HOUSTON, TX – One way to measure a university’s success is to look at the values its students hold dear to their lives and in their work. At Prairie View A&M University’s College of Agriculture and Human Sciences, alumni frequently testify to how much CAHS has prepared them for the future and how they pass on their passion for agriculture studies to younger generations.
This dynamic currently is being played out with the many CAHS alumni who teach agriculture-related classes in the Aldine Independent School District. Aldine ISD held its 63rd FFA Livestock Show in Houston at the end of January. Plenty of their mentors, leaders, and teachers are CAHS alumni who pride themselves on training the next generation of agriculture professionals.
“To me, it is very important for students to have this experience because we want to change the face of agriculture,” said Andra Collins Johnson, Aldine ISD AgriScience teacher, and CAHS Alum, Class of 2002. “We know that, historically, African Americans have been the agriculturists, but the trade was taken away from us; it’s not our field as much as it should have been. We were the original cowboys, and we want to get back to that.”
Students began tending to their various animals in October 2021 to prepare for the livestock show. They clean, feed and tame their animals for two months to compete well and place in the competition.
Students demonstrate how they handle and treat the swine during the pig showmanship event, goading them with their pig whips to trot a particular path. Another critical category of the competition is eye contact. Students in the ring maintained constant eye contact with the judge, showing how well they could control the pig with ease.
“The showmanship portion displays how well the kids display that animal for the judge,” said Jacorey Burnett, MacArthur High School AgriScience teacher and a PVAMU CAHS alum of the Class of 2005. “Overall, it just shows a dedication that the kid had towards the animal.”
The program’s effectiveness is the core truth that is driving this competition. Agriculture is yet another field lacking plenty of underserved students, and events like the FFA livestock show provide a quality chance of catching up with the rest of the people privileged to be involved in agriculture.
“All of those kids have not been raised in an agriculture background,” said Dexter Arkadie, a MacArthur High School AgriScience teacher and a PVAMU alum of 1978. “But they have some need for animals. And we have a lot of kids that graduate from here but do not have the discipline. So, we try and guide them and say, hey, if you like animals, let’s do something that you like, that you have a passion for.”
Arkadie’s statement is why he and other PVAMU alumni are adamant about working in their community and contributing their success to the college. Three of Arkadie’s former students are now agriculture teachers locally. Two of them are PVAMU alumni. Burnett claims there were three separate occasions where PVAMU alumni hired him and elevated his career.
“We teach these kids to come back and give back,” Arkadie said. “They come back and work in their communities where they were raised and go get these students something to work with.”
Changing the face of agriculture will lead to a turning point for students and the future. For Collins Johnson, the passion for agriculture and CAHS is palpable. And she wants her legacy to be one where she helps students matriculate to that next level.
“AgEd is my first love,” Collins Johnson said. “Becoming an Ag teacher was the second part to saving my life; I saw Ag save my life in high school, and that’s what I do every day; I help change lives.”
The livestock show also featured livestock competition with steer, horses, poultry, lamb, and goats.
Pascale Mondesir
Communication Specialist II
pamondesir@pvamu.edu
(936) 261-5155