1 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:15,640 Ping Yu: Welcome to the Blooms and Beyond podcast, a podcast that uncovers plant history, culture, and management through the lens of science. 2 00:00:16,299 --> 00:00:17,000 Ping Yu: I'm your host, Ping. 3 00:00:17,220 --> 00:00:18,180 Ping Yu: How's everyone doing today? 4 00:00:18,740 --> 00:00:28,460 Ping Yu: I'm doing great because I am excited to have one of my dear friends, Renee Martin, here with me today to talk about something very neat and important. 5 00:00:29,100 --> 00:00:30,340 Ping Yu: The FFA program. 6 00:00:31,010 --> 00:00:40,800 Ping Yu: You may have heard or will hear more about FFA from many of our speakers on this podcast and how this program brought them into horticulture. 7 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:48,879 Ping Yu: Renee has years of experience of teaching and has been involved in FFA for years. 8 00:00:49,500 --> 00:00:58,140 Ping Yu: So I think it's a good idea to have her come to our show to give our listeners a full picture of this program. 9 00:00:58,980 --> 00:01:00,700 Ping Yu: So let's jump right into it. 10 00:01:00,820 --> 00:01:04,460 Ping Yu: Without further ado, here is my conversation with Renee Martin. 11 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:05,960 Ping Yu: I hope you enjoy it. 12 00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:09,300 Ping Yu: Hi, Renee. 13 00:01:09,540 --> 00:01:10,400 Ping Yu: Welcome to the podcast. 14 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,480 Ping Yu: But first, let's start off with the introduction. 15 00:01:13,780 --> 00:01:17,840 Ping Yu: Can you tell our audience about who you are and what you do? 16 00:01:19,259 --> 00:01:37,280 Renee Martin: Hey, I'm so excited to be here. This is a great little podcast. Can't wait to see where it goes. My name is Renee Martin. I'm currently a school climate specialist at Okefenokee RESA, but I'm also a PhD candidate in ALEC at the University of Georgia, which is Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication. 17 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:47,980 Renee Martin: Right now, I work with nine districts in Southeast Georgia, support teachers, building mental health needs for students and families, improving school climate. 18 00:01:48,110 --> 00:01:56,880 Renee Martin: Before that, I was an agriculture education teacher in middle and high school for 10 years and absolutely loved it. 19 00:01:57,120 --> 00:01:58,700 Renee Martin: FFA has been a part of my life. 20 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:16,000 Renee Martin: for over 20 years. And everything I do, whether it's research that I'm doing, practice or service, it's all like part of that belief that ag education and FFA create a sense of purpose and belonging in a student's life and how we can build on that. 21 00:02:16,180 --> 00:02:21,320 Ping Yu: Yeah. And by the way, she's graduating next May, which is super exciting. 22 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:28,840 Ping Yu: Congrats. What first sparked your interest in horticulture and agriculture in general? 23 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:41,859 Ping Yu: Did you grow up with agriculture or is this something that you just learned or directed you to the trajectory? 24 00:02:41,950 --> 00:02:54,360 Renee Martin: So I grew up in Waycross, Georgia, which is a very rural area of the state in Southeast Georgia. I didn't grow up like row crop farming or anything like that, but my Papa always had a big garden and I remember being in the garden with him and he always had plants and different trees. 25 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,520 Renee Martin: We were pulling fruits and vegetables out of the garden for dinner. 26 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:07,420 Renee Martin: But what really got me into like organized agriculture, I would say, is when I started attending middle school and I went to an agricultural magnet school. 27 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:12,780 Renee Martin: It was the Ware County School of Agricultural, Forestry and Environmental Sciences in Manor, Georgia. 28 00:03:12,830 --> 00:03:13,760 Renee Martin: It was K-12. 29 00:03:14,330 --> 00:03:15,380 Renee Martin: And so I was in sixth grade. 30 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:20,160 Renee Martin: My brother was a senior and we had ag classes for everybody. 31 00:03:17,140 --> 00:03:17,280 Renee Martin: Yeah. 32 00:03:20,540 --> 00:03:24,380 Renee Martin: So no matter what your goals were in life, you were taking an ag class. 33 00:03:24,860 --> 00:03:27,200 Renee Martin: That kind of introduced me to... 34 00:03:27,220 --> 00:03:29,060 Renee Martin: actual like greenhouse management. 35 00:03:29,220 --> 00:03:32,540 Renee Martin: I'd never been in a greenhouse before, even though we picked up plants from Lowe's. 36 00:03:32,959 --> 00:03:34,480 Renee Martin: So I got to see that side of it. 37 00:03:34,940 --> 00:03:39,380 Renee Martin: Taking care of animals, I ended up showing goats as a student and actually pigs. 38 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:41,220 Renee Martin: And that was not something I grew up with. 39 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:42,819 Renee Martin: We had a school pond. 40 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:46,400 Renee Martin: One time we had a baby gator that lived in our greenhouse until... 41 00:03:46,620 --> 00:04:05,760 Renee Martin: DNR could come and pick it up because it had wandered into our school pond. We had forestry plots for our school. And so we got to visit those and do some prescribed burning in high school, just a really interesting way to attend school. And so I was there for six years and it really pushed me into agriculture education and made me want to be a teacher. 42 00:04:06,060 --> 00:04:21,539 Ping Yu: Wow, that's kind of interesting because when people are talking about horticulture, we're all about plants, but in agriculture in general, except the row crops and animal science and all those essential ones, it really is a whole package. 43 00:04:21,979 --> 00:04:34,620 Ping Yu: We have all different perspectives that people would normally neglect, but all those things can provide you a whole world of interactions with the plants, with the people, with the animals. 44 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:39,800 Ping Yu: It's just in and of itself, it's a whole ecosystem for us as a human being. 45 00:04:41,580 --> 00:04:46,960 Ping Yu: So first of all, can you introduce, explain what is FFA? 46 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:52,160 Ping Yu: And did the experience with your high school actually introduce you to FFA? 47 00:04:53,300 --> 00:04:53,699 Ping Yu: Yeah. 48 00:04:53,840 --> 00:05:04,460 Renee Martin: It did. And so some of you may know, if you're a little bit older, you might have heard of the Future Farmers of America, and that's kind of the preceding name for FFA. 49 00:05:04,979 --> 00:05:07,800 Renee Martin: In the 80s, they changed it to the National FFA Organization. 50 00:05:08,259 --> 00:05:22,400 Renee Martin: And so the letters don't really mean anything, but if you're an old dog, you know those letters, Future Farmers of America, and they're the first one. 51 00:05:14,419 --> 00:05:17,040 Renee Martin: But there's three parts to this program. 52 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:19,120 Renee Martin: It's called the three-circle model. 53 00:05:19,250 --> 00:05:19,820 Renee Martin: And you'll see it. 54 00:05:19,820 --> 00:05:21,460 Renee Martin: It looks like a modified Venn diagram. 55 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:22,800 Renee Martin: Everything overlaps. 56 00:05:23,020 --> 00:05:25,240 Renee Martin: Everything is just as important as another part. 57 00:05:25,550 --> 00:05:31,520 Renee Martin: And the three parts to that are your FFA experience, your classroom and lab instruction. 58 00:05:31,830 --> 00:05:35,539 Renee Martin: And then what we have is a supervised agricultural experience. 59 00:05:35,650 --> 00:05:36,680 Renee Martin: We call them SAEs. 60 00:05:37,300 --> 00:05:44,139 Renee Martin: And so you learn in the classroom what you're going to be doing in your SAEs and in FFA. 61 00:05:44,199 --> 00:05:46,440 Renee Martin: And so it builds that base of knowledge. 62 00:05:47,180 --> 00:05:51,400 Renee Martin: But then the actual doing part happens when you're doing like an SAE experience. 63 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:56,680 Renee Martin: Maybe it's at a vet's office or you're competing in the Creed speaking event for FFA. 64 00:05:57,100 --> 00:05:59,220 Renee Martin: FFA is not extracurricular. 65 00:05:59,340 --> 00:06:01,100 Renee Martin: It's not like just an after-school activity. 66 00:06:01,419 --> 00:06:02,800 Renee Martin: It is intracurricular. 67 00:06:02,900 --> 00:06:04,320 Renee Martin: It is built into the curriculum. 68 00:06:04,500 --> 00:06:06,080 Renee Martin: It's what you're learning in the ag class. 69 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:13,940 Renee Martin: And so that's what makes it a little bit different from some of your other organizations that you might see, because it is part of the standards for those classes. 70 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:06,880 Renee Martin: Yeah. 71 00:06:14,300 --> 00:06:21,360 Ping Yu: So the FFA is generally designed for high schoolers who want to be in agriculture, right? 72 00:06:22,220 --> 00:06:40,520 Renee Martin: Well, it could be. Really, in Georgia, we've been down in the middle school for a long time. We were an early adopter of middle school ag education. And so we're trying to build not just people that are going to go into like traditional agriculture, but also people that we call like ag advocates. 73 00:06:41,020 --> 00:06:44,520 Renee Martin: Like someone who is going to know about agriculture in any field that they do. 74 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:48,960 Renee Martin: Maybe you become a lawyer and somebody's having a dispute. 75 00:06:49,340 --> 00:06:55,820 Renee Martin: You're able to talk more about an agricultural topic than you would be if you'd never been a part of FFA. 76 00:06:56,260 --> 00:07:00,240 Renee Martin: Or maybe you want to go into row crop farming or you want to own your own nursery. 77 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,300 Renee Martin: Then you're going to have a basis in leadership that FFA brought you. 78 00:07:04,860 --> 00:07:05,120 Renee Martin: Business. 79 00:07:05,780 --> 00:07:09,400 Renee Martin: There's lots of ways that all of these things weave into agriculture. 80 00:07:09,220 --> 00:07:15,400 Renee Martin: the future that our students are going to have. And actually Georgia is again on the front edge. 81 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:33,720 Renee Martin: We are starting to have elementary agricultural classes and they don't really have like an FFA portion to them, but what they do is just get kids excited about agriculture and learning about it. And we want to just expose them to agriculture as soon as possible. 82 00:07:34,210 --> 00:07:36,400 Renee Martin: So they're learning where their food comes from. 83 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:40,180 Renee Martin: And they might have a lesson on forestry when it's Arbor Day. 84 00:07:40,550 --> 00:07:45,060 Renee Martin: So they learn how we repopulate trees after we clear cut or do selective cutting. 85 00:07:45,130 --> 00:07:48,100 Renee Martin: So they're learning about a lot of things even earlier, which is great. 86 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:54,480 Ping Yu: Yeah, apparently I was not familiar with FFA because where I grew up, we don't have that kind of program. 87 00:07:54,880 --> 00:08:02,820 Ping Yu: And then I was like, I have heard people talking to me about FFA because this is how they get into horticulture. 88 00:08:03,300 --> 00:08:04,780 Ping Yu: And I was like, what is FFA? 89 00:08:08,820 --> 00:08:19,000 Ping Yu: Is this something like a specific curriculum that they have to go through, just like the other classes that they have to go through when they were in elementary school, middle school, and high school? 90 00:08:19,540 --> 00:08:24,860 Ping Yu: Or it's a separate thing, aside from their normal classes? 91 00:08:25,850 --> 00:08:25,980 Ping Yu: Yeah. 92 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:41,300 Renee Martin: So when you're in elementary school, an elementary ag program is just like a connections class, like you would go to PE or art or music. And so it's very broad because you're only seeing those students maybe once a week, or maybe you're seeing them for five weeks and then you don't see them again. 93 00:08:41,720 --> 00:09:12,420 Renee Martin: So it's very broad. It's just basic agricultural topics. In middle school, our standards want you to cover a little bit of everything. So you'll have some horticultural knowledge. You'll have some animal science. You'll have some mechanics, depending on what you have at the school. But in high school, that's really where they want you to narrow your focus a little bit more. So you'll start choosing pathways. And students can choose a lot of different pathways. Some of them might go a more academic route where they're doing like an AP or a foreign language pathway. 94 00:09:12,899 --> 00:09:17,459 Renee Martin: But then you also have your CTAE, your Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education pathways. 95 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:25,959 Renee Martin: And that's where you have all of these nursery landscape or horticulture, animal science, but you might also have nursing or welding. 96 00:09:26,620 --> 00:09:28,740 Renee Martin: So there's a pathway for anybody. 97 00:09:29,019 --> 00:09:31,339 Renee Martin: But once you get in there, it's going to become more focused. 98 00:09:31,779 --> 00:09:52,720 Renee Martin: So if you do a horticultural pathway, you might have a class that's like basic agriculture. Everybody starts with that, usually around ninth grade. And then you move into like a specific horticulture class, and that's going to have you in the greenhouse or in the nursery a lot more where you're learning those technical skills for that. 99 00:09:52,980 --> 00:10:11,420 Ping Yu: So for people that are not familiar with the FFA, I would assume there are a lot of people that don't know about it, me included, before I moved to the U.S. How would you describe the mission and the impact of the FFA to some of the outsiders who do not know the program? 100 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:22,100 Renee Martin: So the FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success. 101 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:24,340 Renee Martin: through agriculture education. 102 00:10:24,990 --> 00:10:36,580 Renee Martin: And from my perspective, the mission really speaks strongly to the role of the agriculture teacher, creating meaningful learning experiences in the classroom, the lab, through SAE opportunities, building SAE programs. 103 00:10:37,660 --> 00:10:38,700 Renee Martin: But then you have the motto. 104 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:43,660 Renee Martin: And to me, the motto is what really talks to what students are truly living out. 105 00:10:43,710 --> 00:10:48,720 Renee Martin: And it's learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live, and living to serve. 106 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:51,380 Renee Martin: You learn those basics in your classroom. 107 00:10:51,579 --> 00:10:52,660 Renee Martin: You put them into action. 108 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:55,899 Renee Martin: You kind of find your footing and then we give back. 109 00:10:56,660 --> 00:11:02,759 Renee Martin: FFA really cultivated a heart of service for me and always wanting to give back in everything I do. 110 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:08,740 Renee Martin: I mean, my family has always valued giving back to our community, to our school, to the people around us. 111 00:11:09,020 --> 00:11:20,200 Renee Martin: But FFA showed me it on a different level, like a national, international level on how our agricultural and horticultural community works together. 112 00:11:20,860 --> 00:11:26,400 Renee Martin: I also got to see more behind-the-scenes things and how we plan, not just showing up for a work event. 113 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:29,260 Renee Martin: It was like, how do we plan with students together? 114 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:34,040 Renee Martin: to do an activity? How do we see the needs in our community and meet them through our programs? 115 00:11:34,290 --> 00:11:48,940 Renee Martin: I don't think it just creates like an agriculturist. You know, we're not just saying we want these kids to go into agriculture, but we want them to be like leaders who understand responsibility, service, and the impact that they can have on their community. 116 00:11:48,950 --> 00:12:02,079 Ping Yu: Yeah. And I like the motto that you just mentioned. And I want to add a follow-up question. Can you elaborate how does the FFA play in connecting students to the agricultural career and communities? 117 00:12:02,759 --> 00:12:07,300 Ping Yu: Do you have any examples or stories that will help us better understand that? 118 00:12:08,860 --> 00:12:14,279 Renee Martin: Well, first of all, I think FFA does a great job of building both technical and soft skills. 119 00:12:14,819 --> 00:12:20,259 Renee Martin: And when I first started teaching, I went into the community and I said, what do you want our students to know when they leave? 120 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:37,200 Renee Martin: And people are like, a lot of times when they get to us, we can build their technical skills on the job. But if they don't show up for work, they don't show up on time, they don't know how to work in a group, then it's going to be really hard. So I think FFA shows their members and ag in general that. 121 00:12:26,940 --> 00:12:27,079 Renee Martin: Right. 122 00:12:37,380 --> 00:12:57,160 Renee Martin: how to communicate clearly, how to collaborate, managing their time, responsibilities, and how to lead groups of their peers so they're ready to step into leadership roles when the management opportunity opens up. And that's a lot of our CTSOs, our career tech student organizations, but I think FFA does it really well. 123 00:13:00,660 --> 00:13:11,000 Ping Yu: Do you have a story that can elaborate the FFA connection between the students and preparing their agricultural career and the service for the community? 124 00:13:11,940 --> 00:13:27,000 Renee Martin: So I think one of the really cool things that I have seen over time, as we've seen like natural disasters happen, I think back to when I was a freshman at ABAC and we were watching Hurricane Katrina happen in real time. 125 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:30,660 Renee Martin: And we were like, oh my gosh, this is one of the biggest things in history. 126 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,320 Renee Martin: Immediately when that started happening, FFA jumped in. 127 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:36,000 Renee Martin: And it was like they were raising money. 128 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:37,500 Renee Martin: They were helping people get supplies. 129 00:13:37,980 --> 00:13:39,320 Renee Martin: We've seen that over and over again. 130 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:45,140 Renee Martin: When we've had tornadoes out west, we had schools that were completely demolished and our FFA chapters immediately. 131 00:13:45,700 --> 00:13:47,500 Renee Martin: You had students saying, we want to do something. 132 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:49,060 Renee Martin: So they're doing clothing drives. 133 00:13:49,140 --> 00:13:50,380 Renee Martin: They're doing school supply drives. 134 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:53,660 Renee Martin: So they're seeing that service in action now. 135 00:13:53,480 --> 00:14:07,480 Renee Martin: But then on the skill side, when we had Hurricane Helene that just destroyed parts of Georgia and North Carolina, I saw FFA students and their ag teachers out in the community teaching people real-life skills. 136 00:14:07,589 --> 00:14:12,440 Renee Martin: There were so many people that bought generators that had never run a generator in their life. 137 00:14:12,730 --> 00:14:15,360 Renee Martin: So they were teaching classes to small groups of people. 138 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:17,220 Renee Martin: Here's how you run a generator safely. 139 00:14:17,630 --> 00:14:18,500 Renee Martin: We need to have it outside. 140 00:14:18,769 --> 00:14:20,140 Renee Martin: You need to use this type of fuel. 141 00:14:20,230 --> 00:14:21,620 Renee Martin: You need to buy it from these locations. 142 00:14:22,020 --> 00:14:31,980 Renee Martin: They were showing people how to use chainsaws correctly and making sure that you don't want a tree rolling over on you because you cut it incorrectly in the community in a very real way. 143 00:14:22,310 --> 00:14:22,420 Renee Martin: Right. 144 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:36,160 Renee Martin: And I think that's what FFA does is it doesn't just teach you the skill that you're going to take a test on. 145 00:14:36,620 --> 00:14:41,080 Renee Martin: It teaches you a skill that you're going to use for the rest of your life, even if you don't go into agriculture. 146 00:14:41,140 --> 00:14:50,140 Renee Martin: There were people that were like, I remember taking a class with you and the people came in, taught us how to use chainsaws, taught us how to work on small engines and do maintenance. 147 00:14:50,839 --> 00:14:53,019 Renee Martin: and the skills that you're learning in FFA stay with you. 148 00:14:53,199 --> 00:15:01,220 Ping Yu: Yeah, I still remember during Hurricane Helene, people were desperately needing all sorts of resources. 149 00:15:01,519 --> 00:15:10,040 Ping Yu: I remember you gathered all those goods and doing all the drives and just to deliver those things to the community that needed them the most. 150 00:15:10,259 --> 00:15:17,800 Ping Yu: I was calling to check on some of the growers in South Georgia because that's where people got the most impacts during Hurricane Helene. 151 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:23,260 Ping Yu: And one of the growers was asking me, he's like, oh, Ping, I got two generators. 152 00:15:23,590 --> 00:15:26,540 Ping Yu: If you know anybody who is looking for generators, let me know. 153 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:29,380 Ping Yu: And I know people who are looking for generators. 154 00:15:29,740 --> 00:15:35,160 Ping Yu: So they made the arrangement and just drove down the way and delivered the generators to help them. 155 00:15:35,460 --> 00:15:37,580 Ping Yu: And they were like, oh, whatever we can do. 156 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:38,740 Ping Yu: to help you. 157 00:15:38,810 --> 00:15:42,960 Ping Yu: And they know this is a big deal and they want to make sure everybody is okay. 158 00:15:43,580 --> 00:15:50,480 Ping Yu: I think that's really a moment to show the impact of the program and for us as a community. 159 00:15:51,220 --> 00:15:56,880 Ping Yu: So that's a really good way to help show the kids that you need to care about your community. 160 00:15:57,620 --> 00:16:02,620 Ping Yu: So I guess for you and me and even Michael, that's the reason why we love this industry so much. 161 00:16:04,459 --> 00:16:04,660 Ping Yu: Yeah. 162 00:16:05,070 --> 00:16:12,940 Ping Yu: Can you elaborate a little bit about the importance of the SAEs and how they can prepare students 163 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:37,320 Renee Martin: for the real world? Sure. SAEs are supervised agricultural experiences. We want students actually getting an experience in agriculture, but it's not just, oh, I fed my dog at my house. These are supervised either by maybe a community member or their ag teacher. And as ag teachers, we're actually going out to visit them. My first year teaching, I actually had to ride a ferry to Sapelo Island to 164 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:38,180 Renee Martin: view a kid's 165 00:16:38,300 --> 00:16:47,180 Renee Martin: project and I'm 22 years old and I'm like, I've never done this before. So it can be maybe you're riding a side by side out in the middle of the woods because the kid's SAE is a food plot. 166 00:16:47,680 --> 00:17:06,020 Renee Martin: But one that stands out to me is I had a student, she always wanted to be a vet. She would always write down veterinarian as things she wanted to do. She was in one of my classes. And the SAE program allowed her to contact a local veterinarian and say, I'd like to do my hours with you. 167 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:08,199 Renee Martin: Can I come in and get some work? 168 00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:13,280 Renee Martin: And of course, when you're that person, you start with like, you're cleaning the cages. 169 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:31,159 Renee Martin: And so you're seeing like all of the sides of the vet, but she ended up working with him for three years. And so as he saw that she was very competent and capable, he started hiring her on as like a little intern and she actually got paid for some of it. So it was really neat to see how that. 170 00:17:28,140 --> 00:17:28,280 Renee Martin: Yeah. 171 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:35,760 Renee Martin: When you're a student, people want you to come and experience things. 172 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:39,540 Renee Martin: They want to teach you because they want to build the future of their industry. 173 00:17:40,300 --> 00:17:42,620 Renee Martin: They don't want to do that when you're a competitor later on. 174 00:17:43,380 --> 00:17:50,840 Renee Martin: So SAEs really open up the door because most students are not going to just say, I think I'd like to do an internship and take the initiative to go do that. 175 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:57,840 Renee Martin: But SAEs have really opened up the bridge for the community to pour into your program and into your students. 176 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:17,480 Ping Yu: But over the years of your teaching experience, can you share one of the most memorable stories about students, how they started with the FFA program, how FFA kind of shaped their future or career in that way? 177 00:18:18,420 --> 00:18:19,020 Ping Yu: Yeah. 178 00:18:19,580 --> 00:18:44,280 Renee Martin: I can think of so many. When you're the teacher, you don't want to be like, oh, I made this huge impact on this kid. It was me. It was our program. But I will say I've had multiple students. I'm not saying it was just their FFA time, but I do think it helped them that were part of my middle school program that are now students at UGA. And they do contribute some of the learning how to speak in front of people to competing in the agriscience fair. 179 00:18:44,540 --> 00:18:47,180 Renee Martin: And they actually made it to the national level and did very well. 180 00:18:47,550 --> 00:18:50,000 Renee Martin: So they learned how to do research at a very young age. 181 00:18:50,010 --> 00:18:53,800 Renee Martin: They learned how to talk to people in research settings. 182 00:18:54,230 --> 00:18:58,960 Renee Martin: We were Zooming with people in Costa Rica who had knowledge on the subjects we were doing. 183 00:18:58,990 --> 00:19:01,240 Renee Martin: So they got to interact with adults regularly. 184 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:36,060 Renee Martin: very early in that research type setting. And now they're actually Foundation Scholars at UGA, and they're doing their own research. And they talk about that a lot. We also have a lot of students in the ag area that will do the Young Scholars program. And a lot of them have been part of FFA programs, and they find out about it. So they're getting into these research opportunities early. I also attribute to FFA. One of the big things was helping build our family. My husband and I do not biologically have children, but we do have what we consider like an adopted son. 185 00:19:36,300 --> 00:19:47,080 Renee Martin: We call him Baby Michael, even though he's a grown man. He's taller than my husband, but people know him as Baby Michael. And he was one of my students when I taught at Ware County. 186 00:19:47,580 --> 00:19:55,940 Renee Martin: He was being raised by a grandmother. She passed away when he was early in college, but she really believed in FFA. 187 00:19:56,110 --> 00:19:59,080 Renee Martin: And so we could at last minute be like, Michael, we need somebody to step in for this. 188 00:19:59,429 --> 00:20:02,480 Renee Martin: And she would immediately have his official dress ready to go. 189 00:20:02,850 --> 00:20:04,960 Renee Martin: So we could pick it up on the bus on the way out of town. 190 00:20:05,030 --> 00:20:06,799 Renee Martin: And she saw the value of it. 191 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:13,560 Renee Martin: And when she passed away, he really kind of folded into our family. And since then, he's our son. 192 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:13,980 Renee Martin: I know. 193 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:15,700 Renee Martin: He wishes me happy Mother's Day. 194 00:20:16,060 --> 00:20:16,840 Renee Martin: He's a big part of it. 195 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:18,060 Renee Martin: He became an ag teacher. 196 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,400 Renee Martin: So we talk about how teaching is in the family. 197 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:26,360 Renee Martin: And then he now works at the FFA Camp in Covington and is a program specialist there. 198 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:30,240 Renee Martin: That all because of FFA, we would not have known that. 199 00:20:30,500 --> 00:20:31,520 Renee Martin: I wouldn't have known his family. 200 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,440 Renee Martin: We wouldn't have had those experiences if I was just like his English teacher. 201 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:39,280 Renee Martin: But it was because of FFA and taking him on overnight trips and getting to talk to him. 202 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:47,299 Renee Martin: in a deeper way than you would as someone who saw this student for one time because you have those students year after year after year. 203 00:20:40,780 --> 00:20:40,880 Renee Martin: Yeah. 204 00:20:47,779 --> 00:20:59,899 Renee Martin: And really, I'll say that's what built my research that I'm doing now in mental health and behavior management because those ag teachers do have those different experiences and those long-term experiences with students. 205 00:21:00,220 --> 00:21:08,159 Renee Martin: Because if you work with your middle school, I saw kids in sixth grade that then became my students in ninth grade that then I had until 12th grade. 206 00:21:08,220 --> 00:21:12,260 Renee Martin: So you're seeing them really grow up and become people. 207 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:18,000 Renee Martin: It's so cool to see how they change and they grow through agriculture education programs. 208 00:21:18,460 --> 00:21:20,559 Ping Yu: Yeah, I know Baby Michael. 209 00:21:20,870 --> 00:21:25,299 Ping Yu: I was saying, hey, I've seen the pictures and Michael has told me everything about it. 210 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:28,880 Ping Yu: Baby Michael is way bigger than. 211 00:21:29,380 --> 00:21:31,340 Renee Martin: Real Michael than you. 212 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:31,640 Ping Yu: Yes. 213 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:32,500 Ping Yu: I was like, oh. 214 00:21:32,539 --> 00:21:33,179 Renee Martin: Much taller. 215 00:21:33,340 --> 00:21:42,299 Ping Yu: It's such a beautiful story about the connections, the bond that people will build during those experiences. 216 00:21:42,820 --> 00:21:49,419 Ping Yu: Because I think at the end of the day, it's the bond, it's the relationship that people are building. 217 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:55,799 Ping Yu: Whether you are in the community or in whatever field that you are in, it's all about people. 218 00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:58,500 Ping Yu: So I really love the story. 219 00:21:59,420 --> 00:22:15,200 Ping Yu: Because your experience as an ag teacher for over the years, and you have seen all those challenges and struggles for the ag teacher, for the students, and that kind of led to your research today as a PhD candidate. 220 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:30,539 Ping Yu: Can you elaborate a little bit by telling us how did you connect the dots from the teacher's perspective to the research perspective? 221 00:22:32,659 --> 00:22:35,580 Renee Martin: So for the last six years, I've been working in wraparound. 222 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:40,179 Renee Martin: So when I got out of the ag classroom, I moved into a regional position at Okefenokee RESA. 223 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:43,639 Renee Martin: I've been doing wraparound, which is anything non-academic. 224 00:22:44,040 --> 00:23:14,580 Renee Martin: Food, water, shelter, clothing. But it really builds on the skills that I got as an ag teacher where we build that community. We're always resource management. So when we had families that needed food, I already knew some of the farmers to reach out to and said, can we come out and do some gleaning? Can we get some boxes of blueberries or yams or whatever you're growing now to be able to feed these families? It was that collaborative nature that I also saw how hard it was to be an ag teacher and see all the things that we see. 225 00:23:15,330 --> 00:23:16,460 Renee Martin: I mean, you're 22 years old. 226 00:23:16,460 --> 00:23:18,760 Renee Martin: I told you I was on a ferry going to visit a kid's house. 227 00:23:18,910 --> 00:23:24,080 Renee Martin: And then sometimes you get to a kid's house and you're like, man, I didn't know this is where they came from. 228 00:23:24,669 --> 00:23:29,820 Renee Martin: I didn't know that this was the community that they came out of when I was teaching in Athens-Clarke County. 229 00:23:30,220 --> 00:23:32,760 Renee Martin: The police called one of our neighborhoods. 230 00:23:32,889 --> 00:23:36,519 Renee Martin: It was like the Iron Triangle because a lot of people get arrested there. 231 00:23:36,549 --> 00:23:37,899 Renee Martin: They have a lot of drug activity. 232 00:23:38,350 --> 00:23:39,940 Renee Martin: And that's where those students were coming from. 233 00:23:40,159 --> 00:23:46,380 Renee Martin: I knew that I wanted mental health to be at the helm and I wanted to do research that would help our ag teachers. 234 00:23:47,340 --> 00:24:14,360 Renee Martin: not only understand where students come from, but know when those students need help. And how can we make our classrooms and our SAE programs a safe space for students to feel like they can be themselves and to know when we need to get them help. So one of the things that I've done is talked with our pre-service ag teachers to see where they feel like those gaps are in the training that they get in their undergraduate program. 235 00:24:14,980 --> 00:24:16,159 Renee Martin: What did they wish they'd done more? 236 00:24:16,299 --> 00:24:19,399 Renee Martin: A lot of times it's not, I wish I knew more about plants. 237 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:21,880 Renee Martin: It's, I wish I knew more about building relationships. 238 00:24:22,429 --> 00:24:28,880 Renee Martin: I wish I knew more about the mental health struggles that students have or what is just like a kid being a kid. 239 00:24:29,269 --> 00:24:30,399 Renee Martin: And that's totally fine. 240 00:24:30,539 --> 00:24:31,760 Renee Martin: You know, I had seventh graders. 241 00:24:32,380 --> 00:24:35,399 Renee Martin: If you've ever taught seventh grade, you know, that is just a different... 242 00:24:35,420 --> 00:24:56,600 Renee Martin: different breed. And the parents would be like, I don't even recognize, where did my sweet little sixth grader go? And I'm like, they'll be back in eighth grade. They'll be back to a little calmer. But seventh grade is just a big thing. So you just know you have to have more empathy. You have to work with those students in a different way. And we found that that's not really happening in some of our education programs. So we're trying to build some of those things in. 243 00:24:57,180 --> 00:25:08,240 Renee Martin: And it's just been very interesting to talk with people across the country and see that the struggles we have with students are everywhere and everybody is looking for ways to build relationships. 244 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:20,980 Renee Martin: And I think when you have pieces of a program like SAEs and FFA competitions, that you are able to build connections that can help steer kids on a path. 245 00:25:21,220 --> 00:25:23,299 Renee Martin: that maybe they wouldn't have gone down. 246 00:25:23,700 --> 00:25:30,940 Renee Martin: Maybe they come from a really rough neighborhood and they're getting all of these ideas in their head that this is how I have to be because I come from this. 247 00:25:31,500 --> 00:25:33,760 Renee Martin: And things like FFA can show them, you don't have to do that. 248 00:25:34,010 --> 00:25:35,320 Renee Martin: You can forge your own path. 249 00:25:35,350 --> 00:25:36,760 Renee Martin: You can do what you want to do. 250 00:25:37,279 --> 00:25:45,660 Renee Martin: And it gives them an outlet to be able to do that and gives them a foundation where they feel confident to make the right choices in their life. 251 00:25:45,980 --> 00:25:53,500 Ping Yu: Wow, that's really something very impactful because basically you're changing the life of some people, some kids. 252 00:25:53,830 --> 00:25:57,419 Ping Yu: If they haven't been exposed to FFA, they are out of options. 253 00:25:58,639 --> 00:26:07,980 Ping Yu: But FFA does provide them, like you said, outlets or the new options for them to go get a better life, basically. 254 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:24,120 Ping Yu: When you were an ag teacher back then, before you decided to go get your PhD, did you run into the same trouble or the challenges that you are researching on right now? 255 00:26:25,620 --> 00:26:54,220 Renee Martin: I did. I found that I could be a dysregulated mess. I'd even apologize to students sometimes. I'm like, hey, I remember that time that you were tardy and instead of me just having some empathy, I kind of got on to you and it made a situation that could have just been very much like, hey, 256 00:26:42,220 --> 00:26:43,000 Renee Martin: You came in late. 257 00:26:43,399 --> 00:26:44,019 Renee Martin: This is what we're doing. 258 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:44,960 Renee Martin: Let's get started. 259 00:26:45,639 --> 00:26:46,779 Renee Martin: More difficult for that student. 260 00:26:46,970 --> 00:26:50,799 Renee Martin: And as I taught longer, of course, I'm not fighting a kid over a pencil. 261 00:26:50,970 --> 00:26:51,980 Renee Martin: I just got a pencil parking lot. 262 00:26:52,539 --> 00:26:54,039 Renee Martin: You grabbed a pencil when you needed it. 263 00:26:54,179 --> 00:26:55,720 Renee Martin: That's not a hill I'm willing to die on. 264 00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:59,340 Renee Martin: But sometimes when you come in the program, they're like, don't smile till Christmas. 265 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:01,500 Renee Martin: And that's not the way you have to be. 266 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:02,820 Renee Martin: You don't have to do that. 267 00:27:02,919 --> 00:27:03,880 Renee Martin: You can smile with the kids. 268 00:27:03,940 --> 00:27:04,740 Renee Martin: You can joke with the kids. 269 00:27:04,780 --> 00:27:07,780 Renee Martin: You can build relationships and they're still going to learn. 270 00:27:07,940 --> 00:27:10,460 Renee Martin: They're going to have a good time and your class is going to become a safe space. 271 00:27:10,900 --> 00:27:16,500 Renee Martin: And I just realized that I wanted our students that are coming through our programs to learn that earlier. 272 00:27:16,740 --> 00:27:23,679 Renee Martin: So when they get in the classroom, they don't have to go through those years of not smiling till Christmas and realizing that's really not how you should build your program. 273 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:29,340 Renee Martin: And so I wanted them to have skills that I didn't get until I was much later in my career. 274 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:37,179 Renee Martin: So that's one of the things that we're trying to build is just capacity for seeing students as people from day one. 275 00:27:37,740 --> 00:27:38,860 Renee Martin: Kids feel the same way. 276 00:27:39,140 --> 00:27:44,840 Renee Martin: So how do we build that empathy in our student teachers so when they get in the classroom, they're able to recognize that. 277 00:27:45,020 --> 00:27:46,940 Renee Martin: And it's all part of behavior management. 278 00:27:47,580 --> 00:27:50,000 Renee Martin: Keeping kids in the classroom is a really important thing. 279 00:27:50,010 --> 00:27:52,960 Renee Martin: We don't want to be sending them out because they have behavior issues. 280 00:27:53,250 --> 00:28:04,020 Renee Martin: And so classroom management is one thing, but how do we look at individual student behaviors and keep them in our programs and in our classroom and find ways that we can help them regulate themselves? 281 00:28:04,860 --> 00:28:11,080 Renee Martin: And whether it's let's get some water, let's take a minute to count to 10, let's maybe have a brain break for everybody. 282 00:28:11,340 --> 00:28:34,639 Renee Martin: Sometimes when I noticed that everybody was just kind of so energized, we went on a trip to the greenhouse. Did we need to do anything in the greenhouse? Probably not. But there's always weeds to be pulled. There's always something that you can find to do to get some of that energy out in students. But if you don't know how to see your class and look for that, especially as a young teacher, you may not know to put those interventions in. 283 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:44,140 Ping Yu: For a young ag teacher, when they first started the job as an ag teacher, as human beings, we are learning along the way. 284 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:52,340 Ping Yu: And what kind of things that they need to avoid to prevent them from losing the love for what they do? 285 00:28:52,650 --> 00:28:55,060 Ping Yu: Because sometimes that can be a big problem. 286 00:28:55,170 --> 00:28:56,800 Ping Yu: You have to love what you do. 287 00:28:57,820 --> 00:29:13,380 Renee Martin: You do. And I think everybody goes into it loving what they do. And they just find that they're burned out really early because they see these ag programs that have been around for decades that are just thriving and they're winning national competitions. 288 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:22,080 Renee Martin: They're winning in proficiencies. Their CDE teams are amazing. They also make $20,000 off their greenhouse sale and they have kids showing livestock. 289 00:29:22,860 --> 00:29:26,500 Renee Martin: But they've cultivated that over decades, over years. 290 00:29:26,990 --> 00:29:28,539 Renee Martin: And those teachers have a lot more experience. 291 00:29:27,630 --> 00:29:27,780 Renee Martin: Yeah. 292 00:29:28,710 --> 00:29:32,640 Renee Martin: I think year one, you have to pick what your program is really about. 293 00:29:33,169 --> 00:29:34,620 Renee Martin: Do well at those things. 294 00:29:35,049 --> 00:29:36,780 Renee Martin: And then you can start adding things on. 295 00:29:37,220 --> 00:29:38,179 Renee Martin: Give yourself grace. 296 00:29:38,330 --> 00:29:39,260 Renee Martin: Give the kids grace. 297 00:29:40,020 --> 00:29:42,120 Renee Martin: Know what is really important for you. 298 00:29:42,419 --> 00:29:43,640 Renee Martin: Don't die on the hill of the pencil. 299 00:29:44,039 --> 00:29:44,640 Renee Martin: Give them the pencil. 300 00:29:45,260 --> 00:29:52,580 Renee Martin: Don't feel like if a kid does something that it is targeted at you, people have bad days and sometimes their students are going to say things. 301 00:29:53,580 --> 00:29:54,860 Renee Martin: It may be nothing against you. 302 00:29:54,900 --> 00:30:02,040 Renee Martin: They might've had an argument with a friend on the bus and they're just taking that out in your class. And so know when to like shrug things off. 303 00:30:02,220 --> 00:30:13,240 Renee Martin: Just like a manager at a workplace would, they know when to shrug things off and when to actually double down and deal with them. Don't assign things that you are not planning to grade or think you have time to grade. 304 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:17,500 Renee Martin: Not everything needs to be graded by hand individually. 305 00:30:18,309 --> 00:30:23,360 Renee Martin: I know that my first couple of years, I would go home and I would just have weekends worth of work to grade. 306 00:30:23,730 --> 00:30:24,580 Renee Martin: And then I realized. 307 00:30:25,100 --> 00:30:28,620 Renee Martin: You know what, instead of them doing five worksheets on this, we can do a project. 308 00:30:29,210 --> 00:30:33,920 Renee Martin: And I can grade that project in class as it goes and make things more meaningful. 309 00:30:34,330 --> 00:30:35,660 Renee Martin: You don't need to have all the busy work. 310 00:30:36,090 --> 00:30:42,580 Renee Martin: If you have meaningful experiences for students, that's way more important than having five quizzes on busy work. 311 00:30:42,950 --> 00:30:46,080 Renee Martin: So how do you build that meaningful experience for your students? 312 00:30:46,740 --> 00:30:54,680 Renee Martin: And that's going to make you want to stay in the classroom more because you're going to see students making those connections and you're not going to get burned out as fast. 313 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:07,860 Ping Yu: I know in general, in horticulture and in agriculture, we are facing challenges of recruiting more students. 314 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:17,480 Ping Yu: Can you share some of the challenges that the FFA members or program are facing and what are the ways to help us out? 315 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:28,400 Renee Martin: I think one of the things that FFA members are facing now, and we've kind of talked about this, is there's so many pressures that go beyond academics and... 316 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:31,300 Renee Martin: Like when I was growing up, I mean, the internet was kind of new. 317 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:36,540 Renee Martin: You did get on it sometimes, but it wasn't a space where you live. 318 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:40,960 Renee Martin: But now you are on social media, whether you want to be or not. 319 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:46,760 Renee Martin: And I think that they're more aware of the stressors of the world. 320 00:31:47,260 --> 00:31:50,200 Renee Martin: Years ago, you had to watch the news to know what was going on. 321 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:55,420 Renee Martin: And now the news is six inches from your face at all times on a personalized screen. 322 00:31:55,620 --> 00:31:57,060 Renee Martin: So you're seeing all of that. 323 00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:17,140 Renee Martin: So there is some keeping up with the Joneses, some pressure to do that. It's the same for our teachers. You know, some of them are really good at social media. And so when they're doing their plant sales, they're like having their kids do dances in the greenhouse. And they're like making a rap about every single plant in the greenhouse and why you should buy it. And, you know, this needs this much sun. 324 00:32:17,660 --> 00:32:20,240 Renee Martin: And if that's not your thing, that's totally fine. 325 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:23,660 Renee Martin: You don't have to do all of that to be an amazing ag teacher. 326 00:32:24,500 --> 00:32:32,960 Renee Martin: So I think helping students and teachers realize that what they see on social media doesn't have to be the reality for themselves. 327 00:32:33,460 --> 00:32:36,980 Renee Martin: And also people are usually putting their best foot forward on social media. 328 00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:39,980 Renee Martin: So you may not have seen that it took them 47 takes. 329 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:42,480 Renee Martin: to get that cute dance that they did. 330 00:32:43,279 --> 00:32:47,720 Renee Martin: Building that out and just letting people know that they can follow their own path is really important. 331 00:32:48,559 --> 00:32:54,779 Renee Martin: And also there's just so much out there that students still don't know about when it comes to jobs. 332 00:32:55,179 --> 00:32:57,880 Renee Martin: I think we knew about a handful of jobs. 333 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:01,760 Renee Martin: The coolest job that you could think about getting when I was younger was a marine biologist. 334 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,780 Renee Martin: I don't know why they chose that to be like the highlight of the jobs. 335 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:08,920 Renee Martin: But like, maybe you could be a marine biologist. 336 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:10,520 Renee Martin: I was like, that sounds like the coolest job ever. 337 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:15,540 Renee Martin: But now we have so many cool jobs across agriculture. 338 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:16,900 Renee Martin: I mean... 339 00:33:17,220 --> 00:33:23,420 Renee Martin: A friend of mine just got a huge job with Tennessee Agriculture and she does ag communications. 340 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:29,780 Renee Martin: I wouldn't have even thought, oh my gosh, she could be a high-level person in ag with a communications degree. 341 00:33:29,820 --> 00:33:31,320 Renee Martin: But that is huge now. 342 00:33:31,980 --> 00:33:37,780 Renee Martin: So I think also making students become critical thinkers and these are the skills that I have. 343 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:40,620 Renee Martin: I really like these parts of agriculture. 344 00:33:41,100 --> 00:33:42,520 Renee Martin: Now, how do I merge those together? 345 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:51,680 Renee Martin: How do I find a job that I love and not one that I just tolerate because somebody told me about it when I was in ninth grade and I decided, I guess I'll go be that. 346 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:53,320 Renee Martin: That'll be what I do. 347 00:33:53,490 --> 00:33:55,360 Renee Martin: And I'm sure you all see that in the horticulture department. 348 00:33:55,390 --> 00:33:58,900 Renee Martin: I mean, the research that's coming out now with lighting is... 349 00:33:58,940 --> 00:34:02,600 Renee Martin: is amazing. And that's stuff that 20 years ago was not happening. 350 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:07,660 Renee Martin: HPS was the thing and now LEDs are huge and it's just constantly changing. 351 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:14,940 Renee Martin: So I think making people understand that even what you're teaching your kids in ninth grade, there's going to be different stuff when they're seniors. 352 00:34:15,300 --> 00:34:17,860 Renee Martin: There's going to be new jobs and new things that they can look into. 353 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:22,080 Ping Yu: Yeah, I'm glad that you kind of mentioned the change throughout the years. 354 00:34:22,240 --> 00:34:25,640 Ping Yu: And I mean, we're in an era of AI. 355 00:34:26,300 --> 00:34:37,099 Ping Yu: And we're in an era of climate change and all those advanced technologies just keep coming to a level where we don't understand in the first place. 356 00:34:37,240 --> 00:34:42,260 Ping Yu: But how is FFA adapting to those modern issues? 357 00:34:42,339 --> 00:34:46,679 Ping Yu: I mean, those are just common issues for this whole society, for the whole world. 358 00:34:47,079 --> 00:34:53,980 Ping Yu: How does FFA incorporate those issues and help the next generation to be prepared? 359 00:34:54,540 --> 00:35:45,460 Renee Martin: for those challenges? So I think agricultural education and FFA in general are evolving all the time. And so we are always looking for how can we connect our students to the real world. I was very big in agriscience fair as a teacher, and I always told my students, you have to have a real problem. What is the actual problem you want to solve? I do have some teachers that no longer trust me, because one time I had a student make brownies out of cricket flour, and then I had them do a taste test. And so then they're like, I'm not doing any more of your taste tests. You fed us goat milk ice cream one time, you've now fed us crickets. But that is a legitimate problem in the world about people not getting enough protein. And when we're talking about climate change, the landscape in places is drastically different than it was 20, 30 years ago. 360 00:35:45,900 --> 00:35:47,920 Renee Martin: So how are we evolving with that? 361 00:35:48,260 --> 00:35:55,260 Renee Martin: And so FFA and ag education are, they're really changing the way students learn. 362 00:35:55,500 --> 00:35:59,720 Renee Martin: It's not just here's a bunch of brain dump about agricultural facts. 363 00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:02,520 Renee Martin: It's how do we form these critical thinkers? 364 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:08,140 Renee Martin: How do they become problem solvers that understand the whole food system? 365 00:36:08,820 --> 00:36:10,520 Renee Martin: Not just, I'm going to raise cattle. 366 00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:21,940 Renee Martin: What does that whole system look like from, you know, feed and grain to raise the cattle on to where your cattle are going to the marketing, to getting it in the grocery store, to getting it on people's plates? 367 00:36:22,140 --> 00:36:25,560 Renee Martin: They're looking at global markets like we've never seen before. 368 00:36:26,110 --> 00:36:40,240 Renee Martin: And they're also really focused on community well-being and how are we producing things that are helping our community, whether it is food or fiber production or when the pandemic hit, horticulture blew up. 369 00:36:40,420 --> 00:36:41,619 Renee Martin: Everybody was home. 370 00:36:42,099 --> 00:36:43,079 Renee Martin: Everybody wanted plants. 371 00:36:43,260 --> 00:36:44,539 Renee Martin: They want beautiful yards. 372 00:36:44,700 --> 00:36:46,420 Renee Martin: There's like, how can we save the bees? 373 00:36:47,059 --> 00:36:54,140 Renee Martin: And so building a more consumer-driven, critical-thinking student where they understand all the processes. 374 00:36:54,980 --> 00:37:02,559 Renee Martin: And so anything that comes up, any problem that pops up, they're able to think through those problems and come up with solutions. 375 00:37:02,779 --> 00:37:06,520 Renee Martin: It's not just we've only taught them you need to be sustainable, but why? 376 00:37:06,780 --> 00:37:08,579 Renee Martin: Why is sustainability a thing? 377 00:37:08,839 --> 00:37:10,200 Renee Martin: They're looking with the end in mind. 378 00:37:10,250 --> 00:37:10,380 Renee Martin: Why? 379 00:37:10,250 --> 00:37:15,599 Renee Martin: And I think that's how FFA and ag education are fitting into that whole framework for agriculture. 380 00:37:15,820 --> 00:37:36,040 Ping Yu: Yeah, because I think critical thinking is definitely one of the key skill sets that every student I'm hoping, or everyone in the whole world, needs to have. Normally, this is what I tell my grad students or my students, to say, okay, you are going to solve a problem, and then you're going to ask yourself several questions. 381 00:37:36,460 --> 00:37:38,740 Ping Yu: What, why, and how. 382 00:37:39,210 --> 00:37:43,000 Ping Yu: You identify the problem, what it is, and then... 383 00:37:43,020 --> 00:37:46,720 Ping Yu: why you care, why this problem is relevant. 384 00:37:46,770 --> 00:37:50,120 Ping Yu: And like you said, it's applied research where it's a real-world problem. 385 00:37:50,170 --> 00:37:53,200 Ping Yu: And then how, how do you solve those problems? 386 00:37:53,440 --> 00:38:03,760 Ping Yu: So if you can answer all those questions and you got the critical thinking skill set all in there, and then it doesn't matter where you go and what job you do. 387 00:38:04,100 --> 00:38:11,340 Ping Yu: If you have the mindset, then you will be able to solve whatever problem that you're gonna encounter down the road. 388 00:38:12,780 --> 00:38:13,400 Ping Yu: Exactly. 389 00:38:13,980 --> 00:38:14,140 Ping Yu: Yeah. 390 00:38:14,940 --> 00:38:29,940 Ping Yu: But speaking of the change, I think in general education, higher education in general is evolving, but there are more and more online sources that provide knowledge and skills. 391 00:38:30,829 --> 00:38:37,599 Ping Yu: What do you think the future of agriculture education looks like? 392 00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:41,560 Ping Yu: And where do you think FFA would fit in there? 393 00:38:41,859 --> 00:38:47,480 Ping Yu: Because right now, like the AI generated information, it's just everywhere. 394 00:38:47,730 --> 00:38:53,820 Ping Yu: How can we embrace that and how is FFA going to fit in? 395 00:38:54,940 --> 00:39:06,480 Renee Martin: I think that one of the big things is teaching kids the correct knowledge so that when they see something that is AI created, then they know, hey, that's not right. I feel like that's my job. 396 00:39:07,020 --> 00:39:13,660 Renee Martin: That's my role at my job because I work with a lot of people that are older than me and they share things and I'm like, hey, that was AI. 397 00:39:14,030 --> 00:39:19,600 Renee Martin: There is not actually a plant that looks like this that is five times the size of a building. 398 00:39:19,940 --> 00:39:20,620 Renee Martin: That's not how that works. 399 00:39:21,090 --> 00:39:23,920 Renee Martin: And so creating that knowledge base is 400 00:39:23,720 --> 00:40:05,440 Renee Martin: where people can critically think and say, let's look at this deeper. Is this correct? Is this what we need to be looking at? I also think we're getting some things like Breeze ETA that are agricultural based so that people can use AI in a responsible way. That's not just like a program like Gemini or ChatGPT or Claude that is pulling from all areas and maybe pulling from non-factual websites. So I think we're going to see a lot more AI that is specific for different programs. AI is here. We have to adapt with it. There's some people that just kind of stuck their head in the sand and said, I'm not doing it. No AI. I'm not having it. 401 00:40:06,020 --> 00:40:07,640 Renee Martin: But we're not going to be able to do that. 402 00:40:07,710 --> 00:40:10,500 Renee Martin: And so we're going to have to train our students how to use it correctly. 403 00:40:10,710 --> 00:40:17,180 Renee Martin: I always like to say, use it for organization, not creation because it will create random things. 404 00:40:17,460 --> 00:40:24,980 Renee Martin: If you've ever asked it to help you with a citation, it will sometimes make up things. And you're like, that's not the citation I need, but thank you so much. 405 00:40:25,430 --> 00:40:36,480 Renee Martin: I think, as things come out, we're just going to have to build students again that think critically and are able to recognize that things are not as they seem all the time. 406 00:40:36,740 --> 00:40:51,860 Ping Yu: Yeah, I think it's definitely a trend that not just for FFA kids, but all the students in general, just tell them that they need to be able to differentiate what's real and what's not. 407 00:40:52,460 --> 00:40:59,020 Ping Yu: And one of the things that my students do this year is to create a document for a specific plant. 408 00:40:59,820 --> 00:41:01,020 Ping Yu: And they are gonna do that. 409 00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:09,300 Ping Yu: And I know for a fact that a lot of students grab information from AI, and some of those are AI generated. 410 00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:18,620 Ping Yu: But I added another step so that they would know sometimes AI does not do a better job than they do. 411 00:41:18,700 --> 00:41:30,960 Ping Yu: So I asked them to do another version of edits with track changes and go in there, really read through, and then do the corrections that they needed to do. 412 00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:35,480 Ping Yu: Even if it's just AI generated, it doesn't mean it's all correct. 413 00:41:36,620 --> 00:41:59,280 Renee Martin: Yeah. Or at least you know how to research the behind the scenes. Maybe I don't know the answer, but I want to make sure that if I ask it a question, how many cows per person are there in Uruguay? I see the answer, but now I need to go check that answer and make sure that I've looked at sources that are real sources and that they are also research-based sources. 414 00:41:44,420 --> 00:41:44,580 Renee Martin: Right. 415 00:41:58,820 --> 00:42:06,580 Renee Martin: I think about when I was a student at Tifton in college and I did an extension internship one summer. 416 00:42:06,790 --> 00:42:14,940 Renee Martin: And back then in the early 2000s, you would literally get calls and it would be a woman that would say, hey, I have seven apples. 417 00:42:15,720 --> 00:42:17,980 Renee Martin: What can I make with seven apples? 418 00:42:18,290 --> 00:42:29,460 Renee Martin: And you would go to a filing cabinet and you would sift through it and you would find apples and you would pull out the folder that was talking about apples and you would say, you could make an apple cobbler. 419 00:42:29,660 --> 00:42:31,099 Renee Martin: Here's the recipe for an apple cobbler. 420 00:42:31,359 --> 00:42:32,560 Renee Martin: Here's the recipe for an apple pie. 421 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:34,060 Renee Martin: Bake it at 350 for this. 422 00:42:34,820 --> 00:42:40,040 Renee Martin: If I told students that I did that, they would say, did you grow up in the 1800s? 423 00:42:40,150 --> 00:42:43,380 Renee Martin: But that was just 20 years ago that we were still helping. 424 00:42:43,520 --> 00:42:49,380 Renee Martin: And now, AI, you could put in, I have seven apples and some cinnamon, and they would give you 40 recipes for it. 425 00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:54,980 Renee Martin: So I think there's some really cool things that it can do, but we need to figure out. 426 00:42:55,360 --> 00:42:57,040 Renee Martin: Nothing says that those recipes taste good. 427 00:42:57,740 --> 00:42:58,860 Renee Martin: Nobody's tried those recipes. 428 00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:05,680 Renee Martin: So you can't just take it at face value, even for the simple stuff, because it's just giving you information. 429 00:43:04,470 --> 00:43:04,580 Renee Martin: Yeah. 430 00:43:06,180 --> 00:43:07,920 Renee Martin: It doesn't have that human connection. 431 00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:14,600 Renee Martin: So you have to teach students how to make the human connection that they can provide be better than the AI. 432 00:43:14,820 --> 00:43:25,599 Ping Yu: Yeah. For every technology revolution, I always think just use that as a tool instead of something that you just rely on. 433 00:43:26,280 --> 00:43:27,820 Ping Yu: Everything is a tool. 434 00:43:27,980 --> 00:43:35,240 Ping Yu: If you can master the tool, that will actually make you a person that will never lose a job. 435 00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:38,040 Ping Yu: And that's the skill set that you need to have. 436 00:43:38,260 --> 00:43:45,380 Ping Yu: Don't be afraid of it. Embrace it and master it. Yeah, I agree. 437 00:43:48,940 --> 00:44:03,660 Ping Yu: So with your research for the mental health, for the ag teacher and FFA, and all of that coming from FFA, what is your next step? What's the thing that excites you the most on that road? 438 00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:21,080 Renee Martin: Well, I will say it's about to be conference season. And I absolutely love that. I do work part time, but I do still get to take off and go to some conferences. So we're going to be in Costa Rica and Cuba and Kentucky getting to see what other people are talking about. 439 00:44:07,940 --> 00:44:08,180 Renee Martin: Yeah. 440 00:44:21,680 --> 00:44:27,260 Renee Martin: and talking about my research with other people and hearing different ways of thinking about it. 441 00:44:27,279 --> 00:44:29,039 Renee Martin: That is my most exciting time. 442 00:44:29,500 --> 00:44:30,720 Renee Martin: I just love collaboration. 443 00:44:31,460 --> 00:44:34,619 Renee Martin: Anytime that I can build in collaboration, that's so exciting. 444 00:44:35,260 --> 00:45:06,240 Renee Martin: And then after May, when I graduate, the sky is the limit. Who knows what's going to happen after that, but I'm really excited for the spring and just to get to talk to people that are in the same realm as me, because there's not a lot of people in the country doing mental health and ag education. We do have some people here doing farmer stress, and I am a part of that. The Georgia Agricultural Wellness Alliance and I are partnering. We'll be doing some presentations together in January, but it's still so new. So anytime I can be around people, I just think it's the best. 445 00:45:06,410 --> 00:45:13,539 Renee Martin: I just come away really energized and fulfilled to do more research, to dive deeper, to get this dissertation written. 446 00:45:14,220 --> 00:45:16,720 Renee Martin: And those little letters behind my name will be very exciting. 447 00:45:16,859 --> 00:45:17,279 Ping Yu: Yeah. 448 00:45:17,500 --> 00:45:35,320 Ping Yu: I think what you're doing with your research is really something that would be pretty impactful for agriculture in general, because a lot of times agriculture people, they just neglect the fact about their mental health because they have something else more important that they need to be taken care of. 449 00:45:35,320 --> 00:45:36,800 Ping Yu: Like, okay, it's raining. 450 00:45:36,839 --> 00:45:39,740 Ping Yu: I got to go harvest my crop and things like that. 451 00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:49,420 Ping Yu: But how do you plan to implement your research results to help our agriculture stakeholders? 452 00:45:50,240 --> 00:46:01,000 Renee Martin: I think starting with our ag teachers, that's really where I'd like to build and building programs in agriculture education that can provide for their students. 453 00:46:01,600 --> 00:46:06,940 Renee Martin: So those students that may one day become producers have a better idea of what 454 00:46:07,420 --> 00:46:34,480 Renee Martin: good mental health and wellness looks like. And so they can have a balance. We see high suicide rates in certain areas of agriculture, and we definitely want to lower those. So building capacity in your students early on. I also teach Youth Mental Health First Aid and QPR, which is a suicide prevention program. And both of those help people see not just in themselves when they might be struggling, but in others. 455 00:46:35,190 --> 00:46:41,400 Renee Martin: Because again, our community is very close-knit and you are noticing when somebody else is struggling. 456 00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:47,900 Renee Martin: We've really pushed into the community after Hurricane Helene because we had people that lost everything. 457 00:46:47,420 --> 00:47:47,380 Renee Martin: Everything. Some of the people in Coffee County lost chicken houses, even with insurance, they'll never get those back. There's too much money. It's too much in costs and time. And so how do you check on your friends constantly to make sure that they're in the right headspace. After something like that happens, talking with AgrAbility on people that maybe get injured and how can we keep them on the farm, because mental health is really hard after somebody has like an accident, making sure that we're providing accessible materials for people that may speak other languages, especially on some of our farms. We have a lot of Spanish speakers. And so providing materials for them and trainings in their native language from either native speakers that can answer very intricate questions or people that are able to do that. I just think that's super important that everybody has access to it. It's not just for this limited group of people. I think we've done that too long where it's like only these people talk about it. Everybody has to be talking about it for us to make a difference. We need to be open access. 458 00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:48,540 Renee Martin: Yeah. 459 00:47:48,980 --> 00:47:54,779 Ping Yu: So what do you hope our listeners take away from the story and the message of FFA? 460 00:47:55,020 --> 00:47:59,539 Ping Yu: What are some of the last comments and words that you want to leave for our audience today? 461 00:48:01,319 --> 00:48:03,539 Renee Martin: I think the first thing I say is just do it. 462 00:48:03,650 --> 00:48:09,799 Renee Martin: Just join FFA, give it a shot, see if it's for you, join other CTSOs as well. 463 00:48:10,120 --> 00:48:20,020 Renee Martin: Just have something that allows you to get experiences outside the four walls of your school, that puts you in spaces that you would never have been in. 464 00:48:20,460 --> 00:48:25,220 Renee Martin: I hope that people see how deeply ag education and FFA support the whole student. 465 00:48:25,440 --> 00:48:29,600 Renee Martin: I work in the Office of Whole Child, and we're always talking about school climate. 466 00:48:29,680 --> 00:48:31,260 Renee Martin: And I think, man, these things 467 00:48:31,800 --> 00:48:36,860 Renee Martin: that ag teachers do every single day is exactly what we want all teachers to do. 468 00:48:37,420 --> 00:48:50,140 Renee Martin: They are working on not just teaching the curriculum, but how does it relate to society and how do we make students good members of society and be able to critically think. Just however you can get involved. 469 00:48:50,370 --> 00:48:54,840 Renee Martin: Even if you're a senior in high school right now, there's still time for you to join an ag class next semester. 470 00:48:55,110 --> 00:48:57,940 Renee Martin: Or when you get to college, I had a friend that became an ag teacher. 471 00:48:58,180 --> 00:48:59,360 Renee Martin: He'd never had an ag class. 472 00:48:59,940 --> 00:49:02,340 Renee Martin: When he got to college, he heard about Collegiate FFA. 473 00:49:02,470 --> 00:49:03,420 Renee Martin: He joined then. 474 00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:06,220 Renee Martin: You know, we have some great programs at UGA. 475 00:49:07,020 --> 00:49:08,520 Renee Martin: The Hort Club is amazing. 476 00:49:08,670 --> 00:49:10,540 Renee Martin: We have a lot of our students that are in that. 477 00:49:10,830 --> 00:49:16,920 Renee Martin: And so connect with others that are in this field and just build that collaborative nature. 478 00:49:23,080 --> 00:49:31,320 Ping Yu: So with that in mind, if people want to look for more information on FFA, or your mental health research work, 479 00:49:31,540 --> 00:49:34,800 Ping Yu: where do you recommend them to go find more information about those? 480 00:49:36,500 --> 00:49:41,260 Renee Martin: So there's always the National FFA and the Georgia FFA website, and you can Google those. 481 00:49:41,780 --> 00:49:43,660 Renee Martin: If you're on LinkedIn, I'm on LinkedIn. 482 00:49:43,800 --> 00:49:45,860 Renee Martin: I try and keep things updated and posted there. 483 00:49:46,040 --> 00:49:48,400 Renee Martin: I welcome you to find me on there. 484 00:49:48,420 --> 00:49:49,160 Renee Martin: It's Renee Martin. 485 00:49:49,840 --> 00:49:57,260 Renee Martin: We have a Facebook page for Okefenokee RESA, and I do post things that I'm working on through school climate and whole child for my work. 486 00:49:57,760 --> 00:50:02,260 Renee Martin: And then the University of Georgia ALEC department has a great Instagram that you can follow. 487 00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:06,240 Renee Martin: And the GSA, the Graduate Student Association one is pretty good too. 488 00:50:06,680 --> 00:50:07,940 Renee Martin: I ran that for a couple years. 489 00:50:08,520 --> 00:50:13,740 Renee Martin: So I really think utilizing social media is the way to do it so that you can stay connected to people. 490 00:50:14,180 --> 00:50:22,660 Ping Yu: Yeah. Well, thank you, Renee. I really thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us about FFA and all those wonderful stories. 491 00:50:22,840 --> 00:50:38,480 Ping Yu: I really think the bond, the relationship, the community are the essential part of it. 492 00:50:30,640 --> 00:50:32,720 Ping Yu: to connect everyone together. 493 00:50:33,000 --> 00:50:36,380 Ping Yu: And that's really what we should emphasize. 494 00:50:37,100 --> 00:50:42,740 Ping Yu: So thank you for the work that you're doing and thank you for taking your time talking to me today. 495 00:50:44,280 --> 00:50:45,260 Renee Martin: Thank you for doing this podcast. 496 00:50:45,540 --> 00:50:46,020 Renee Martin: This is wonderful. 497 00:50:46,100 --> 00:50:47,960 Renee Martin: I'm so excited to see how it turns out. 498 00:50:48,080 --> 00:50:48,480 Ping Yu: Thank you. 499 00:50:53,680 --> 00:50:56,720 Ping Yu: Conversation like this only happens when you support the show. 500 00:50:57,200 --> 00:51:27,740 Ping Yu: For more information and find ways to support us, please go to bandbpod.com. bandbpod.com. If you like what you are hearing, spread the word and share this podcast with the people you love. Make sure you hit that subscribe button and give a review for the podcast. And as always, go check out the show notes to learn more about this topic and other topics we featured on the show at bandbpod.com. 501 00:51:28,119 --> 00:51:32,060 Ping Yu: Thank you for listening. Till the next time, stay healthy and go plants!