by Garrett Hartigan, Wyoming FFA 3rd Vice President
His mom is a teacher, his dad a rancher, so when Randall Haefele from the Wright FFA decided to combine his parents’ careers, he found his dream job. His passion started in school as a Wright FFA member, where he participated in a variety of career development events and enjoyed meats judging, marketing plan, and environmental and natural resources the most. As a fourth generation rancher, he raised market steers and showed pigs at fair.
After getting a college degree in agriculture education, Haefele started his career as the FFA advisor in Hanna, where he was able to work with members heavily involved in livestock production. But when the ag education position opened up in his hometown, he decided to move back to Wright teach ag where he once was taught.
Excited to start, Haefele knew there would be some challenges along the way. On top of being the Wright advisor and teaching traditional ag classes, Haefele now teaches the woodshop and welding classes at Wright High School, a heavy load of diverse and difficult classes. From those challenges though, he found a love for teaching ag fabrication, allowing his students to build their own individual projects.
“What’s the next thing our kids can create?” he asks with enthusiasm.
With his students in Wright, he places a large focus on progressive agriculture, saying it is an ag teacher’s job to teach these new technologies and inspire them to come up with new ideas. Haefele looks forward to having his first class of seniors he has taught since freshman year, but more importantly, he is excited to teach ag and help his students for years to come.
Do you know someone who should be “Tagged to Teach Ag?” Share this post with via social media with #tagged17 and let them know you think they’d make a great ag teacher!