02/11/2023
This is our amazing announcer for Rodeo!!
I may not be real confident in determining the quality grade of a beef carcass, and Iโm only slightly more certain in my ability to teach a kid how to weld a bead. I can only fumble my way through a balance sheet, and I can barely tell you an O horizon from bedrock in a soil profile. But I have a little bit of confidence when it comes to coaching my FFA speakers.
This time of year brings a few things with it. Wind. It brings wind. It also brings baby calves, and on top of that, it brings FFA leadership development events. For me, that is the highlight of my job. I get to instill what little bit of knowledge I have in a few kids who want to talk about agricultural topics to a bunch of adults who work in the industry. Itโs actually pretty fun.
Tonight, I invited some community members in to listen to and grill some of my speakers who are going on to the Sectional contest after doing well at the District level. I enlisted my dad, my buddy, Ben Buchert, and my high school Ag teacher, Bill Peal.
Iโve had Mr. Peal come and help me a time or two, and every time he does, I feel like I can walk three feet off the ground. Tonight was no different. He took those kids in the palm of his hand as he taught them the same lessons he taught me thirโฆa few years ago. He talked about visualization, about movement across the stage, about facial expressions, and answering questions with authority. I was inspired, and Iโm pretty sure those kids were, too.
The funny thing is, since my freshman year of high school, Iโve probably spoken in front of a couple thousand audiences or more. I have announced some of the biggest rodeos in the world. I have anchored national television broadcasts, and Iโve done it all with some level of confidence. And I have developed a style that includes mannerisms, movements, and inflections I thought I had just been given by the grace of God.
Then I watch Mr. Peal. And I realize that much of what I thought was just my natural style was just what he taught me all those years ago. And itโs stuck.
I think it stuck in those kids, too. Theyโve worked hard. Theyโve put up with me and what I call coaching! Theyโve fielded questions from my student teacher and me, other teachers, industry professionals, friends, parents, and now Mr. Peal. Their bases are covered.
I just hope I can make the difference in some of those kidsโ lives that Mr. Peal has made in mine. I hope I can inspire kids and teach them they can do anything the way Mr. Peal did for me. If I can do that, Iโll know Iโve built a future for the Ag industry. Iโll know Iโve just left the world a little better place. Thatโs enough for me.
โYou are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.โโMatthew 5
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