• Years teaching ag: This is my fourth year teaching ag

• Subjects you teach: I currently teach various welding classes, ag mechanics, and ag farm operations. In previous years, I have also taught plant science and animal science.

• Hobbies and interests outside of teaching: Outside of teaching I enjoy hunting, shooting guns in general, spending time with friends and family, going on drives, playing video games, snowboarding, and riding on my Onewheel

• What do you love most about being an ag teacher? Teaching my students skills and watching them excel in the shop is pretty rewarding.  It's also hard to beat the flexible schedule of teaching, compared to industry.  I also enjoy the opportunity to travel with my students to FFA events; like flying to Nashville to tour a few days before the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis.

• What is your biggest challenge as an ag teacher? It varies, honestly, sometimes it can be the kids, and sometimes it can be your administration. 

• What have you learned thus far in your teaching career that you wish you would have known when you first began teaching?  Students can be apathetic and it's frustrating.  You’re not going to reach all of your students, so focus on those students that actually give a damn, and want to be there.  It's well worth the time and energy to invest in your students to teach them equitable skills that better prepare them for life after high school.

•  What advice would you give a novice teacher entering this profession now?  Have a set standard of rules, and enforce them consistently.  Shop classes aren’t normal classes, and the crap students normally like pull won’t fly in the shop.  Setting high expectations and giving students structure will make for a safer and more productive shop and ultimately, it will set your students up for success in the real world.  

• What personal qualities or abilities do you think are important to being successful in this profession? Patience.

• What most prepared you for being an agriculture educator? Growing up on the ranch, having parents, aunts and uncles, that expected a certain standard of quality of work, and FFA advisors that were the same way.  In short, half ass isn’t gonna cut it.  We live in a world where solid work ethic is hard to come by in young people, so if I can teach my students the importance of work ethic, it will make a lasting impact in their lives - no matter what career path they choose.

•  If you could relive one of your most memorable days as a teacher, which day would it be and why? Probably when a student built a tensegrity table for his fair project. It’s a cool play on physics that I had been trying to get a student to build for a couple years, and one finally took an interest in it, and it came out pretty cool.

•  Describe ag teaching in one to two words. Interesting

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