The Agriculture Program is one of the most popular electives for students. The classes range from beginner-just-learning-the-basics types of classes to full-force mechanical shop classes. These classes are amazing and always super fun. They also prepare students for life after high school by teaching them about things like basic pet care, shop safety, time management, etc. 

Some of these classes are by semester only, meaning that they only go on for one semester and the other semester will have a different class. A great example of this is the Small Animal Management and Equine Science classes. They are both taught by Haley Hoeflein. Small Animal Management lasts for the first semester while Equine science lasts the second semester. At the end of the year, students take a certification test. 

Hoeflein is an amazing teacher and is very interactive and vocal with her students. She also has a strong love and passion for agriculture. 

“As soon as I took my first Ag class, I knew I wanted to be an Ag teacher,” Hoeflein said. 

Hoeflein’s passion for Ag also stems from her immense background in agriculture. As a child, she was surrounded with farming, cattle, horses, and rodeos. 

“My mom’s grandparents farmed radishes and onions that we had to help with each growing season and my dad’s family were on the rodeo side of agriculture and commercial cattle,” Hoeflein said. “I do not ever remember not having horses growing up.”

Hoeflein also knows what it’s like to be an officer and show for the FFA. 

“I took ag science classes in high school each year, showed beef heifers and was an FFA officer every year,” Hoeflein said.

In addition to being friendly and personal with her students, Hoeflien also has a generally good teaching style that actually prepares students with real life experience. 

“I try to use real life concepts or stories,” Hoeflein said. “I worked in a vet clinic for nine years while in high school or college, so I try to tie things that I did or saw in my daily lessons.” 

Another amazing ag teacher is Ryan Perkins. He is a relatively new teacher having been at Joshua for two years, this is his third. Perkins differs from Hoeflein in that he was not surrounded by agriculture while growing up. Interestingly enough, he didn’t even want to become an ag teacher until his junior year of college. 

“Junior year of college I decided that veterinary school was out of the question and I had a passion for educating people,” Perkins said. “I think without being in ag classes in high school and college I would have never been able to teach the future of agriculturalists.” 

Perkins’ teaching style is very similar to Hoeflein. Both teachers use real-world experiences to keep their students’ attention. 

“I think the only way to keep things interesting is to make the applications meaningful,” Perkins said. “Students need to see the practical real-world applications in order to show the value of the things being taught.”

As a relatively new local teacher, there is a lot that students don’t know about him. Remember, looks can be deceiving.

“I think something that would shock most of my students is that I ride a motorcycle,” Perkins said. “I just don’t think most people see me as a person who rides a motorcycle.”

Another teacher, Greg Clark, is also an amazing part of the machine known as the Agriculture Department. Like Hoeflein, Clark was also raised around agriculture and obtained a passion for it. 

“Growing up, my family had a rich history in animal agriculture,” Clark said. “My grandfather raised cattle and hogs commercially.” 

Clark also participated in the FFA when he was in school, so he has plenty of experience to pass down to his students. 

“I was involved in the Joshua Junior FFA program where I showed steers, hogs, and sheep,” Clark said. “By the time I was in junior high, we moved to Blum where my dad was my Ag teacher.” 

Very much like Hoeflein and Perkins, Clark’s teaching style also pertains to giving his students real world experience. 

“I try to offer hands-on experiences to my students so that they can see how fun and interesting agriculture can be,” Clark said. “I also like to relate the everyday agriculture practices to their lives and how it affects them in their everyday lives.” 

Clark cares deeply about his students, and it shows by how he remembers students that had an impact, no matter how small. Clark remembers a time where a student named Grant had moved to Joshua from Virginia after being homeschooled every year leading up to his junior year. When Grant came here, he joined the livestock judging team. 

“As we geared up for the first contest of the year, I sent permission slips home with students because we would be traveling to Oklahoma and staying in a hotel. That night, I received a call from his mother,” Clark said. “She informed me that this was going to be Grant’s first time to ever spend the night away from his mom, EVER.” 

Even though Grant had spent his whole life in Virginia, being homeschooled, he still put effort into the team and this new life that he was living. 

“For the next two years, Grant would become a staple at our Ag building and on the livestock judging team,” Clark said. “He was always involved in our meetings and showed up to school with a smile on his face ready to help out in any way he could.”

Grant’s experience on the team prepared him for a career. He found a new passion with this program and these absolutely amazing teachers.

“Today, Grant is now the operations manager for Sadie Grace Farms Bee Apiary in Abilene where they make honey, wax, perform bee removals, and host educational events for students,” Clark said. “Here was this shy ‘city kid’ from the north east that found a passion for agriculture in our program and is now making a career out of it.”

At school, Clark is a very straight-to-the-point person. He comes into class and gets his lessons taught and done. However, when they go to a competition, he lets a new side show. 

“Every time we get in the ag truck or the school suburban to head out to a stock show or contest, my students are shocked when I play hip hop or 90’s grunge rock (with the occasional Adele) and belt out the words to all of the songs!” 

Clark is an amazing teacher, and it really shows. He cares deeply for his students and makes sure they are prepared for their adult lives. 

“The students [and] getting to interact with these young people on a daily basis and help guide them in a positive direction is very fulfilling,” Clark said. “There’s no greater feeling in the world than to see students achieve a goal that they have worked so hard towards and for all of their efforts to finally come to fruition.”