CTE executive director nets state award

Nominated by the agriculture teaching staff at Ector County ISD, Executive Director of Career and Technical Education Ryan Merritt was recently awarded the Area II Outstanding Administrator at the Agriculture Teachers Association of Texas Conference.

ATAT’s mission is to promote and advance agricultural education in Texas for agricultural science teachers. It also provides professional development and support.

“They put on one of the larger teacher conferences, I would say, in the nation. On their website, they say that they have 2,500 ag science teachers as members. At the conference, they said that there were 2,700 teachers there that attended the conference and were there during the general session where they handed out the outstanding administrator awards. … They’ve been in existence for many years. And so it was an honor that I got nominated by our ag teaching staff and an honor to receive the award in front of hundreds of teachers at the conference,” Merritt said.

Merritt earned the recognition for his leadership, advocacy for all CTE programs, and for his significant impact on the ECISD Agriculture program. The ECISD Ag Farm is going to receive a complete renovation of $7.5 million as part of the school bond packages approved by voters in November 2023, a district Facebook post said.

The mission of ATAT involves supporting agricultural science teachers, enhancing student learning and leadership development, and advocating for the agricultural education profession.

“I was surprised; shocked. I was honored. I think when you look back over the work that’s done, you want to impact student outcomes and experiences … But at the same time being recognized and honored by the teaching staff for me, was a big thing. They didn’t have to take the time to complete the application, to turn the application in. They didn’t have to invest that time to write a quality application, so that means a lot that the team took the time to nominate me for that award,” Merritt said. “That’s what makes me happy about the honor.”

There are about 120 teachers across the district. There are four full-time ag science teachers. About 11,500 students are in CTE but some may be counted twice if they are taking two classes. Many of the classes are double-blocked, so it’s like taking two courses even though it’s counted as one.

Merrit said he was notified about the award a couple of weeks before the conference, which was held in July in Dallas.

“Their organization is divided up into … areas across Texas. Within this West Texas area, they received nominations for the outstanding administrator from their members, so largely from teachers across the region. Then they reviewed the people that were recommended and selected one,” he said.

“I looked up the criteria and they said that the award is given to the administrator that demonstrated leadership, support and commitment to agricultural education within their school district or educational institute. They go on to say that the recipients are recognized for their efforts in securing funding for agricultural programs, advocating for ag science and curriculum and fostering an environment where teachers and students can thrive.

“… I received the award, but really, if we think about it, it’s really based on the work that the teachers have done and the school district has done, as well as the community. So thinking about the funding side, the district and the community have made a big investment in ag over the last several years. Some of the things that come to mind are the greenhouses that were built, I guess it was three years ago now. That the ‘23 bond that passed that had an investment into the ag facility, where we’re going to now build a new facility that will include classrooms, lab space and a newborn space for animals. The bond allocated $7.5 million for the whole investment into the ag facility. And we’ve currently started working with Parkhill, the architects, on that design. That’s the work that’s coming along right now,” Merritt said.

ECISD also has invested in new security cameras as of last year and a new fence that meets the state safety standards and goes around the entire 25-acre farm.

“Before that, there were several different versions of a fence that went around … You could step over the fence in one area. But now that’s in place and it’s very important just due to its location. While we do have our district police that monitor, it’s important to really have as much safety and security things out there such as fencing that meets standard (and) security cameras. We do have patrols coming by there, and our teachers and staff that work out there are there to monitor to make sure that it’s a safe place for students,” Merritt said.

Horticulture teacher Christina Butler said she and her colleagues were excited and honored to have Merritt selected as Area 2 Texas FFA Outstanding Administrator.

“Ryan is very deserving of this award, I have been with the Agriculture Program in ECISD for nine years and Mr. Ryan Merritt has demonstrated exemplary leadership skills and has made a huge impact within his time as Executive CTE Director in ECISD. As the leader of our Agriculture Facility and staff, Mr. Merritt has worked tirelessly on multiple occasions to make sure that our staff team and students are set up for success. He does this by attending various events we hold within our Odessa FFA organization and being present within our community! Ryan has also played an instrumental role in getting our facility included in the recent local bond that was passed which will allow us to build a new Agriculture facility and grow the future of our program, which we are all excited about. Ryan not only exhibits these things for our program but he does this for all CTE programs across the district, in which I feel makes this award even more deserving to go to Mr. Merritt,” she said.

Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Lilia Nanez said the district is incredibly proud of Merritt.

“This award came as a result of our ECISD teachers nominating him for this prestigious award. Ryan’s leadership and expertise in agriculture education and in all our career and technical education pathways have made a significant impact on our community,” Nanez said.