Tillamook ag shines

Following several lean years, the Tillamook High School Agricultural Sciences and Industrial Technology program has experienced a resurgence over the past decade, culminating in its selection as Program of the Year by the Oregon Agricultural Teachers’ Association this year.

Teachers Brooklyn and Hayden Bush have been two of the teachers at the core of the program’s recent success and recently sat down with the Headlight Herald during a two-day retreat for leadership of the school’s Future Farmers of America chapter. The pair said that the success had only been possible with strong support from the community, the dedication of other teachers in the program and most of all, the hard work of the students.

“I think the students also are what help make this program stand out because we can only do so much,” Brooklyn said. “We can guide and say you should do this; you should do this in competitions or whatever it may be but ultimately, they’re the ones who have to put the work in and do it and so that’s a testament to them.”

Tillamook High School’s (THS) agricultural program and corresponding Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter have deep roots, with the FFA chapter dating back to 1949. In its early days, the program had a large presence at the Port of Tillamook Bay, including a working dairy farm.

Through the years, the program had cycles of strong and weak performance, usually predicated on funding support from the school district, but in 2008, amid the great recession, the program saw its most drastic cuts and was forced to scale back to two part-time teachers. Around the same time, the statewide FFA made the decision to decouple from the Oregon Department of Education and move to a self-funded model.

Taken in tandem, these developments seriously depleted the THS program, and by the time Brooklyn arrived in 2015 after graduating college, there were only 70 students enrolled.

But the infusion of new energy quickly paid dividends, and in the first year of Brooklyn’s tenure, enrollment doubled. It doubled again two years later when Hayden was hired into an open position, leaving a job in the private sector.

Hayden is a Tillamook local and graduate of the THS agriculture and FFA programs and said that returning to teach here was always his dream. “My dream, my plan was always to come home, to my home school, home program,” Hayden said.

After meeting Brooklyn while studying in Oregon State University’s agricultural education program, the couple moved back to Tillamook even though there was only one teaching position available. Hayden said that they decided that Brooklyn should apply because he believed she was a better teacher.

“The reality is, and I’ll say this 900 times over, my wife is an exceptional teacher and ten times what I will ever be in the classroom,” Hayden said.

The growth that the program began to experience with the Bushes arrival has continued apace in the years since and now more than 670 students are enrolled at THS, Tillamook Junior High School, the Wilson School and Trask River High School.

Hayden said that the program growth was attributable in large part to a generational shift in educational philosophy ushered in by the arrival of new teachers. In past years, programs offered just six classes to students, but under the new system THS is offering 14 distinct classes.

So, instead of offering four levels of agriculture and two levels of mechanics, the program now divides the curriculum into more specialized classes, from introductory courses like animal science and food science up to advanced fabrication and mechanics.

“That was a big piece of it was fresh perspective, restructuring the program and creating significantly more individual opportunities for students from the get-go,” Hayden said.

The program is also complemented by the school’s FFA chapter, in which all students in the agricultural sciences program are automatically enrolled. FFA activities include livestock judging, public speaking, vet science, floriculture and horticulture, and students compete throughout the year to advance from local to state to national competitions.

“There’s something for everyone in FFA and so if you really want to do something you just have to start,” one of the FFA student leaders said, “you just have to start, like that’s the hardest part, you just have to get into it.”

Tillamook’s FFA program also involves a large dose of fundraising, with students donating their time and skills to various individuals and community organizations in exchange for donations that make the FFA chapter self-supporting. Donations from the community and other charitable organizations, as well as federal grants have also helped both programs grow, with more than $1.2 million received in the last nine years.

The FFA chapter also partners with the county’s 4H program, especially during the Tillamook County Fair, to give students an even more comprehensive agricultural experience with the opportunity to show and auction livestock.

Students and teachers alike were excited for the upcoming fair and school year and encouraged locals to enter ongoing raffles for a side of beef or freezer, with tickets costing $10 and available from students.

Hayden repeatedly expressed the sense of fulfillment he got from his job and said he especially appreciated the community’s ongoing support for the program.

“Part of the reason we’ve been able to be strong is because the program did a lot for people in the past and the community gives back and does a lot for these kids in the present,” Hayden said.