07/24/2026
Spring time might be a busy time for our FFA chapter and our advisor, but come summer time our advisor still doesn't slow down!
This summer Mrs Thoms received $4,500 in professional development grants to help bring more experiences back to the classroom!
🌹Mrs Thoms started her summer by spending 4 days in Pennsylvania with Seed Your Future looking at careers in the horticulture industry! She toured Longwood Gardens, the host site and world renown botanical garden; DV Flora, the county's largest wholesale floral product distributor; Lucas Greenhouses, one of the countries largest producers of greenhouse plants; North Creek Nursery, a huge grower of native plants from plant cell propagation; and Overdest Nursery, a massive nursery operation serving stores along the East coast. While there, she also got to collaborate with teachers 29 other teachers from 17 different states, offering new ideas for the classroom and perspectives on teaching different horticultural classes.
🧰 The following week Mrs Thoms traveled to Pittsburg State University in Kansas to learn more about powertrain systems in heavy equipment. The presenter of the PD is also the author of the Heavy Equipment and Machinery textbook used in our Ag Power Systems class. It was amazing for her to get a more in depth look at the content straight from the curriculum source himself!
🎒And lastly this week, Mrs Thoms has been in Corpus Christi for the Texas Ag Teachers Conference! The last 6 days have been filled with professional development for anything from floral design to ag mechanics to CDE tips and tricks. She even got to talk to companies and organizations that can help support our ag/FFA program! While networking with other teachers from across the state, Mrs Thoms was also recognized for her 5 years with the Texas Ag Teachers Association!
All of this for the summer and throw in State FFA Convention somewhere in the middle too! Now it is on to the final countdown till school starts!