Longtime Red Oak FFA advisor resigns

 

After roughly 10 years with the Red Oak School District, Alan Spencer’s tenure has ended.

Spencer resigned from the district at the July 26, school board meeting. The resignation was effective immediately. Spencer joined the district in 2011 to be the Ag Ed Instructor/FFA Advisor at Red Oak High School. At the time, the program had been through great change with several ag teachers over the previous ten years.

“The restoration of the Ag Ed program and FFA was listed as a priority for the school board in 2011. Since that time, the program has grown to include a variety of different ag-related subject areas and the FFA Chapter has grown from 25 members in 2011, to around 80 members in the past two years,” commented Spencer.

Spencer shared the details of why he chose to resign from the district, which was in part because he had no ag-related teaching duties beginning with the next school year.

“Teaching Agricultural Education and serving as the FFA Advisor has been my passion for 24 years. When I was assigned to only teach biology and computers and no ag classes this coming school year, I knew that my employment at Red Oak just became a job. This would not be fair to me, my family, or the students to not be passionate about the subject matter,” Spencer explained.

Spencer added he was aware that his Ag teaching was to be limited starting with the next school year, but recently, he discovered that he would be teaching nothing at all.

“The Red Oak Ag Ed program has had two Ag teachers since 2018. In May, the second ag teacher, Tess Mittag, resigned and moved to Boyer Valley High School.

On June 1, Red Oak hired a second ag teacher to replace Ms. Mittag. The administration made the decision to remove ag classes from my responsibilities based on parameters important to them,” Spencer explained. “On June 17, I was informed that I would be able to retain limited Ag Ed/FFA responsibilities. Five days later, I was informed that those duties were removed from me.”

The decision to resign from the district completely, Spencer said, was not an easy one for him nor his family.

“I am from Villisca originally and we have family in the area. However, I cannot stay where the school does not value my God-given talents,” said Spencer.

Spencer reflected on some of the things he’s most proud he was able to accomplish during his tenure with the district.

“The Red Oak FFA Chapter evolved and grew into a nationally recognized FFA Chapter through the hard work and dedication of its members. Members were active in local community service activities, participated in the county and state fairs, attended leadership conferences, traveled around the country, and practiced and succeeded in multiple career development events,” Spencer said. “Through it all, members gained skills and confidence that will help them in the future. The positive impact on the future of the individual member, no matter how large or small, is the most important point of pride for me. The FFA does that for kids.”

Spencer also spoke about some of the things that he’ll miss the most now that his time with the Red Oak District has ended.

“I will miss working with students. I will miss the moment in class when a concept becomes clear or the moment when they apply the knowledge or skill they learned earlier in the school year. I will miss taking students on trips and showing them parts of the world they have never seen before,” Spencer stated.

Spencer said he currently has no plans at the moment, and that his family is following their passion and trusting in the Lord.

The Red Oak Express

2012 Commerce Drive
P.O. Box 377
Red Oak, IA 51566
Phone: 712-623-2566 Fax: 712-623-2568

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