Rameen: Coming up on City Spotlight, season nine continues on location, and we're talking Teutopolis, specifically Teutopolis High School.

We'll talk with the new principal of Teutopolis High School, Tanner Lawson.

We'll learn a little bit about Tanner, how the new school year is going at Teutopolis High School, and an overview of the variety of programs offered to students at Teutopolis High School.

Then we'll talk with Teutopolis High School Ag teacher, Alex Schrock.

Alex will fill us in on what the Teutopolis FFA program is all about, and Alex will remember Elizabeth Weidner.

We're on location at Teutopolis High School on our latest episode on Teutopolis, here on City Spotlight.

[music plays] City Spotlight is supported by Consolidated Communications.

CCI is honored to salute the cities and their leaders in the area, as well as providing TV, Internet, and phone service for the local homes and businesses.

We live where we work, and are proud to support the communities we serve.

More information available at consolidated.com.

And hello and welcome to another edition of City Spotlight.

As you can see, we are on location for this latest episode here in season nine, and we are taping for the first time at Teutopolis High School, another on-location episode here on Teutopolis, as we tape here on October 18th.

And we're going to focus all on education in this episode here at Teutopolis High School.

In this first segment, we welcome first time to the program, the new principal here at Teutopolis High School, Tanner Lawson.

Tanner, it's great to have you on.

Tanner: Thanks for having me.

Rameen: Appreciate it.

Glad to have you on and talk about things going on here at Teutopolis High School.

We're taping a couple of months into the new school year.

And before we do that, Tanner, you're a first-time guest.

Tell us a bit about yourself, please.

Tanner: I was born and raised in Winchester, Illinois.

That's just southwest of Jacksonville.

I graduated from Illinois College there.

Have traveled.

My education journey has taken me several places.

The closest one to here would've been Warrensburg-Latham in 11/13.

Had several stops in Missouri, the last one being just north of Kansas City where I was there nine years.

The last three years, I was principal of a rural school district called Buchanan County R-IV.

Rameen: Okay.

Well, welcome back to Illinois and Teutopolis.

Obviously, positions open up, and you as an educator, you do move around a little bit.

Nobody stays at one spot forever unless they just do, so what brought you Teutopolis?

Tanner: Well, in '97, I met my wife who graduated from T-town, so for 22 years, I've been in and around it.

She and I always talked about if we could ever get back here, that'd be a great thing to be closer to family.

There's no secret.

There's not a lot of turnover T-town.

Rameen: Correct.

Tanner: I remember looking when I was a teacher and a coach trying to get back in here.

And then this job opened up and I thought, "I have some experience and I'm tied to the community."

We had one son that was graduating high school.

When he was going off to college, he was kind of one that wanted to finish high school where he was at.

My younger ones got plenty of cousins here in the building, so I gave it a shot, and I was extremely happy at the outcome.

Rameen: You're not the first person here on City Spotlight to have a spouse that kind of led your job path toward here, so welcome back to a community that you said you're obviously very familiar with.

Again, we're taping here October 18th.

The school year's about two months old.

Tanner, how's the start of the school year gone so far?

Tanner: It's been rejuvenating.

I want my principals, administration staff, superintendency staff to help lead buildings and help people become better educators, and I feel like I can do that here.

We got a great staff, we got great students, that people want to learn, people want to get better.

People want to do the right thing.

It's so much fun to walk the hallways.

I have to apologize.

It's about three times bigger than my last school, so I'm still learning all the names, but it's neat to start building those relationships, working with the good staff, the community.

That goes from central office all the way to the bus drivers and the maintenance and the custodian.

People have welcomed me with open arms.

This was my dream job and I don't know if it's really set in yet.

Rameen: Oh, wow, that's very refreshing to hear this is your dream job.

Yeah, and it does take everyone to run a school district.

I think I'm almost to the point where maybe I'm going to stop asking the COVID-related question, but it is 2022, near the end, and I'm sure everywhere educationally, regardless of what state you were from, the restrictions and the mandates were all what they were.

But has it been refreshing, as you get your feet wet, being the leader of this school here in Teutopolis, has it been refreshing to see everyone be able to just do what they do in a normal manner?

Tanner: Yup.

It's been nice to get back to as close to normal as what we know as opposed to three years ago, I think it was.

Yeah, I don't think it's a big secret that a student being in the building, they learn better, the socialism, the social skills.

And I have to be part of the Health Department and mandate masks, and just let kids be kids and learn and teachers be teachers and teach.

It's been nice.

Rameen: Thank you very much.

We've talked Teutopolis schools on this program before.

Our very first Teutopolis episode we did here on City Spotlight was with Teutopolis School Superintendent Matt Sturgeon.

He gave us, obviously, an overview of the school district as a whole.

We talked about a variety of programs that are throughout the schools, but we're at the Teutopolis High School.

Let's go over some of those programs that are offered, and I know you kind of listed them as instructional, athletic, co-curricular.

Where do you want to start?

Tanner: It's up to you.

Obviously, T-town is known for its athletics.

Rameen: Right.

Tanner: There's definitely no secret there.

I heard about that being married to one.

I think I'm going to start with the difference.

We have great teachers, we have great programs as far as English, math, science.

Every school's going to say that, but we truly do.

I think what's been refreshing for me is, you start to see a shift that maybe not everybody's college-bound and that you got to have programs for those kids that have chosen maybe not to go to college right now.

I've never been in a district that has as many programs as T-town has.

We have great business leaders, we have great community, we have great industry right down this road, plus with what's in Effingham.

But you see a lot of ... We have students that go to Health Occ, so they come to school for a little bit, couple hours, and then they go out and they get real-world job experience, and diversified occupations where they, same thing, come for two or three hours and they go out and they're employed by someone in the community.

We have CEO programs where it allows students to go out and learn what it's like to be an entrepreneur, a business owner.

They started one now, the Effingham Regional Career Academy, or we call it ERCA, where students go, and they spend so much time in the classroom and then they get to travel five different pathways to kind of see where their niche is, or what their interest is.

You got CTEC.

And I know I'm going to forget some, but to me, those are the biggest that are different for me.

I'm more curious about them and how they work, because it gives kids a chance to learn outside of the wall, what we teach them inside the walls, so to speak.

So a lot of those, they- Rameen: They get their hands wet.

Tanner: Yes, yes.

They make money.

Some of them make money doing it.

But I think it's about the connections.

I've had family members that were employed or did the diverse occupations in the area, and they went off and got a college degree, and then come back and they're very successful.

And they come back to this community, which has always been a unique thing to me.

Where I grew up, I wanted to get far away as possible, but people go away, they get their education, they go to the workforce, but they're always driven to come back to T-town.

Rameen: A lot of those programs you've named, we've had some segments, CTEC, CEO.

Obviously, the CEO program that has evolved across the United States, really got started here, as we know about that.

And just really for these students to be able to really, as you said, think outside the walls.

They get to learn so much.

Those are opportunities that say you and I, not to date how old we are, those weren't available programs back when we were their age.

So for them to have these opportunities, that's what it is, providing the opportunities for students to have.

Tanner: Right.

Rameen: Okay.

Very good.

Talked about the athletics, and for Teutopolis, everybody knows about Teutopolis and just a hard-working community.

It seems that it just bleeds over into the schools.

Tanner: And it's a large network.

As I said, people come back here.

Many parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, there is the T-town way, and they expect their niece, nephew, daughter, children to walk that line, to perform as they did both academically and extracurricular.

We have students that are involved in a lot of things.

You almost wonder how they have that much time.

And then when they're done with that, they go home and they work on the farm or they help mom and dad.

It's a very special place that's still got real high academic standards, but yet moral and character, and it's just different.

Rameen: It is a unique community.

You mentioned farm, and nice segue there.

In our next segment, we're going to have a segment with new Ag teacher, FFA advisor, Alex Schrock.

And that's a program that's ... is perfect for this community, because any which way you drive to get to Teutopolis, you're going to see lots of farmland.

If you could maybe give us a comment about, kind of tease maybe, what Alex is going to talk about with the FFA Program.

Tanner: Yeah.

Well, I didn't mention FFA.

Not that I wanted to leave her out, but I knew she was going to be taped here today as well.

Rameen: That's fine.

That's fine.

Tanner: She's doing great things down there.

The welding program is something that I mentioned that I haven't been in a school that has that.

That's an avenue out.

We got the hydroponics plants where they grow things.

Maybe someday we're looking to have a greenhouse to where we can plant them, grow them, sell them.

Rameen: Right.

Tanner: Get that with Mr. Passalacqua in the Industrial Arts, and build pots and planters, and then kind of sell to our community, which I know they'll support, because they support a lot of things that we do already, and then kind of get that money back in.

She's just now starting the horse judging, the soil judging, all those competitions.

But she's doing a good job down there and ... Well, I say "down there."

It's down the hallway, and I know she's just getting started.

Second semester gets pretty busy too.

They're getting ready to go for the first time to the National Convention at the end of this month, which we think will drum up some more interest in the Ag program, FFA itself.

And like I said, in this community, I believe it needs to be valued, and hopefully it continues to grow.

Rameen: You mentioned the national event.

That's pretty much ...

If you do any sports, that's their Super Bowl, I guess.

That's a pretty big deal for them, so look forward to hearing from Alex in our next segment.

Thank you for sharing the overview of all the programs that you have, instructional, athletic, co-curricular.

We're taping again here October 18th.

Folks at home will see this episode for the first time, first part of November.

Anything else moving forward into November, into the rest of the school year that's happening that you'd like to share with our audience?

Tanner: I mean, we've had a lot that happened.

We had Manufacture Skill Day the other day.

We had 46 kids go over to Effingham.

Right now, our fall sports are shutting down a little bit and basketball's about to get started end of first quarter.

Rameen: And that's kind of an exciting time of year.

Tanner: And academics, so we're looking strong academically.

We have the National Merit Scholarship test coming up for some students, so there's a lot going on.

That's been a big adjustment for me, coming from a small school.

This has got a lot of moving parts.

I hope people are patient with me.

I'm here to get every student ... or want every student to be successful, so to speak, and it's kind of tough seeing things for the first time as I walk through with them.

Rameen: Well, it's a little transition for everyone, and you're back in the community that obviously you're familiar with because of family reasons.

And it's been great talking with you for the first time, Tanner, and we look forward to having you on the program more.

Tanner Lawson, new principal here at Teutopolis High School.

Thank you for coming on City Spotlight.

Tanner: Thanks again for having me.

Rameen: Thank you so much.

And coming up next here on City Spotlight, we'll talk with Alex Schrock about the Teutopolis FFA program.

But first, let's take a look at some of the upcoming activities going on in Teutopolis.

[music plays] And we're back here on City Spotlight, this new on-location episode on Teutopolis.

We continue to tape here at Teutopolis High School, and we welcome now to the program for the first time, Alex Schrock.

She's an Ag teacher and advisor for the Teutopolis FFA program.

Alex, it's pleasure to have you on the program.

Alex: Thank you so much for having me.

Rameen: Great to be taping here with Alex.

Again, we're taping here on October 18th at Teutopolis High School.

And Alex, before we talk about the FFA program and what you do as an Ag teacher, you're a first time guest.

Tell us about yourself.

Alex: My name is Alex Schrock.

I recently got married, last year, and celebrated the birth of my first daughter in June.

Rameen: Congratulations.

Alex: She's actually my second child, so I have a seven year old.

His name's Asher.

His birthday will be next week, and so we're getting ready to celebrate our one-year anniversary.

I'm originally from Mattoon, and then went to Lake Land, and then graduated from the U of I with my Bachelor's in Animal Science and then my Master's in Agriculture Education.

Rameen: Very good.

Welcome back to T-Town.

You told me you had been here then you to Mattoon, so what brought you back Teutopolis?

Alex: I knew that it was always my goal to teach back at my hometown in Mattoon, but whenever I went back, it was kind of the middle of COVID.

I transitioned over there, and it just never really felt like the right fit for me.

And then the position opened back up, and I just knew that that was where my heart was.

I loved the community.

I loved my kids that I had.

I made a lot of memories and kept in contact with a lot of my students from the first time I was here.

And so, I just decided, I was like, that's where I think I'm supposed to be.

Rameen: Sounds like you and the community, vice versa, connected well with each other, so that's why you're back, so welcome back to T-town.

And we're taping here about two months into the start of the school year.

Here again, we tape here on October 18th.

Your impressions of the new school year, just two months old.

Alex: The first day of school just reminded me of the reason I came back.

I have small classes and everyone in my class seems like they want to be there.

They ask questions.

They're happy to be there.

They want to be in my classes, and everything so far has gone really smooth.

And even with the new principal, it's been a really good start to the year.

Rameen: We talked with Tanner Lawson, the new principal here at Teutopolis High School, in the first segment.

So you're back in a place that you're very familiar with.

You're an Ag teacher.

You're an advisor with the FFA chapter.

I think it'd be important to maybe tell our audience just how important the agricultural lifestyle is to this community.

Alex: Effingham County is one of the top dairy-producing counties in the State of Illinois, and they also have a lot of pork production with swine around here too, so all of these kids have some connection to the agriculture industry, more than just going to the grocery store and picking out their groceries every day.

So, it's really important that they learn a little bit more into that industry that has impacted them all so much.

Rameen: And for folks at home .

..

Thank you very much.

And for folks at home that have probably heard of FFA chapters in their local communities, Teutopolis has one.

Give us an overview of, what is FFA?

And maybe go into what are some of the activities that the kids do?

Alex: Sure.

The National FFA Organization used to be Future Farmers of America.

In 1989, it changed its name so that it would be more inclusive for all industries, and recognizing that farming and agriculture is not just sows, cows, and plows as it used to be, and that it includes a lot more of the science behind it.

There's a lot that goes on in labs and behind the scenes, and it's not just being out in a field in a tractor every day.

Now, being down in T-town, we see a lot of the kids in tractors.

Rameen: Yes.

Alex: A lot of them go straight to the farm after school.

Rameen: There's just a little bit of farmland around T-town.

Alex: There is, and especially at the end of October, we're in prime harvest season, so pretty much driving down the road, you're going to see a combine somewhere.

Rameen: Probably.

Alex: And so, the FFA is a student-led organization that has almost 800,000 members across the United States and our territories.

State of Illinois has 19,000 FFA members, and it's a huge opportunity for kids to come together, to recognize their similarities, but also the differences in agriculture across the country.

And we're getting ready to go to National Convention next week.

We'll be going for the first time here at Teutopolis.

Rameen: Very good.

Alex: So, the kids are really excited.

It's a- Rameen: Where's that being held at?

Alex: It's over in Indianapolis and there'll be about 70,000 of those FFA members gathered in Indianapolis next week.

Rameen: I cut you off.

Again, that activity is happening after we're taping, and before this airs, so continue on please.

Alex: And we're also really excited.

Our very own Isaac Vahling, he's a senior here at Teutopolis, and he's earned a position in the National FFA Band.

Rameen: Congratulations.

Alex: He'll actually be on stage quite a bit over the next week.

He'll be actually leaving on Saturday and be there for a full week.

Rameen: When you say band, is it- Alex: The National FFA Band.

Rameen: Okay, very good.

Very good.

Okay.

Very good.

And I liked your comment about the science of the farming, so give us an example of how, again, you use that expression with the animals, but what's some of the science of FFA?

Give us an example of that, that maybe people at home didn't think about what the students are getting involved with the science of agriculture.

Alex: We're doing a lot right now with our grow towers that we have in our classroom, where the kids are starting seeds, learning some of the smaller processes of starting the seed, and not just the throwing the bag of seed in the tractor and planting it in the spring, and then waiting for October to harvest it.

So, they're getting to see kind of the close up of each individual plant.

We're also planning on having a petting zoo here for FFA week in February.

Rameen: Wow.

Alex: And so, they get to see all of the different processes, that there's a lot that goes into raising their pigs and dairy cows, a lot with the nutrition.

Every animal requires a different amount of nutrients, and learning about those is also important so they know how to help their animals grow more efficiently.

A lot of them are also involved in 4-H and raised their animals to show at the Livestock Fair.

So, just exposing them to those different aspects and letting them try different nutrient levels and try different additives for their feed to help their animals grow better and look better for their fairs.

It's something they can all apply at home too.

Rameen: Wow, that's very cool.

Thank you for that insight.

Love hearing about the behind-the-scenes things.

We talked with Tanner Lawson, the principal here at the Teutopolis High School, about the many programs offered here at Teutopolis High School, and obviously the FFA program, agriculture is just one of those.

For you personally, what do you get out of your background, your education, working with these kids in the field of agriculture, and the FFA activities?

What do you enjoy most about it?

Alex: I think that I just enjoy seeing the kids be successful, and interacting with them outside of the classroom.

The most I get out of my position is getting to take them to FFA National Convention, taking them to contests outside of school.

It's when I learn the most about each of the kids, learn what drives them, what they want to do.

And like I said, I have a few students that I've continued to interact with.

One has since graduated.

And my husband and I, we raise pigs for show purposes, and I've seen a couple of them at pig sales across the state and see them show, have come in and come down to Effingham County to see them show.

And it's been a lot of fun just to be able to continue those relationships and see where it takes them.

Rameen: That's what it's about, the relationships.

Roughly how many students do you have currently involved in this school year of FFA?

Alex: This semester, I have about 55 students in my classes, so I have four different agriculture classes that I'm teaching this semester, and then those will change in the spring as well, so those numbers will be a little bit different.

But we have about 30 active FFA members as well.

Rameen: Very good.

Healthy number of students.

In the last few minutes that we have with you, Alex, great having you on City Spotlight for the first time, I want to talk about one of your former FFA members here in Teutopolis and that's an individual named Elizabeth Weidner.

Elizabeth was a member of FFA.

She passed away last September, September of 2021.

She was 17 years old.

WEIU was fortunate to have Elizabeth on the Teutopolis This Is Our Story program.

She was a storyteller, and she shared her story of love for the FFA chapter and agriculture.

As we were setting up this interview, Alex told me that she is fond of the Weidner family, and although you were away from T-town for a little while, you were still obliged to kind of just speak a little bit about Elizabeth.

I know she spoke about her experiences and her love for FFA.

I know you just talked about the towers.

I believe that's part of something that she helped get there.

Talk about just how tremendous of a person Elizabeth Weidner was for the FFA chapter and this community.

Alex: When I came in and taught here for the first time three years ago, I had a program dominated by boys.

My first FFA event, I took 26 boys to the Farm Progress Show and I was the only female on the bus.

Elizabeth was the one female that was in FFA that I could kind of rely on as my other woman in the room, and she just lit up a room.

She had a sense of security about her that she was confident in anything she did.

She did really well with our FFA public speaking contests, making it all the way to the state level.

And she just had a way of impacting anyone that she came in contact with.

Her legacy continues to live on between the FFA Science Program and art clubs here at the high school.

We're working on renovating some of the courtyards that are in the middle of the school building, based on some grants that she started when she was here.

And we want to make sure that her legacy continues to live on and that her light continues to shine.

Rameen: Certainly in her last year, as the story that we shared in the Teutopolis This Is Our Story program, those grants certainly help pave the way for the future of the program.

Alex: They absolutely have.

They were kind of the foundation for starting those projects, and with the COVID issue, they went by the wayside a little bit.

Rameen: Right.

Alex: But now that everything is kind of going back to normal, we're really wanting to jump into that head first.

And the three club advisors, we're working really hard to get a plan together, and then hope that our students in each of our clubs can help start renovating those as they are.

Rameen: Okay, very good.

It was the honor for us to tape with Elizabeth, and thank you for those comments about her.

She was a tremendous person to this community.

Anything else you'd like to add, Alex, about the FFA program, Teutopolis schools, or the community before we wrap up with you?

Alex: I just want to say thank you for having me.

I really, really appreciated being back in Teutopolis.

Between the community that have asked me and have interacted with me since I've been here, my alumni chapter is extremely supportive with all of our endeavors.

And my students, I couldn't do what I do without them, so I've really appreciated just being back, and really loved my time here so far.

Rameen: So it sounds like you're in the right place, and the students sound like they're pretty lucky to have you back here.

Alex: I like to think I'm the lucky one.

Rameen: All right.

Very good.

That's Alex Schrock.

She's an Ag teacher here at Teutopolis High School.

Also works with the students in the Teutopolis FFA chapter.

Alex, it's been a pleasure having you on City Spotlight.

Thank you.

Alex: Thank you very much.

Rameen: Thank you.

And that will do it for our latest City Spotlight episode on Teutopolis.

We've been taping here in season nine on location.

Thanks for watching.

City Spotlight is supported by Consolidated Communications.

CCI is honored to salute the cities and their leaders in the area, as well as providing TV, Internet, and phone service for the local homes and businesses.

We live where we work, and are proud to support the communities we serve.

More information available at consolidated.com.

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