Karina Jones is a real-life ranch wife in the Nebraska Sandhills and one of the most highly sought-after speakers in the cattle industry nationwide!
In 1905, Henry Wallace wrote, “We need to abandon the cut and dried formula of a period when a man was ‘educated’ only when he knew Greek and Latin.” I immediately felt that when I read that quote! 121 years later and I feel like we are coming full circle. There may be no better time than now than to celebrate and fight for ag education and FFA in our school.
In the early 1900’s many felt that American education had fallen off track with what our country needed. Three quarters of America lived and worked in rural areas at that time but the education system was still driving kids to learn Latin and memorize poetry. Probably the reason why most kids only had an 8th grade education is because after all, you only need so much Latin to go back to the farm. Infact, only 4% of kids went on to high school at that time.
In 1917 the Smith Hughs Act was signed into law and provided federal funds for technical education. This meant that ag education, home economics, and trades were finally funded in public school. This was the first step in transforming ag education and giving rise to what was to come.
In 1925, Virginia Tech agricultural education teachers organized the Future Farmers of Virginia for boys in agriculture classes. The FFV served as the model for the Future Farmers of America, FFA.
karina@youragnetwork.com or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
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