Ottawa High board renews agriculture program

When Kevin Cleary, who has taught agriculture classes and led the Ottawa Township High School FFA Club for the past 20 years, announced he would be retiring at the end of the 2014 school year, it left some questions about the future of those programs. 
The OTHS board answered that question — at least for now — when members approved the hiring of Sarah Timmons as the new agricultural teacher.

Board member Bill Byczynski said he originally was against extending the program's life until he discovered how many students were enrolled in the program for the upcoming school year, many of them freshmen. 
"Last year, Intro to Ag had six students," he said. "Six kids that the teacher taught for the whole year in one class. This year, we have 21 in Intro to Ag, 12 of which are freshmen. As long as the numbers stay up, I'm OK with that, but financially for us, it's difficult to justify a teacher in a classroom for a handful of kids."
The compact meeting room was packed with FFA students, alumni and supporters, including Joe Schmidt, FFA alumni president.

When the board voted unanimously to hire the new teacher the crowd broke into applause.
Anna Schmidt, an OTHS senior who has been an ambassador for the FFA, said she was happy with the board's decision, but understands the necessity of keeping students in the agriculture programs to justify the expense.