KANSAS – After a 35-year career at Lakota High School, Jeff Adams will leave the shop and classroom for
the final time as he retires as the vocational agriculture teacher and FFA adviser.
Adams has strong praise for the school system and is proud that both he and his wife, Sherry, not only
have served the school district, they raised all three of their daughters to be Raider graduates.
"It’s been a marvelous school district," the Risingsun resident said, praising the community
for having "some of the best parents."
One of his former students, Jolene (Park) Smith, had her three sons attend his classes.
"He’s a very caring guy, He goes above and beyond for these kids," Smith said of Adams.
"He does extra things he doesn’t have to do."
Both Smith and her husband, Mark, graduated from Lakota High School, and this spring their youngest of
three sons will make five LHS FFA graduates in the family.
Adams and Smith both noted how the demographics have changed since she and her husband were students in
the 1980s.
"When I was in school we were all pretty much farm kids," Smith recalled. "Now there are
lot more kids that are not farmers. He engages these kids to keep it interesting, and he is always very
supportive of every family."
Adams said, "After we were able to award a science credit for some of the agriculture classes, we
have had all kind of students coming into the room."
He sees that trend as a positive change for the program.
"He’s a friend, teacher and mentor for these students – he wears a lot of hats for being the teacher
he is," Smith said. "He always tries to find new ways to keep the kids’ interest."
For the last 23 years he has served in the same position as an employee of Vanguard/Sentinel Career
Centers as a satellite program instructor.
Adams was born into the field. His father was an ag teacher for 33 years in Vermont where Adams was born
and raised. As a student, he was a state FFA officer, serving as Vermont president in 1975-76. He
started his collegiate career in Vermont, but transferred after visiting Ohio State University.
At OSU he became good friends with a Lakota FFA member who was the chapter’s president and later was
elected a national FFA vice president. Adams ran for national office at the same time but was not
elected. He says his failure to be elected was a blessing as he was able to stay on track.
He did his student teaching in the spring of 1979 at Bowling Green High School under longtime instructors
Mike Shertzer and Dick Burkholder.
"He was very enthusiastic and fun to work with and the kids really liked him," Shertzer said of
Adams’ student teaching days.
Adams, 57, has taken significant pride in the FFA Motto, specifically "Living to Serve."
In 1986 he helped organize a massive "hay drive" which took 8,000 bales of hay to
drought-stricken farmers in the south, filling 16 semi-trailer loads.
Though retiring, he may keep his hand in education while spending more time with his family which now
boasts three grandchildren.
He may teach some vo-ag business classes and do some substitute teaching or coaching.
He will also devote more time to his church service work as a member of Findlay Churches of God’s Church
Life Council.
"I’m a firm believer in what FFA can do for you. I wish I had a nickel for every opportunity offered
to the students they turned down," Adams said, noting that statement can be viewed as both a
positive and a negative.
Adding, "In truth, I believe for me and many ag teachers, if not teachers in general, our greatest
accomplishments are the myriad of times we worked with a student through a tough decision or situation
and saw them break out of their shell and into a more self-assured young person."