Last week we looked at the agricultural student organizations (Junior Farm Centers, Junior Farm Bureaus, and Junior Aggies) that existed in California before the Future Farmer of America. In this Footnote we move through time to look at some later agricultural education and FFA developments in California.
California affiliated with the National FFA Organization in 1928, the same year the national organization was created. It was issued national charter number 4 (click here to see the charter application). In 2021-22 California had 354 FFA chapters and 98,285 members. The website for the California FFA is https://www.calaged.org/.
They’ll Know How
“They’ll Know How” was the title of an article that appeared in The Los Angeles Times in 1932. It was written by Edward Everett, a regional supervisor of agricultural education. His opening paragraph poses four questions:
- What is vocational agriculture?
- Is it something new?
- What are the subjects taught and who are the students?
- Is it a college course?
He then proceeds to answer those questions. However, in answering the questions he identifies a problem that is pertinent still today. He writes (1932, p. 117):
The existing colleges can no longer absorb the ever-growing flood of would-be freshmen. For every high school graduate who would enter college, there are four who have not the financial means nor the mental background for professional training in a degree granting institution.
What shall we do with the vast army of boys and girls? Shall we train them only in the cultural subjects that form a background for a course of four years or longer in a college or university, and then turn four out of five of them loose without hope of obtaining that for which they were trained?
Vocational education answers “No!” and vocational agriculture forms a strong section of the vote…
See Figure 1 to see what else Mr. Everett has to say about vocational agriculture.
Figure 1. From The Los Angeles Times, January 17, 1932.
Every Ag Ed Program Needs a Pickup Truck
Recently I enjoyed speaking at the agriculture teachers’ convention in Texas but it was difficult to navigate my rental car through the multitude of pickup trucks parked in the headquarter’s hotel garage. Many were “dually” trucks and fully occupied the parking spaces in the garage which were skimpy to start with. Most of the trucks had the school name on them and signage which indicated the truck was supplied by a local automotive dealer.
During my 40+ years in agricultural education I have discovered it is a common practice in numerous states (such as Texas) for a car dealership to supply the agriculture department with a truck. In other states it is extremely rare.
There are several newspaper articles in California newspapers about local dealerships donating pickup trucks to the agricultural education program. In 1954 the Christianson Chevrolet dealership presented a truck to the Arroyo Grande Union High School FFA chapter. See Figure 2. It is interesting to note that the dealership is still in business today.
Figure 2. The Tribune (San Luis Obispo), February 12, 1954.
What are the different types of SAE projects in California?
A few weeks ago Dr. Misty Lambert asked me to be a guest speaker in her NCSU SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) class for prospective agriculture teachers. I spoke about the evolution of SAEs in agricultural education. Over time, different terms have been used to describe the types of SAE projects. So I found the 1961 article about the Lindsay, California High School SAE “projects” to be interesting.
I was familiar with the terms productive projects and home improvement. However, I had not heard of “farm practice” and “outside work.” In addition to describing these types of projects, the article listed each agriculture student and their projects. To save space I have only included the AG IV students and their projects in the following newspaper clipping. See Figure 3.
Figure 3. Lindsay Gazette, February 23, 1961
Before the FFA Alumni – The FFA Mothers Club
A perusal of California newspapers from the past reveals the existence of FFA Mother’s Clubs in several communities; primarily in the 1950s and 1960s. Typically the Mothers Clubs held various types of fundraisers to support the local FFA chapter by providing travel funds, scholarships, and project loans to FFA members. They also assisted at the annual banquet and other social functions.
Figure 4. From the Stockton Evening and Sunday Record, March 4, 1964
Urbanism and the Importance of Community Support
The Times-Advocate newspaper of Escondido, California had an editorial column titled “Roses and Raspberries.” The editors award roses to people or groups who should receive a pat on the back. In the editorial a rose was awarded to the City of Poway. The motto of the town is “the city in the country” and the city was living up to this motto. The editorial states (October 18, 1990, p. 10) “Keeping Poway’s rural character shouldn’t only be a matter of appearances but an actual way of life.” The town of Poway received the rose accolade because they appropriated some $180,000 to build barns for the Poway High School FFA at Lake Poway Park.
So what is the background for this story? At one time animals for the agriculture program were housed in barns on the campus of Poway High School. The animals were removed in 1987-1988 to make room for portable classrooms and a parking lot for the new 800 seat auditorium. And some teachers had complained of the smell. The program really needed barns for student livestock projects.
For several years nothing happened. However parents and other ag supporters kept up the pressure on the school district to do something about this situation because it negatively impacted the agricultural education program. The end result was two city funded barns being built at Lake Poway Park despite opposition from a nearby upscale neighborhood. An April 11, 1991 article in the Times-Advocate titled “Future Farmers can finally have a cow” documents the outcome of the struggle. See Figure 5.
Figure 5. Times-Advocate (Escondido), April 11, 1991
We Have Your Back!!
In 2002 the State Superintendent of Public Instruction in California wanted to close the regional Agricultural Education offices (which were primarily housed at agricultural colleges around the state) and move all the regional supervisors to the state capital. When the office space contracts for the regional offices with the colleges were up for renewal in July of 2002, she was not willing to renew the leases.
In November of 2002 Tom Stefenoni, president of the Sebastopol Grange #306, wrote a commentary for the Sonoma West Times and News urging the readers to contact their elected officials regarding this situation. Stefenoni then urged the readers (2002, p. 12):
Then go the next step if you feel vocational education and agricultural education should be continued to be offered at the high school level. Find out how the candidates running for office this November stand on this issue prior to election day and consider that when you vote.
Figure 6. From the Sonoma West Times and News, November 7, 2002.
Apparently, the readers heeded Stefenoni’s advice. When the new State Superintendent, Jack O’Connell, took office in 2003 one of his first official acts was to rescind the previous Superintendent’s decision concerning the agricultural education regional offices.
Concluding Remarks
One of my former colleagues, David Jones, who taught leadership courses at North Carolina State University believed that leadership was all about building relationships. In this Footnote that is amply demonstrated. When the Arroyo Grande Union High School needed a pickup truck, the Christianson Chevrolet dealership stepped up to the plate. The various FFA Mothers clubs across California provided support for the agricultural education programs. When the Poway High School Ag Ed program needed barns for livestock projects, the parents and program supporters took on the school board and school administrators. The Grange advocated for regional agricultural education offices in the state. Before any of this could happen, relationships had to be built.
You can’t have too many friends and supporters. The time to develop these relationships is before they are needed. While it is great to be a Master teacher and inspire students to greatness, we must also cultivate supporters for our program. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto to help support him. Don’t be a Lone Ranger agriculture teacher.