An old Japanese proverb says, “Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.” With each generation, that profound statement proves itself to be more and more true. We can probably all remember teachers that had an impact on not only our education but our lives and our future paths. In a day and time when so many opportunities are battling for a student’s attention, it’s refreshing to find that teachers do still give of themselves, share their knowledge and offer themselves as mentors for the students they are responsible for teaching. An example of one such teacher was found at Thomson Middle School in Centerville, Georgia, and personified in Kenneth Ford.
With a strong ag background, Kenneth grew up on a family farm in Early County where peanuts, cotton, soybeans, beef cattle and hogs were grown. His love for ag began early, not only from being raised around it, but it being reinforced with ag teachers. “In high school I had two good ag teachers, Mr. Larry Worsley and Mr. Eric Harris,” Kenneth explained. “I didn’t know anything about FFA at that particular time, but by taking their class I became very interested.” That interest stayed with him and he determined the ag field to be his career choice when he entered Fort Valley State University as a freshman. “I started at FVSU as an ag engineer,” Kenneth said, “but I didn’t realize how much math you had to do and how much science,” he said with a laugh. “My second semester, I quickly made the decision to do ag education and I think that’s been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.” The students at Thomson Middle are in grades 6-8 and Houston County added FFA as an option to all middle schoolers’ curriculum. Kenneth has now been teaching for eight years and been at Thomson four years. The FFA program was established at the school two years prior to his arrival with a participation number of 115-120 students. Today, the participation averages about 215 students involved in their FFA program. “It’s considered a connections/vocational, an exploratory type class and is for nine weeks,” he said.
Like Kenneth, some students were not familiar with FFA until an ag teacher made it known to them. That was the case with Thomson’s current FFA President Savannah Clark who had little exposure to agriculture. “I’d never known about FFA until middle school and it was through Mr. Ford’s advertisement. I thought it’d be a good idea for me, and my grandma thought it’d be a good idea too,” she explained. While there are no officers in sixth grade FFA, as Savannah entered seventh, she was elected the chapter’s treasurer and now holds the position of president. She is, according to Kenneth, one of his most versatile students concerning FFA competition. “Savannah is a jack-of-all-trades, competing in floriculture, floral design, nursery landscape and will maybe even be competing in meat judging,” Kenneth said. Savannah is also a member of the band at Thomson.
There are many competitive opportunities for students in any FFA program and the program at Thomson is no different. FFA quiz, reciting the FFA creed, meat judging and poultry judging are a few, but a couple of the most popular at Thomson are Lawnmower Driving and Ag Technology & Equipment ID. In the past three years, Thomson came in the top two for the region and advanced to the state level to compete in Lawnmower Driving. This competition consists of students driving and maneuvering a mower on an obstacle course – middle school drives a mower with a steering wheel, high school uses a zero turn. Also included in the competition is problem solving, such as how to change oil and check tire pressure, along with about 25 multiple choice questions on how to operate the mower safely. The Ag Technology & Equipment ID competition is a practicum, constructing metal and wood items for creating and measuring and can also include electrical wiring. The competition also requires the students to know names for the proper tools and identify them. Their completed project creations are judged for detail, creativity and usefulness among other categories.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some competitions for the 2020-2021 school year will be virtual, the first time ever for the program. Savannah participated in FFA Quiz, along with FFA student, Calvon Clark, who was preparing to compete in the FFA Creed competition. This competition is designed to develop the ability of beginning FFA members to demonstrate their interpretation and self-expression of the FFA Creed by memorization, self-interpretation and self-expression, and gives them experience speaking before a group and communicating effectively. Calvon is a second year FFA member and has spent time with his grandparents who live on a farm in Crisp County. “They grow things like squash, pecans and collard greens,” Calvon stated, “so I like doing that stuff when I would go up there and help them. I realized that FFA was ag.” Calvon is also a member of the National Society of Black Engineers, which is mostly engaged in coding. “We were going to have a robotic competition but it was cancelled due to COVID,” Calvon explained. “I’ve been in it [NSEBE] for 3 years. I enjoy it and [am] really good at it.”
The Thomson program also has a livestock program, which is in its second year. A newly constructed livestock barn was a major necessity for the program but also presented a major hurdle. “Middle school levels have to fund raise for pretty much everything,” said Kenneth, adding, “it’s basically working our way up the ladder. Other more established programs already have their donors. We’re like the new kid on the block.” Knowing that the barn would be an advantage to the students participating in that portion of FFA, Kenneth began to reach out to his contacts. He talked to good friend and advisory committee member Rodney Brooks, also a FVSU alumnus and fraternity brother to Ford. “We were working on a project together and just talking about help with the program and the first name he mentioned, he said ‘Have you reached out to AgGeorgia?’ He gave me Mr. Cottle’s contact info [Corey Cottle, Chief Marketing Officer at AgGeorgia Farm Credit] and I feel like he and AgGeorgia were a very big blessing to our program,” Kenneth said. “He did assist us with funding and items needed for the barn.” Along with AgGeorgia’s vital role, Kenneth explained it was an entire community effort. “The barn was built by the Department of Corrections, and funding for the barn came from fund raisers. Flint Energies were a big help, providing two different grants at $5,000 each. The Optimist Club also got involved, and then a student showing for the first time, their parents put us in contact with someone to concrete the entire barn for us for free. I really appreciate you all and the support [as we] continue to try to grow our program,” Kenneth said. “We’ve had support from the Board of Education, great support from administration and the Board. They support everyone very well in the county especially the ag teachers,” Kenneth said and then added, “We want to get exposure for the program and get the kids involved. We want people to understand some of the great things we have going on at Thomson.”
The students in the FFA program also have access to their own greenhouse where the kids get hands-on experience. From that project, they have a school plant sale in the fall and spring for the school staff and the community, with the spring being the bigger event. “The students plant all the plants in the green house,” Calvon advised, which includes ferns and succulents, two of the hottest items to sell right now. The students’ duties include not only caring for all the plants but also propagating the succulents. Recently added to the selection are blueberry plants, which will be ready to sell end of March or the beginning of April. David McDermott, Director of Career, Technology & Ag Education (CTAE) also visited with us at the greenhouse and was quick to compliment the program, the students and Kenneth. “The relationships between the FFA teacher and students are what make the difference,” Mr. McDermott commented, adding, “students can see it because Mr. Ford built that relationship.” Kenneth told of one student that he called his biggest success story. “A student here at Thomson was the type to stay in trouble,” Kenneth began, “but he took hold of me and the FFA program. He wound up showing pigs and he’s in high school now. In English class he wrote a letter, some kind of story. He said I inspired him to be an ag teacher and to attend FVSU upon graduating high school. That was a very proud moment for me. From sixth grade to eighth grade was like night and day [in him].” Mr. McDermott agreed and added, “And I think I know the student that Mr. Ford mentioned. I kind of took to him here one day and he was worried that his pig was sick. I went straight over to check it for him. Now when I see him at the shows he comes up and speaks to me but he would’ve never done that had it not been here and had that exposure and had people genuinely care about him. It was just that relationship. Mr. Ford took him aside and asked ‘How can I get you involved here in this program and give you something productive?’” It’s easy to see the pride these two men have in their jobs but more importantly in the students’ lives that they effect. “I know this student’s parents and they’re very appreciative of what Mr. Ford did in middle school,” McDermott said, “and he’s got good ag teachers at the high school. They’ve swept him up and taken him in and moved him to the next level with school. When you build relationships with kids they’re going to want to perform for you. We tell parents to let us help you find your child something to do because if they find themselves something to do it’s probably not going to be productive.”
All that relationship building comes with a major price of a commodity that is so precious to each of us and rarely shared – time. Mr. Ford admitted to the late hours with it being 6-7 o’clock many days before he leaves school. He also admitted to juggling his family which is made up of his wife, who’s an ag teacher in Macon County, and his five children ages 9 to 3, that includes two sets of twins. “They’re sometimes here with me and they love ag,” says Kenneth with a smile and continued, “Savannah’s met my oldest set many times.” He then explained further, “My wife and I met at FVSU. Before she came to Fort Valley she was from New York. She’s an animal science major. We’re a big ag family.” And while the pride for his family and their ag involvement is very evident, his pride for the program and the benefits that have come from it for the students at Thomson is evident as well. “A couple weeks ago I checked my mail box and had gotten a letter from 2 of my former students at ABAC. They’re ag ed majors there and their letters almost brought me to tears. I had no clue those letters were coming. Those things like that make my job worth it. I absolutely love what I do, but when I get those kinds of stories, those kinds of letters, it lets me know I’m doing something right.”
For more information on the Thomson Middle School FFA program or to find out how you can contribute, email Kenneth Ford at kenneth.ford@hcbe.net or David McDermott at david.mcdermott@hcbe.net.