Teaching
Schools: Somonauk High School and Leland Middle School/High School
Grades: 6th-12th
Subjects: Agriculture and Food Science
Number of years teaching: 6
Farm Bureau/Ag Literacy connection: I served as the Kendall County Ag in the Classroom Coordinator for 11 years. While I loved it, I missed working with high school students and being an FFA Advisor.
What is your favorite unit to teach? I love Food Science… I especially love teaching about food safety.
What do you enjoy most about teaching? I love being able to watch a student change and grow as a person over the course of their high school career. I also love learning and there is always something new to learn about in the agriculture industry.
What is something unique that you do in your schools? I use TONS of outside resources to create engaging learning opportunities for my students. I especially love Illinois Ag in the Classroom’s lesson booklets and National Ag in the Classroom’s Curriculum Matrix. If you are a teacher, check them out today!
Why is it important for students to learn about food and farming? In order to make educated decisions as a consumer, students have to understand their food and how it’s produced and marketed. I believe every student should take at least an Intro to Agriculture course… and probably a Food Science class as well.
Share one memorable teaching story: It’s hard to pinpoint the most memorable teaching memory, but it’s a bit easier to pick out an FFA memory. This past April, I got to tell the team I was working with that they had won the State Food Science CDE and were going to the national competition. It was an exciting moment for all of us!
Personal
Hometown: Leland
Family: Husband, Chet, and children, Tinley and Hudson
College/Degree(s): Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Science – Ag Education and a Master’s Degree in Teacher Leadership from the University of Illinois
What did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a news broadcaster or teacher.
Favorites
Quote: “No race can prosper till it learns there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.” Booker T. Washington
Hobbies: Working out, reading
Book: “Persuasion” by Jane Austen
Music: Country
Sports Teams: Any Illinois teams
TV Show: “Gilmore Girls”
Travel Destination: Saint Joe’s, Michigan