As any good agriculturist knows, you need to prepare you field, plant your seeds, nurture your seedlings and wait for the end-product. By investing time and labor, the hard work eventually pays off. Mr. Shawn Meyer is KAHS’s agriculture teacher and FFA advisor. He has been nurturing students in the school for the last four years. When Meyer first came to KAHS, the FFA organization had nine members. Meyer has invested his time, talent and labor in this group and he is now reaping the benefits. KAHS FFA members recently nominated Meyer for a national award. In March, he was chosen as the national FFA advisor of the month. Meyer took the FFA organization with nine members and enriched student interest; his current chapter now has 75 members and was chosen as the Region 5 Outstanding FFA Chapter. “My philosophy is that you need to truly care about students and what happens in their life. Then, you can help them do anything,” said Meyer. While his philosophy seems easy enough, Meyer does much more than care about his students. He takes an active role in their lives by motivating and inspiring them to reach their fullest potential. Throughout the year, FFA members are involved in monthly meetings, service projects, supervised agricultural experiences and leadership positions. While most people dread attending monthly organizational meetings, FFA members look forwad to them. Meyer spices up the meetings with different competitions, awards and events. “You don’t want to be there if it is not fun,” said Meyer. To make meetings fun, the group has a recreational event after every meeting. They play basketball after meetings and the winner of the competition is the “Pig Head of the Month.” The winner’s name is put on the pig head plaque. Similarly, the member of the month has the honor of wearing the “special” member shirt around town. When chosen for this honor, the members have to be seen wearing the crazy shirt three times in public. The group also has paintball parties, different monthly meals and a camping trip for chapter officers. Locally, FFA members have also been involved with service projects. They clean up road ditches in the Adopt-a-Highway project. For their BOAC- Building our Agricultural Community project, members helped clean up Will Creek Park. The chapter also hosts a children’s petting zoo in St. Cloud, donates extra fruit from their fruit sales to the Kimball food shelf, sponsors a teacher appreciation event, and coordinates farm safety day at Kimball Elementary School. Members are also involved with Supervised Agriculture Experiences (SAE’s) where they learn how to organize and run a business. FFAers are rewarded for this work through different state awards. Students receive a state degree for earning and investing $2,000 in their business. To get the award, they also need to complete 360 hours of ag classes. On the national level, students can earn an American Degree if they earn and invest $7,500. Meyer has had students receive both of these awards. “I tell my students if we are going to do this, why not be the best? We are putting the time in.” Throughout his four years, Meyer has mentored six region officers, and two Constitutional State Officers. Because Meyer knows what opportunities are involved in the leadership positions, he encourages students to take on these challenges. “I pull aside the natural leaders and I explain to them [about the positions].” If they are interested in applying, Meyer works with them on a personal level to develop their leadership skills. “I am someone that will believe in the students and push them to accomplish [their fullest potential],” said Meyer. This year, two graduated members of Kimball FFA served as constitutional state officers. Considering that there are only six of these positions, Kimball’s one-third representation is very impressive. This shows how dedicated Meyer is to his students and the FFA program. And he does all of this while balancing time for family, coaching softball and football. Looking at the numbers and the success of FFA students, it is apparent why Meyer was selected for the national award. In a recommendation letter, parent Scott Gottschalk said, “Mr. Meyer works tirelessly on behalf of the Kimball High School and local community. He not only teaches, but teaches extremely well, with students often categorizing him as one of their top lifetime instructors… He is a true mentor to his students, and highly respected.” Similarly, Principal Karen Imholte wrote, “While he will most likely not take full credit, the guidance Mr. Meyer provides helps students to believe in themselves and the power they have to truly excel.” FFA’s future and funding As with most great things, it is hard to keep a program alive without funding. At the last school board meeting, the board approved a resolution that discontinued and cut 28 different budget expenses from teachers and staff to programs. Included in these cuts are limiting the number of trips that FFA can take. Mr. Meyer’s teaching contract was also reduced by .5, meaning next year his position will be half of what it currently is. These were taken as cost saving measures to help prevent a serious deficit next year in District #739. While all of the reduction’s impacts will be felt by the students and staff, this one will really hit home with FFA members. “The cuts will have a big impact. Less trips will make it harder for Kimball kids to compete with other chapters who can go to all of these events and activities,” said Meyer. This is most likely to happen when students compete for leadership positions and they have to write down their FFA involvement outside of the chapter organization. In a similar manner, Mr. Meyer will not be able to devote as much time to his students, FFA members and the chapter. Collectively, this will lessen FFA’s presence, involvement and successes. Meyer said, “Overall, it is going to be a huge impact on the program.”
