Greta Strautman, SEEAG’s Education Coordinator, was a senior when Alex started teaching at SPHS and she remembers Alex’s enthusiasm and fresh perspective. “He was in his thirties back then with new ideas and he really wanted the kids to work and be involved in the community in which they lived” Greta explained. We are very lucky to have him. Alex is also the Future Farmers of America (FFA) Advisor on campus, which keeps him incredibly busy and he seems to enjoy every minute of it. Alex is making a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.
I will never forget one of the first times I met Alex. He was holding a mic at an AG education event at the Santa Paula Ag Museum. He made an announcement about how he would be bringing his students to four farms during Ventura County Farm Day and thanked me. He made me feel proud and I thought “what a nice gentleman.”
I now see Alex every where; everywhere the words “agriculture” and “education” are discussed together that is. For instance, the President of Ventura College, Dr Greg Gillespie, is diligently trying to start an Agricultural Education/Science Department at the college, so he brought all the local stakeholders together for an agricultural education summit. During the summit It was absolutely wonderful to hear from Alex that the FFA in Santa Paula had very recently received a very large donation, over $700,000, from Dorcas Thille to help build an AG Education Center. This center will contain orchards, row crops, nursery, livestock pastures and barns. Alex assured Greta and me that elementary school children would be invited to use the center. This was music to our ears!
The center will hopefully be an ag education learning hub and destination for students across Ventura County, especially those interested in animal husbandry and raising livestock. Alex is clearly very excited about the new farm. As he gave Greta and me a tour in his new pickup truck he, enthusiastically pointed out where he plans to put all the center’s amazing components. He also is aware he has a lot of work cut out for him. That hard work - community service, education, responsibility, respect for animals and stewardship of the land - are all lessons he teaches his students, and lessons that Alex follows himself. He practices what he preaches. That’s why SEEAG is thrilled to be collaborating with him at our upcoming Kids-to-Farms event on Sunday, April 17th, 2016. We can’t wait to work with FFA, a wonderful organization that clearly aligns with SEEAG’s mission of cultivating our future generations to continue our local agricultural legacy.
