The National Association of Agricultural Educators, Inc.
300 Garrigus Building Lexington, KY 40546-0215
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –December 2012
Mary Persons High School Agriculture Teacher Selected for Educator Award
ATLANTA –Bill Waldrep,agricultural educator at Mary Persons High School in Forsyth, Ga., is one of only six individuals nationwide who received the National Association of Agricultural Educators Outstanding Teacher Award on November 28 at the NAAE annual convention in Atlanta.
Waldrep has been teaching agriculture for 20 years; nine of those years have been at Mary Persons High School. Waldrepis the only agriculture instructor at Mary Persons and teaches Basic Agricultural Science, Plant Science, Animal Science, Forestry, and Agricultural Mechanics.
Waldrepbelieves his role as an agricultural educator is to provide an environment where each student can be successful. To accomplish this, Waldrep balances classroom and laboratory instruction, FFA activities, and Supervised Agricultural Experience projects. Agriculture is one of the largest industries in Monroe County, and SAE projects give students the opportunity to explore their agricultural interests through jobs or internships, raising animals, building items, or growing crops. Waldrep also believes instilling students with leadership skills will better prepare them for the future, and has his students present their projects to the class regularly to work on their leadership and public speaking skills.
Waldrep uses differentiated instructional techniques to help all students succeed. Upon his hire at Mary Persons High School, Waldrep was asked to help improve students’ science graduation test scores. This year, 100 percent of Waldrep’s students passed the exam. In his plant science course, 22 students have received the junior certification with the Georgia Green Industry Association. The GGIA works to enhance the economic and environmental benefits of Georgia horticulture. Students have successfully put this certification to use in community landscaping projects and their FFA landjudging teams.
Recently, Waldrep developed metalworking lessons for the Georgia Agricultural Education Curriculum which are used by teachers across the state. He produced lessons in Oxygen-Acetylene welding and cutting techniques and wire welding. Waldrep was also on the committee to establish educational performance standards for Agricultural Mechanics I, II, and III. This year, the Mary Persons FFA Agricultural Mechanics team, coached by Waldrep, won the State FFA Agricultural Mechanics contest and will represent Georgia at the National FFA Convention.
“The first two lines of the FFA Motto are ‘Learning to Do, Doing to Learn’… The hands-on approach compliments the education that students are receiving in their academic classes,” said Waldrep.
Each of the six regional Outstanding Teacher Award winners received a plaque, expense paid trip to attend the NAAE convention in Atlanta and a two-year lease on a 2012 Toyota Tundra. Toyota sponsors the Outstanding Agricultural Education Teacher Award as a special project of the National FFA Foundation. NAAE is the professional association for agricultural educators. Its mission is “professionals providing agricultural education for the global community through visionary leadership, advocacy and service.” The NAAE office is located in Lexington, Ky.
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