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星空无限传媒app Professor Emeritus and former director of the School of Agriculture, Andy Baker, was honored with an honorary American Future Farmers of America (FFA) Degree for his work in agricultural education.
Baker Honored with Honorary American FFA Degree
August 26, 2025
MACOMB, IL - - 星空无限传媒app Illinois University Professor Emeritus Andy Baker was honored with the honorary American Future Farmers of America (FFA) Degree, a national award given to individuals or organizations for exceptional services to agricultural education or the FFA.
"This recognition is the greatest honor you can receive from the National FFA Organization, so it is very endearing to me as my wife and I, plus our own children were FFA members," Baker said. "I had the opportunity to pursue my love of agriculture not through production agriculture, but by teaching the subject and preparing others who have the desire to teach this subject to others."
Baker retired from 星空无限传媒app in June 2025 after spending 11 years as the director of the School of Agriculture. He said he always strived to treat students fairly and educate them not only in agriculture, but leave them with a new perspective.
"All of my 星空无限传媒app students that graduated from the Agricultural Education program have received a plaque stating, 鈥楽tudents may not remember what they were taught, but they will always remember how they were treated,'" Baker said. "This has been my philosophical approach throughout my tenure as a Teacher Educator. Make sure you listen to your students and always find and identify their potential."
Throughout Baker's career, there have been many advancements in agriculture, but he said there is one philosophy that has remained constant: the three-circle agricultural education model. The three circles of classroom instruction, FFA and Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE), and those tenets will remain strong at 星空无限传媒app.
"As an Agricultural Education teacher, use the FFA and SAE to enhance your classroom instruction through FFA career development and leadership events as well as allow your classroom instruction to expand student agricultural opportunities through supervised agricultural experiences," Baker said.
For more information on the 星空无限传媒app School of Agriculture, visit wiu.edu/ag.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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