Pat Tax--Ag Teacher Extraordinaire
I am the Agricultural Science teacher at Pierz High School. I enjoy the challenge of learning about the strides that agriculture has made along with my students. As an economic sector, agriculture contributes over $992 billion to our GDP (https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag.../ag-and-food-sectors-and-the-economy/). It is crucial that we prepare students to meet the needs both now and in the future.
Agriculture is one of the most demanding and stressful lifestyles. Today’s farmers deal with low commodity prices and high input prices across the board. As a lifelong farmer, I experienced these issues and want to help students have the tools that will help them succeed.
I grew up on a 70 cow dairy farm in Mayhew Lake and remember watching as my dad poured milk into cream cans and then as we progressed, into a step saver to a bulk tank. I married Chuck Tax in 2002 and began a second career as a dairy farmer. In 2016, Chuck and I leased our operation to another young couple trying to get into the dairy industry and our lives as dairy farmers changed drastically. We still shudder at the thought of thawing drinking cups and dealing with frozen beaters on the manure spreader in these cold winter days.
I started my teaching career in 2012. Our youngest daughter, Mary, was crowned Princess Kay of the Milky Way in 2011 and part of her duties were to travel to Minnesota elementary schools as an advocate for dairy farmers. I was lucky enough to accompany her on many of her 84 visits. I remember feeling frustrated at the amount of misconception that the general public had about farming overall. When I shared that with Chuck along with how as a young girl, I loved to play teacher with my siblings and cousins, it seemed like a good time to pursue a teaching degree. I had so many people that helped me along the way, including the people at the University of Minnesota/Twin Cities campus. This was the only university in Minnesota that offered an agricultural sciences teaching program. At first, I was terrified at the thought of both the commute and the idea of attending school at such a mature age. People put me in touch with the Northstar commuter system, of which I am still a huge advocator of today, and with other people that had attained an educational degree at a later age. I met so many inspiring people involved in different facets of agriculture along the way that I realized very quickly how truly inexperienced I was myself.
I believe it was this entire experience that helped make me a better teacher. I can relate well to students feeling anxious as well as students that have no clue about where their future lies--I am testament that hard work can be a huge asset, but not being afraid to embrace change helps greatly too.
From Karrie Boser, high school Principal: "Pat joined our Healy High team five years ago. She has really focused on bringing her passion for agriculture to our school and instilling this passion and her knowledge in our students. When she came to the high school, the program was at a rather deteriorating state and in a short five years has really turned that around. She has written and received grant dollars of nearly $60,000 to invest in resources to address the needs of that department including, but not limited to a greenhouse (used year-round), community garden, solar panels, drones and more. All of these funds have benefitted not only our agriculture students, but all students within our school. Pat has also attended multiple summer courses to make sure she is providing the most up-to-date instruction and using the resources that students will experience within the work sector."
When I am not creating lesson plans, I spend much of my time in family type activities. I laughingly tell my kids that I live through their experiences as traveling the world is not an option for me. I love to spend time gardening and landscaping and also am learning the art of wine-making.
I am so proud to be a member of the staff at Pierz schools. I am humbled by how hard and how much time staff will take to ensure students’ successes. Some of my proudest moments are when students achieve things they thought were out of reach--whether it is the time someone came to tell me that she finally understood how to calculate square feet into square yards or when those students that have used their projects to earn monetary awards from the National FFA are finally recognized for what they are doing. It all makes me so happy; their successes make my day.
Agriculture is one of the most demanding and stressful lifestyles. Today’s farmers deal with low commodity prices and high input prices across the board. As a lifelong farmer, I experienced these issues and want to help students have the tools that will help them succeed.
I grew up on a 70 cow dairy farm in Mayhew Lake and remember watching as my dad poured milk into cream cans and then as we progressed, into a step saver to a bulk tank. I married Chuck Tax in 2002 and began a second career as a dairy farmer. In 2016, Chuck and I leased our operation to another young couple trying to get into the dairy industry and our lives as dairy farmers changed drastically. We still shudder at the thought of thawing drinking cups and dealing with frozen beaters on the manure spreader in these cold winter days.
I started my teaching career in 2012. Our youngest daughter, Mary, was crowned Princess Kay of the Milky Way in 2011 and part of her duties were to travel to Minnesota elementary schools as an advocate for dairy farmers. I was lucky enough to accompany her on many of her 84 visits. I remember feeling frustrated at the amount of misconception that the general public had about farming overall. When I shared that with Chuck along with how as a young girl, I loved to play teacher with my siblings and cousins, it seemed like a good time to pursue a teaching degree. I had so many people that helped me along the way, including the people at the University of Minnesota/Twin Cities campus. This was the only university in Minnesota that offered an agricultural sciences teaching program. At first, I was terrified at the thought of both the commute and the idea of attending school at such a mature age. People put me in touch with the Northstar commuter system, of which I am still a huge advocator of today, and with other people that had attained an educational degree at a later age. I met so many inspiring people involved in different facets of agriculture along the way that I realized very quickly how truly inexperienced I was myself.
I believe it was this entire experience that helped make me a better teacher. I can relate well to students feeling anxious as well as students that have no clue about where their future lies--I am testament that hard work can be a huge asset, but not being afraid to embrace change helps greatly too.
From Karrie Boser, high school Principal: "Pat joined our Healy High team five years ago. She has really focused on bringing her passion for agriculture to our school and instilling this passion and her knowledge in our students. When she came to the high school, the program was at a rather deteriorating state and in a short five years has really turned that around. She has written and received grant dollars of nearly $60,000 to invest in resources to address the needs of that department including, but not limited to a greenhouse (used year-round), community garden, solar panels, drones and more. All of these funds have benefitted not only our agriculture students, but all students within our school. Pat has also attended multiple summer courses to make sure she is providing the most up-to-date instruction and using the resources that students will experience within the work sector."
When I am not creating lesson plans, I spend much of my time in family type activities. I laughingly tell my kids that I live through their experiences as traveling the world is not an option for me. I love to spend time gardening and landscaping and also am learning the art of wine-making.
I am so proud to be a member of the staff at Pierz schools. I am humbled by how hard and how much time staff will take to ensure students’ successes. Some of my proudest moments are when students achieve things they thought were out of reach--whether it is the time someone came to tell me that she finally understood how to calculate square feet into square yards or when those students that have used their projects to earn monetary awards from the National FFA are finally recognized for what they are doing. It all makes me so happy; their successes make my day.
