Last week we learned about the challenge faced by Idaho in starting vocational agriculture because of an inadvertent error in not passing legislation to accept the provisions of the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917. After that problem was solved, what was the next challenge facing Idaho in starting vocational agriculture programs? We will learn that and more in this Footnote.
The Teacher Shortage Continues and Continues and Continues
Stanley Richardson, state supervisor of Agricultural Education in Idaho wrote that in 1918-19 a number of high schools planned to start vocational agriculture programs (Richardson, 1940, p. 2) “… but scarcity of trained teachers owing to the war made it impossible for more than two additional schools – Boise and Lapwai – to meet the necessary requirements that year.”
Did the teacher shortage improve after that? Over the years there have been numerous newspaper articles in Idaho about the agriculture teacher shortage. The following is a sampling of these articles. The year of the article and the headlines precede each quote.
1919 – Jobs for Qualified Agriculture Teachers
“Requests are coming daily to President Peterson [Utah Agricultural College] for Smith-Hughes teachers, but due to the absolute lack of properly trained men and women, no recommendations can be made. The graduates of the college were all placed in lucrative positions weeks ago. Requests have been received from all sections of Utah, from Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Arizona and New Mexico. “
The Idaho Republican (Blackfoot), August 12, 1919
1952 -Shortage of Farm Teachers Reported
“An acute shortage of vocational agriculture teachers faces Idaho, Emory Howard, state vocational ag supervisor, said Saturday.
The Idaho Statesman (Boise), May 11, 1952. P. 12.
1975 – Vo-Ag Teacher Demand Growing
“There are not enough vocational agriculture teachers to meet the demand according to Dr. Dwight L. Kindschy, head of the Agricultural Education Department at the University of Idaho. Last year, more than a thousand positions in the U.S. were not filled because of a vocational agriculture teacher shortage…”
The Times-News (Twin Falls), February 5, 1975, p. 16.
1980 – Vo Ag Teachers Needed
“While school teachers in general find themselves facing a surplus labor force in their field. Vocational agriculture teacher positions are going begging. Dr. Rich Foster, University of Idaho assistant professor of agricultural education said ‘Jobs for vo ag teachers are open not only in Idaho, but all across the U.S. simply because there are not enough qualified people to fill them.’”
South Idaho Press (Burley), Thursday, March 27, 1980
1987 – U of I Instructor Fears Ag Teacher Shortage
“Attractive jobs for people with management skills, scientific knowledge and down to earth awareness of the farm industry are creating a shortage of vocational agriculture teachers in Idaho high schools, according to a University of Idaho professor [Douglas A. Pals).”
The Idaho Statesman (Boise), November 8, 1987, p. 44.
Is Vocational Agriculture for Urban Boys?
Once upon a time (that is the way many fairy tales start) city boys were discouraged from taking agriculture classes because they couldn’t meet the farming project requirement mandated by the Smith-Hughes Act. However, a Twin Falls High School agriculture teacher, John Lawrence, decided to figure out how city boys could meet the farming project requirement. In a 1966 newspaper article with the headline “Urban Boys Are Given Chance for Agricultural Project During Summer” details are provided on what Mr. Lawrence did. He was a little ahead of the times.
Figure 1. The Times-News (Twin Falls), July 22, 1966
Is Vocational Agriculture for Girls?
In the History of Ag Ed in Idaho document written by state supervisor Richardson cited above, we learn that in the 1918-19 school year seven schools were operating Smith-Hughes vocational agriculture programs and “…the enrollment was 230, all but ten of whom were boys.” So it appears there were 10 girls taking vocational agriculture in 1918-1919.
If we fast forward a few years to 1933 the officers of the Upper Snake Valley FFA District sent a letter to Senator Chase Clark expressing appreciation for his defense of vocational agriculture before the joint appropriations committee of the two houses. The letter stated:
In (sic) behalf of over 700 boys and girls taking vocational agriculture in the Upper Snake River Valley, I wish to express appreciation for your energetic and successful defense of vocational education. I am sure this letter expresses the sentiments of parents of students taking vocational courses. (underline mine)
Even though there is some evidence that girls were taking agriculture classes prior to their acceptance as FFA members in 1969, the practice of having a girl for the FFA sweetheart was much more common. A Newspapers.com search for “FFA Sweetheart” in Idaho yielded 194 hits with “FFA Queen” yielding 31 hits. The FFA Sweetheart was often announced at a FFA sponsored Harvest Ball.
It is interesting to note that after females were admitted to FFA membership, many FFA chapters continued to have FFA sweethearts. Following is a breakdown by decades of the number of newspaper articles about the FFA sweetheart or queen in Idaho.
- 1940s – 3
- 1950s – 40
- 1960s – 96
- 1970s – 61
- 1980s – 10
- 1990s – 4
One example of the Sweetheart competition was an article in the Idaho State Journal in 1968 about eight girls competing to be the FFA Sweetheart at Bear Lake High School. The girls competed in six activities – milk a cow, drive a tractor, saddle a horse, fire a rifle, bake a cake, and answer questions from the FFA officers. See Figure 2.
Figure 2. Idaho State Journal, Pocatello, October 25, 1968
After girls were allowed to officially belong to the FFA in 1969, there was a welcome change in the Idaho newspapers about female FFA members/agricultural education students. It was not uncommon to find positive articles about these “new” FFA members. One such article appeared in The Times-News in 1975 about Anna Williams of Twin Falls high School.
Figure 3. The Times-News, Twin Falls, February 23, 1975
The Times are Changing or Are They?
Between 1917 (the year the Smith-Hughes Act was enacted) and 1963 the mission of agricultural education was to prepare students for farming careers. However the Vocational Education Act of 1963 broadened the scope of agricultural education to include preparation for careers in all facets of agriculture, not just farming.
However, it appears the teachers in Idaho didn’t rush out to change their programs. Only three agricultural education programs had altered their programs by 1965. A research study conducted at the University of Idaho revealed that Idaho is a major farming and ranching state and the current programs were meeting the community needs. So there was little need to change. See Figure 4.
Figure 4. Idaho Free Press, Nampa, November 16, 1965
The Coronavirus and Agricultural Education
At the past two conventions of the NAAE (National Association of Agricultural Educators) Dr. Wendy Warner and I have conducted a workshop titled “Bitter or Better? Eight Steps to Becoming a Resilient Teacher.” The impetus for this workshop were the problems that agriculture teachers experienced as a result of Covid19. While we identified a variety of problems caused by the virus, there was one we missed – keeping a greenhouse in operation when you have no students.
The headline was “Teachers Keep Greenhouses Going – With students gone, they face daunting task.” This headline appeared in The Times-News of Twin Falls in 2020. The article emphasized that plant sales help finance the agriculture programs and then described efforts made by the teachers to keep the greenhouses operating and protect the students and public from the coronavirus. See Figure 5
Figure 5. The Times-News (Twin Falls). April 13, 2020
Amen, Amen, Amen
A good way to wrap-up this Footnote is with a 2014 newspaper article from The Idaho Statesman. The article was a guest opinion from Wendy Pratt. Wendy was identified as part of a four-generation ranching operation in Southeast Idaho. She was also married to an agriculture teacher. Wendy had attended seven meetings across Idaho in the fall of 2013 that focused on the future of agricultural education in Idaho.
Numerous strengths of agricultural education were identified along with opportunities and challenges for the program. The primary message was that agricultural education is important and needs more financial support. See Figure 6.
Figure 6. The Idaho Statesman. February 19, 2014
Concluding Remarks
It is always a challenge to select information for these state oriented Footnotes. While writing this Footnote, I stumbled across many interesting stories. In this Footnote I could have written about a FFA rabbit hunt or a chapter camping trip or adult farmer classes or FFA community projects planting trees downtown or building a playground or FFA basketball teams, or a FFA blood drive or….and the list goes on. The newspaper articles I found made me proud to be a former FFA member and to be a part of the agricultural education family. I wish I could write about each news article but realize agriculture teachers are busy folks and don’t want to read a book length Footnote.
References
Richardson, Stanley S. (1940). A Brief History of Vocational Education in Agriculture in the Secondary Schools of Idaho. 1917 – 1940 Inclusive. Unpublished manuscript. The original document was placed in the Department of Agricultural Education at the University of Idaho. Thanks to Jim Connors a copy can be accessed at this link.