Greenwood High instructor shows ag impact on daily life, economy

Angela Jones, a tenth-grade English teacher at Greenwood High School in Sebastian County, is Arkansas Farm Bureau’s 2018 Ag in the Classroom Outstanding Teacher. Jones received the award during a recent surprise announcement at the school. 

Farm Bureau established the award in 2006 to recognize teachers who have exemplary programs that integrate agricultural concepts into their teaching. Jones worked agricultural concepts into all of her year-long curriculum which included the students in her English II classes reading and writing about the classic “Animal Farm” by George Orwell, along with Ruta Septeys’ New York Times bestseller “Between Shades of Gray,” and agriculture-themed articles from magazines, including Arkansas Farm Bureau’s Front Porch.

“I have a special interest in agriculture and an understanding of how it affects our personal lives, the environment, the economy, our national heritage and national security,” said Jones, who with her husband Cody raises chickens in four broiler houses and runs a small cow-calf operation.

She says she narrowed the focus of her classroom curriculum, so her students would learn two concepts – “… understanding agriculture’s impact on our personal lives and its impact on the economy.”

Arkansas Farm Bureau Senior Education Coordinator Matt Jackson spoke highly of Jones’ efforts, particularly considering her subject matter specialty. “Agriculture is easier to teach in a science or a history/social studies class,” he said. “I’m impressed at her ability to integrate agriculture into a high school English class.”

Greenwood High School English Department Chair Nikki Adams also had high praise for the effect Jones is having not only on her students, but also on her own perception of modern agriculture.

“Before working with Angela Jones, I saw agriculture as an antiquated industry relegated to the few holdouts clinging to a dying way of life,” Adams stated. “Through her own experiences living on a farm and her approach to blending her farm life with her professional life, I have adjusted my own perceptions of not only the importance of the agricultural industry but its amazing adaption to modern technology.”

Jones is a graduate of Arkansas Tech University, where she earned a bachelor of science in health information management. She is presently taking coursework at ATU in school counseling and leadership. She has been a teacher at Greenwood High School since 2006. With the Outstanding Teacher honor, she receives an expense-paid trip to Portland, Maine to represent Arkansas at the National Ag in the Classroom Conference, which will be held June 26-29.

Arkansas Farm Bureau is a nonprofit, private advocacy organization of more than 190,000 families throughout the state working to improve farm and rural life.

For more information, contact:

Gregg Patterson
(501) 228-1282
gregg.patterson@arfb.com

or

Rob Anderson
(501) 228-1640
rob.anderson@arfb.com

Angela Jones of Sebastian County, 2018 Ag in the Classroom Outstanding Teacher, with her husband, Cody, and daughter, Hallie.