by Taylor West, Wyoming FFA Sentinel
Being an agriculture advisor can be summed up into one word, passion. Passion is seen in many faces across the state of Wyoming; however, there is face that stands out above the crowd, Mr. Joe Allen. Being the ag teacher at East High School and advisor of the Frontier FFA in Cheyenne is no easy job but Allen loves what he does.
When asked why he became an agriculture teacher he gave an answer very unique to his field. Allen did not grow up in an ag background and was not in an FFA chapter growing up. He first found his love for agriculture when he helped put on an ag mechanics contest when he was in college and he hasn’t stopped since. In his 12 years of teaching, Allen has had two national champion FFA teams in agricultural issues and horse evaluation, and has been recognized by Arch Coal as teacher of the year. Although he loves to see his students gain national titles, he also loves to see his students use their skills and creativity to be successful. His favorite part about being an ag teacher at East High School is getting the opportunity to teach non-traditional ag students that walk through his classroom doors.
Allen is looking forward to furthering the Frontier FFA Chapter swine program and goat breeding program this upcoming school year. Allen is a strong believer in hands-on learning and loves to get his students in the field to see what they are learning implemented. He also looks forward to traveling to Indianapolis, Indiana, to compete for another national title in the Agricultural Issues Forum at the National FFA Convention and Expo.
There is no doubt that Allen was born to be an ag teacher and feels very strong about the future of agriculture. When asked how he thought agriculture education would change in the ten years, he replied, “Trends come and go in education but ag stays pretty rock solid. We use ag as a vehicle to achieve other things like speech, leadership, and government.”
Joe Allen loves what he does and is a great example of what ag education represents and what makes up a good ag teacher.
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