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Poulson Honored, But Would Rather See Students Get Awards





John Poulson holds his Agriscience Teacher of the Year award.– courtesy photo

John Poulson holds his Agriscience Teacher of the Year award.– courtesy photo

John Poulson, Pettisville High School agriculture and FFA teacher, has been named one of six Agriscience Teachers of the Year in the United States.

But as far as the veteran teacher is concerned, “I’d rather see my students get the awards.

“It’s a lot more publicity than I need to have,” he said.

The National Association of Agriculture Educators conferred the honor upon Poulson at its convention in Las Vegas, Nev., on Thursday, Dec. 1.

Poulson said people had been suggesting he try for the award for three or four years.

To earn the title, he first had to be nominated.

He said he had an idea of who nominated him, but wouldn’t name names.

“A former student, a peer, a family member. I think probably two former students, but I’m not exactly sure,” he said.

After being nominated, the next step is to fill out the applications.

The first, to the state level, was due in March.

After being selected at the state level, a second application had to be prepared for the regional selection. That was due in May.

The six different regions judge each other’s nominations to make their selection.

In September, the selection of the six teachers of the year was announced.

“Somebody mentioned it, then they put it on Facebook. People knew about it before Lexie (his wife) and I did, I think,” he said.

The award is “very humbling. Part of it’s longevity, I suppose. This is 34 years of teaching ag, plus two years of Farm Bureau.

“I’m proud of it (the award). I worked pretty hard.

“I don’t know that I’m that much better than anybody else, but it’s kind of like most things– you have to apply yourself to be accepted.

“It’s often said if you don’t promote yourself, it’s hard for your students to feel like they should promote themselves.”

Most of his students are aware of the award, and most of them have been congratulatory.

“Many of them thank me. Probably the past students, the ones who have graduated over the last few years, might be more likely to say something about it because they’ve been out in college or beyond, and see that there really is a lot more to it than somebody in high school sees.”

Success

Poulson graduated from Ohio State University in 1981 with a degree in agriculture education and animal science, and began his career at Crestview, teaching there for seven years.

He joined the staff at Pettisville in 1990.

“I realize I’ve been at Pettisville 27 years, so even the recent graduates weren’t born when I started,” he said.

Over his years of teaching, he has had several students who have gone on to be successful.

For example, one went on to OSU, where the student studied plant biology.

Add to that “several engineers. I have a couple of animal nutrient specialists, one who just got her master’s.

“Several are farming, full or part-time. I’ve got an ag teacher teaching pretty high-level material.”

In fact, Poulson estimated that of the students he had as seniors, about 70% are making at least some money in agriculture or ag-related fields.

“I include in that a lot of the business-type people, and the engineers who might be working in a plastics factory or doing some other kind of engineering you wouldn’t traditionally call agriculture engineering, but the skills are very similar,” he said.

Support

While much of his success can be attributed to his own skill as a teacher, some also stems from the support district officials provide to his program.

“Oh definitely. I have a real advantage over most schools,” he said.

“I’ve been there 27 years, and I’ve had one superintendent and three principals. That kind of consistency is almost unheard of.

“As a comparison, where I taught the first seven years, I had three superintendents and four principals.

“And then also, just three guidance counselors. They help. They help my students just like any other students.

“And they’ve all been super supportive. Very student friendly.”


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