In 2010, former United States Secretary of
Education, Arne Duncan, spoke at the Future Farmers of America (FFA) Convention.
Former Secretary, Duncan, addressed the crowd with the following remarks: “Education is like a seed. It is not planted
just so it can grow and be harvested. With hard work, education takes roots. It
replenishes. It nurtures a lifelong love of learning. It is truly a gift that
keeps on giving.”
He went on to say… “Agricultural education is central to the future of American
prosperity. I learned that agricultural educators face unique challenges—but
that they also can tap into unique strengths within their tight-knit
communities. I learned that agricultural education is very much about the jobs
of the future—and not a backwards-looking curriculum to preserve the past.”
Missouri Valley CSD is fortunate to be part of
a community that believes in education and the nurturing of lifelong learning.
This fall, MVCSD welcomed Mr. Justin Mills to the MV team. Mr. Mills teaches a
7th grade exploratory course along with five high school classes.
His high school course loads consists of, Intro to Agriculture, Plant Science,
Animal Science, Ag Construction and Maintenance, and Ag Business.
When Mr. Mills
attended Iowa State University for elementary education, it took him a year to
realize he missed the agricultural part of his life. He grew up on a farm
outside of Harlan, and he realized that he wanted to incorporate agriculture
into his teaching career. Justin took a job in Eastern Iowa at Central City for
one semester when he found out MV was hiring. Mr. Mills jumped at the chance to
come back to western Iowa and start a new program. Justin says that he always
wanted to start a program from the ground up and come back to western Iowa, so things
worked out!
When asked what his role
is at MV, Mr. Mills stated: “My role at MV is to use agriculture and the shop
to teach kids how to be practical, lifelong learners. I tell my students that
everything I teach in class should be something they could use in the real
world."
Mr. Mills feels like
his students have been receptive to starting something new and fresh at
Missouri Valley. He averages 15 or so kids per class and there are 25+ FFA
members, which are both good signs. Most of the students (and parents) thought
Mr. Mills was the farming teacher. He has worked hard to explain that
agriculture goes very far beyond that.
The
FFA officers include:
President-Tom Rief
Vice President-Morghan
Herman
Secretary-Sydney
Hoffman
Treasurer-Shannon
Green
Reporter-Noah Kirlin
Sentinel-Danny Martin
Mr. Mills and his FFA
students traveled to Atlantic for the Southwest District Greenhand Fire-Up Camp
in October. The camp consists of breakout sessions hosted by former FFA state
officers, businesses, and students to help students learn about FFA.
MVCSD looks forward to seeing what the future holds for Mr. Mills and the new Ag Program!
