Missouri Teacher of the Year Finalist Ronna Ford
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Family and Consumer Sciences Instructor Ronna Ford, Lebanon Technology and Career Center, advises a culinary arts II student, Kristen Nelson, on how to create an apple dumpling. |
Preparing Students for Life
A Passion for School, a Talent for Fundraising, and a Love for Kids
by Michele L. Clark, ABC, assistant director of communications, Division of Career Education
A vision and a passion to help students succeed – in the classroom and beyond – are key ingredients to Ronna Ford’s teaching philosophy.
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Commissioner of Education D. Kent King (left) and State Board of Education President Russell V. Thompson honored Ronna Ford as a finalist in the Missouri Teacher of the Year program at a banquet Nov. 13, 2007, in Jefferson City. |
The 2007-08 Missouri Teacher of the Year Finalist from Lebanon R-III School District is being recognized for her leadership and success in the classroom, in the community, and in her profession. Over the past 25 years, Ford has helped build a successful family and consumer sciences program in Lebanon.
Ford graduated from Southwest Missouri State University in 1983 and was hired by the Lebanon R-III School District as one of its two family and consumer sciences teachers. At the time, there wasn’t the state-of-the-art FACS program that her students enjoy today, she said. Her goal was to build an ambitious program with teachers specializing in the different fields of FACS, including occupational training, such as early childhood education and culinary arts.
The ingredients to building a successful program are not secret — just a lot of hard work and dedication beyond the demands of classroom instruction. With scarce resources available to grow a thriving program, her vision required innovation and persistence. Her extra initiatives include grant writing for programs, equipment, and materials, as well as earning specialized credentials that will give her students advanced preparation for their culinary careers.
Ford is currently completing extensive requirements to become one of the state’s first certified ProStart® instructors. The ProStart program is a two-year industry-based program that prepares students for careers in the restaurant and foodservice industry. Educators can become certified instructors through the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation after passing the certification test for three levels of instruction (basic, advanced, and mastery), completing 120 hours of industry work experience, and fulfilling other requirements for the credential.
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Culinary arts' students at Lebanon Technology and Career Center operate the Jacket Junction cafe. Students get work-related experiences making omelettes to order, waffles, smoothies, and many other menu items for students attending the technology center. |
As advisor of her local chapter of Family, Career, Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), she enriches the curriculum with a heaping dollop of community involvement. “I believe in the power of service learning because it puts theoretical discussions into a context, with how people actually live in the world,” she said.
The needs of community provide ample opportunity for service-learning. Fords’ FCCLA students run blood drives, pick up trash along the highway, organize Christmas donations for local families, and conduct fundraising projects for the March of Dimes, Crosslines and the American Cancer Society.
However, other needs of the community are more challenging to address. Noting the common tragedies of neglected or molested children, the school’s program advisory committee is considering ways to emphasize parenting skills in its curriculum and is preparing a proposal for consideration this spring based on successful models in the state.
Ford, a champion of students and strong families, has lead the growth and development of not only the FACS program in Lebanon, but occupational and family programs across the state. Ford is a leader in curriculum development, serves as a mentor to other teachers, is a leader in Missouri’s ProStart culinary program, has been involved in the development of the personal finance course, and served last year as president of the Missouri Association of Career and Technical Educators.
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Senior Jenn Gunzenhauser plans to pursue a career in the culinary arts. She is active in FCCLA and SkillsUSA student organizations. |
Ford noted the election year will be a time that politicians will be talking about family values. She has an inarguable opinion about that. “If families are not strong, then society is not strong.”
“There is a real need for teaching the skills in family and consumer sciences,” Ford said. “Students understand that it’s important.” She noted the problem-solving and communication skills that are practiced every day, and the swelling enrollment in the school’s nutrition classes.
"If families are not strong, then society is not strong." — Ronna L. Ford, MA Lebanon Technology and Career Center |
Zane Walters, a junior, is taking culinary classes with Mrs. Ford this year. “She convinces us to think about our futures.”
“She has a way of teaching that everyone understands,” said John Lucas, Ford’s first adult student in the culinary program at the Lebanon Technology and Career Center. “She cares. Failure is not an option.”
She takes pride in the students who recently graduated and are now in big-name culinary schools. She takes even more pride in the students who overcome significant personal problems to persevere and graduate from high school.
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Ford demonstrates a technique for preparing Thai dumplings for adult student John Lucas. |
“As humbling as it has been to be selected a Teacher of the Year finalist by my colleagues, and as exciting as it has been to build a successful program from the ground up, and as much gratification as my professional organizations provide to me, it’s my students that fill me with the highest rewards,” Ford said.
“I tell my students, 'I want you to be successful today. I want you to have the skills to carry out of here and do what you want to do. Be successful,'” she said.
Editor's Note: Application deadline for the 2008-09 Missouri Teacher of the Year program is July 21. |