,” he said. “I tell my students regularly that if I see them in 10 years and they cannot tell me one thing that they learned in my class, but they tell me that they learned how to educate themselves and are therefore a better person, I have done my job.”

Kaufman’s students inspire him.

During his first year at Westfield High School, where he currently teaches, a group of students was particularly driven to succeed.

They worked tirelessly for the ag sales competition and won the state contest.

“Those same kids came back the next year with the same passion and desire to be successful and won the state in marketing,” Kaufman said.

“I could not have been prouder than I was to watch those kids stand on stage as champions.”

When he was a FFA teacher at Whiteland, he taught another group of driven students. One particular student’s success story sticks with him.

“Hannah Goeb was a leader among leaders,” he said. “She gave her all in every competition she competed in and always had academic excellence.

“Hannah won the Lily scholarship and attended Purdue University to become an agricultural educator. I was honored. Hannah later graduated and returned to Whiteland (after I had left) to become the ag teacher.

“She has grown the program and made Whiteland into a powerhouse in the FFA.”