On January 9, 2017, Horace Hodge, USDA/1890 Program Liaison, on behalf of the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences, presented Tom Maynard, retired State Executive Director, Texas FFA Association, an appreciation plaque for spearheading the “Team Ag Ed” support for the CAHS to host Invitational FFA Career Development (CDE) and Leadership Development Events (LDE) at Prairie View A&M University.
These FFA events build on what is learned in agricultural classes and encourage FFA members to put their knowledge into practice. CDE and LDE help prepare students for a career in agriculture by testing and challenging the student’s technical, leadership, interpersonal and teamwork skills as well as their knowledge of the subject matter.
PVAMU’s 2016 CDE saw over 1,500 FFA students on campus representing over 100 Texas High Schools. This year’s event scheduled for February 23 should exceed those numbers with over 1,700 students currently registered to participate from 108 high schools. Without Maynard’s initial support, this event would not be the success it is today.
Maynard served for 17 years as executive director of the Texas FFA Association, the nation’s largest state career and technical student organization with a membership of more than 118,000 students on more than 1,000 Texas campuses. Under his leadership, Texas FFA more than doubled its membership. He was named as the nation’s outstanding state FFA executive in 2016 by the National Association of Supervisors of Agricultural Education.
A member of the State Board of Education, he represents District 10, which includes Williamson and Bell Counties and portions of Travis County on the Interstate-35 corridor and reaches to Freestone County on the northeast corner, Waller County on the southeast corner and Burnet County on the west end.
Maynard continues to support PVAMU as a member of the Search Committee for the Dean and Director of Land-Grant Programs at PVAMU.
Horace Hodge
USDA/ 1890 Program Liaison
hdhodge@pvamu.edu
(936) 261-2521
James Palmer, Ph.D.
Interim Dean and Director of Land-Grant Programs
jmpalmer@pvamu.edu
(936) 261-2214