T.J. Rhodes, FFA Advisor (personal profile story)
Strict might not be the best way to describe agriculture teacher and FFA Advisor T.J. Rhodes.
“He’s got expectations,” said Rhodes’ coworker and fellow agriculture teacher Jess Shaffer. “The kids know what’s expected and where the line is.”
Rhodes teaches Introduction to Agriculture, Greenhouse Management and Plant and Soil Science at Bear River High School and Bear River Middle School in Garland.
Rhodes has been teaching for 14 years. Prior to working at Bear River, he taught at Sky View in Smithfield for three years. As a teacher, Rhodes has a way of inspiring his students to get things done.
“I expect my kids to toe the mark,” Rhodes said. “I let them know right up front this is what you’ve got to do if this is the result you want.”
One example of this is the tidiness of Rhodes’ classroom and greenhouse.
“His room is taken care of, and I don’t think it’s because he does it,” Shaffer said. “His greenhouse is taken care of because his kids know that’s the way it needs to be.”
While Rhodes has high expectations, he also has a sense of humor. Allison Smith, a senior and Bear River FFA chapter president, said Rhodes jokes with the students to encourage them to wear their official dress to FFA events.
“He’s kind of goofy about it,” she said. “‘If you’re not in your official dress, I’m leaving you here,’ he always says.”
In reality, if students come underdressed, Rhodes is prepared with backups.
“He’s got extra jackets and ties for people who may not have their jacket right there or forgot something. He’s always prepared that way,” Smith said.
Jeff Kent, president of the North Box Elder County Farm Bureau, said Rhodes is good at recruiting students to participate and volunteer at events like the county fair.
“There’s a ton of them that participate. It’s amazing how he can get those kids out,” Kent said.
At the fair, Rhodes’ students volunteer at the Farm Bureau food stand, run a scavenger hunt and help the younger kids prepare their show animals. They also clean the sales barn prior to the fair’s auction and act as runners during the sale, serving lunches and delivering and returning paperwork to and from buyers.
“It’s always been a tradition. That’s kind of how we start the year of school is by helping out at the fair,” Smith said.
Rhodes’ secret to recruiting volunteers is using stories and having fun. Students hear how enjoyable the activities are or remember them from previous years and want to come, Smith said.
Rhodes was once where his students are now. He grew up near Tremonton in Fielding. Agriculture and FFA were a big part of his early life. Starting at age 16, Rhodes worked for eight years on his two uncles’ farm growing dryland wheat and alfalfa in nearby Riverside. Both of his grandfathers owned farms, and his dad worked as a farmhand for a neighbor.
Rhodes said his father expected his kids to wake up early and work hard, and his mother was kind hearted, generous and giving.
“I try everyday to be a blend of those two,” he said of his parents. “I try to make kids toe the mark because I think they’ll thank me later, and I also like to give what I can and do what I can for just about anybody and everybody like my mother.”
Rhodes attended Bear River High School where he was a member of the FFA. He belonged to three state-winning judging teams in agricultural sales, farm business and agricultural mechanics. He also won state proficiency awards in environmental science, sheep production and fiber and oil crops.
He served as FFA chapter officer for three years including as president his senior year. He obtained the highest degree in the FFA, the American Degree. Rhodes served as FFA state sentinel after high school as well.
One of Rhodes’ biggest influences was his agriculture teacher Fred Christensen. Rhodes said Christensen was nice but stern.
“You knew where you stood with him, and he was a very big role model to me,” Rhodes said.
Christensen, who retired after Rhodes’ junior year, taught high school for 37 years.
Christensen said he was strict, but Rhodes was a good student for him.
“I don’t ever remember T.J. getting in trouble,” Christensen said. “He was about as model of a child as you could ask for.”
Christensen said Rhodes headed the chapter’s pond cleanup project, which included building a fence stile and providing garbage cans, so the pond could be used for recreation.
You can’t brag enough about Rhodes, Christensen said.
“He’s an excellent teacher, an overachiever, and I’m just happy to claim him as one of my kids,” he said.
Rhodes’ students have had successes of their own.
Smith said Rhodes inspired her to start performing musically. He encouraged her to participate in a talent review for the state FFA convention her freshman year. Previously she had sung and played guitar, but she hadn’t performed much publicly. However, she did so well at the review she was invited to perform twice at the convention that year.
“I started singing at state convention every year after that. I even got to sing in the national choir. All because he pushed me,” she said.
She’s not the only student Rhodes has inspired. Shaffer isn’t just Rhodes’ co-worker. He’s his former student as well. Shaffer served as FFA chapter president at Bear River High School before he graduated in 2009. Both Shaffer and Smith said Rhodes encouraged them to run for the office.
“I think a lot of students would credit a lot of their successes in him believing in them or showing that he cares and has confidence in them,” Shaffer said. “He’s definitely one of the reasons I wanted to be an ag teacher.”