Our People - Sutherlin High School
Our People: Sutherlin High School teacher brings hands-on learning to students
Will Geschke
News Review, Multimedia Reporter
Wes Crawford graduated from Sutherlin High School in 2001.
The son of a sheep and cattle rancher, he grew up in an agricultural environment, inspiring him to attend Oregon State University and get degrees in agriculture and animal science.
After getting his graduate degree in agricultural education, and spending a year working as an officer for Oregon’s FFA organization, he returned to Sutherlin High, six years later, to begin his career as an educator.
Now, 16 years later, Crawford is the agricultural sciences teacher at Sutherlin High School, as well as the school’s FFA advisor, overseeing the 130 children who are working toward an agricultural education.
“The diversity of Ag [agriculture] education and what we teach, everything from animal science, to plant science, business skills, and metals and welding, it’s all transferable,” Crawford said. “There are so many opportunities through FFA to apply what they’re learning and leave with those skills. It doesn’t matter if they’re going into the medical field or the armed forces; those are applicable. That’s contextual learning.”
Crawford tries to teach his students hands-on skills that not only apply information being taught in their other classes, but skills that they can use later in life as well.
Freshmen in Crawford’s welding class take lessons on computer-aided design software, known as CAD, while juniors and seniors in his Ag business class learn about marketing, organizational structures, and take part in real job interviews to assign their roles for the year, conducted by members of the Sutherlin business community.
“About 20 to 25 community business people came in, and so they went through a real interview,” Crawford said. “Then, that committee came back with a recommendation of where to place those kids, who to hire as team leaders, and all of that. Then they got all the feedback from the process. The idea was every single kid in that room went through an authentic hiring process.”
Students in Crawford’s Ag business class Friday worked to water and care for plants growing in the Sutherlin High School’s FFA greenhouse, located just above the school along a set of stairs.
“It’s eventful,” said Emily Engelstead, a junior at Sutherlin High School in Crawford’s Ag business class. “We definitely learn a lot, but I feel like we learn more here. It’s more important.”
“It’s more exciting, more hands on,” added Trinity Lee, another junior in the class.
Crawford believes that this kind of engaging, active learning environment is crucial for children looking to develop and learn.
“It’s the experiences outside of the classroom where personal growth happens,” Crawford said. “Getting pushed out of comfort zones, working with people that maybe you wouldn’t normally interact with, and developing relationships with those people, those are just invaluable when it comes to developing the whole person and fulfilling their potential.
“The challenge is always when we set limits on ourselves and what we see as possible,” he added. “When we start expanding that, is when it becomes really fun to watch where the kids go with it.”
Seeing the growth his students go through, Crawford said, is his favorite part of the job. Earlier in the week, he said, he got a text message from a former student who graduated in 2015, and is now studying to be a veterinarian.
“She was just checking in, she sent me something funny that was going on, but it tied back to something we had done nine years ago,” Crawford said. “It’s just about that connectedness.”
A few months from now the students, who have worked to grow and market the plants during the school year, will start sell them in April during an FFA plant sale.
“I’d say Crawford’s classes are a little more hands on,” said Michael Felber, a junior at Sutherlin High School. “Quite a few of his classes come up and help with plants, getting them ready for the plant sale.”
Crawford believes that this kind of engaging, active learning environment is crucial for children looking to develop and learn.
“It’s the experiences outside of the classroom where personal growth happens,” Crawford said. “Getting pushed out of comfort zones, working with people that maybe you wouldn’t normally interact with, and developing relationships with those people, those are just invaluable when it comes to developing the whole person and fulfilling their potential.
“The challenge is always when we set limits on ourselves and what we see as possible,” he added. “When we start expanding that, is when it becomes really fun to watch where the kids go with it.”
Seeing the growth his students go through, Crawford said, is his favorite part of the job. Earlier in the week, he said, he got a text message from a former student who graduated in 2015, and is now studying to be a veterinarian.
“She was just checking in, she sent me something funny that was going on, but it tied back to something we had done nine years ago,” Crawford said. “It’s just about that connectedness.”
Working in agricultural education is something of a team effort, with Crawford praising the efforts of other agricultural educators and the school district for their support. Even with all of the help, however, the job isn’t easy, he said — but it’s never been as important as it is now. Crawford hopes that, over time, he, and agricultural education in general, can keep making a difference for students at Sutherlin High School.
“I think we’re in a great spot right now in terms of where we are and how we’re supported by the school district, and the community, which is awesome,” Crawford said. “I think as we move forward, we’re just going to continually push that bar up in terms of what kids can do here, and what opportunities they have while they’re here."
Will Geschke is a multimedia reporter for The News-Review. He can be reached at wgeschke@nrtoday.com.