Spring 2015 Logan County
Farm Outlook Magazine

Mr. Allen and the Mount Pulaski FFA, a natural fit
By Teena Lowery

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[April 10, 2015]  Ralph Allen grew up on a farm in Delavan and always wanted to be a farmer. “It’s just kinda in your blood,” says Allen, referring to his first passion in life. Then he figured out he wanted to be a teacher the fall after he graduated from Delavan High School.

That fall he attended the University of Illinois for two weeks and then came back to the family farm. “Some things changed on the farm and I came home to help Dad get the harvest in and he set me up in the operation,” Allen says.

Then one day he went to help his high school Ag teacher harvest the FFA plot. “It was that day that I watched him and I had been in FFA and I decided that was what I wanted to do.”

Allen discovered his second passion that day, returned to the U of I in January and enrolled in Ag Education. Four years later, he was getting set to graduate and he made a phone call to Bob Maske, a teacher at Mount Pulaski High School. “I was sitting in a professor’s office at the U of I looking at Ag programs in the state and I saw Mount Pulaski and it said, “No Ag Classes - FFA only - Bob Maske, Advisor.” As he made the phone call to Maske, he had to sell not only himself but also the need for an Ag program at Mount Pulaski High School.

Maske was sold and Allen then had to reach out to the administration. “A lot of this new science curriculum was coming out and FFA was changing. There were a lot of jobs out there and a lot of potential for Ag students and this community needed it anyway,” Allen explained. Fortunately, for Allen and for Mount Pulaski, he was hired as a part-time teacher and FFA Advisor and he was still able to continue farming 400 acres on the side.

 

Twenty-four years later the FFA program at Mount Pulaski High School boasts 58 students, which is approximately one-third of the school’s enrollment.

Throughout the years Allen has been instrumental in the success of several of his former students. Blane Olson, a 2003 graduate of MPHS and a farmer who was raised on a family farm near Elkhart, credits Allen with helping students understand a broad spectrum of the agriculture industry and a lot of the opportunities that are available. “Mr. Allen pushed us to get out of our comfort zone and be good at things that maybe we didn’t know a lot about going in. He’s got a unique way of opening new doors that you didn’t see coming, which makes you a well-rounded person. He lays a nice solid foundation.

A strong Ag program in high school can develop for students as they go forward,” says Olson. “He has a unique ability to bridge the gap between kids that are “dyed-in-the-wool” as far as grew up on a farm and want to raise corn and soybeans and want to show cattle or pigs or want to be a welder. He’s got a very diverse population in his classroom.

There are a lot of students who live in a more residential area who are exposed to agriculture. There are not a lot of things Mr. Allen hasn’t done or at least tried once. He has a very broad spectrum of knowledge. He has a tremendous effect on the Ag students but it’s more far-reaching than that, which makes him a good advocate for agriculture because he’s educating students,” Olson continued.

David Allspach, a 2004 graduate of MPHS and also a farmer who comes from a family farm near Mount Pulaski, echoed Olson’s thoughts and added, “He commands respect and he gets it. His ability to get his point across is unmatched by any teacher in the system. He was never one to have favorites. There were some students who were more involved than others but he made it a point to get everybody involved in some way or another. He didn’t have a starting five. He played the whole bench.”
 


Allspach noted that sometimes a kid would take an Ag class just because he thought it would be easy. Occasionally that student might get in trouble, but as both Olson and Allspach pointed out, Mr. Allen would never give a detention. “If you got in trouble you went to the shop and did things like sweep the floor or empty trash cans,” says Olson. Allspach concurred, “He was going to put you to work.” Eventually that kid would figure things out, the two farmers agreed, smiling. “Every kid has an opportunity to belong if they want,” emphasized Olson of the “old-school” teacher.

Michael Jones of Mount Pulaski, also acknowledges the impact Allen has had on his career. “Taking Intro to Ag with Mr. Allen opened my eyes that there is more to agriculture than farming. Efficient bookkeeping and motivation would help you find your spot in agriculture. You could tell through his teaching, that Mr. Allen always wanted everyone to find a part of agriculture that they were good at.

This was part of what encouraged me to pursue a career in agriculture and now I’m able to teach farmers about their GPS systems through working as an Ag Management Solutions Consultant for Cross Brothers Implement. I’ve found a part of agriculture where I can make an impact and Mr. Allen was a big influence in that.”

Sisters Elizabeth Stoll Wrage and Katheryne Stoll Rehberg, both of whom grew up on the family farm near Chestnut, also appreciate Allen’s influence in their careers. Wrage, a 1999 graduate of MPHS who works for Monsanto and has a master’s degree in Crop Science, credits Mr. Allen with “planting the seed” in FFA as she pursued her dreams.

Wrage set up an experiment at the FFA greenhouse while in high school. “That interest in how plants grow and how you can improve agriculture was my drive,” says Wrage. She also took apart a Briggs and Stratton motor and put it back together while in Ag Mechanics class. Certainly something that was outside of her comfort zone but it allowed her to gain a confidence that has followed her throughout life. “He offered every Ag opportunity to whoever had an interest.

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He helped me see that as a woman in Ag, I could have a place in Ag. So I credit him with that, too. He let me see that agriculture was bigger than just a man operating in a field,” says Wrage.

Meanwhile Katheryne Stoll Rehberg, a 2000 graduate of MPHS who works for ADM says, “Mr. Allen went above and beyond in the classroom daily and he treated students with a level of respect and trust as if we were already responsible adults. He pushed us to try our best and by participating in so many FFA contests I left my small high school for college with a confidence and public speaking experiences that carried me through to where I am today.”

Rehberg runs official board meetings at her job and says, “Speaking in public and running meetings is natural and not intimidating because Mr. Allen had us practice before and after school and we went to competitions very well prepared.” In her new role at ADM as the general manager of a joint venture between ADM and Matustani, Rehberg reports to a board. “I know how to run the meeting according to parliamentary procedure rules because I practiced so much with Mr. Allen. I don’t think I had any other class that prepared me so much for real life experiences,” Rehberg concluded.

By now it’s evident how Allen has impacted the lives of so many farm families in the farming community that is central Illinois. There is yet another family that really has a connection with Allen. That family is the Maske family.

Allen was familiar with the Maske name because of the wrestling rivalry between the two families back in the day. Allen also gives credit to Bob Maske for guiding him to Mount Pulaski, following that phone call he made twenty-four years ago. “We knew that family for a long time and we hated them on the wrestling mats,” Maske laughed. On the mats, Allen’s brothers Guy and Earl wrestled Mike and Bill Maske, but in the classroom, Allen has had their kids: Katie, Sally, Thomas, Austin and Audrey.
 


Thomas Maske, a 2004 graduate of MPHS, is now a veterinarian in South Bend, Indiana. Wrestling history aside, this generation of the Maske family calls Allen “a great guy.” “Mr. Allen, aside from being a wonderful person, was and is a phenomenal teacher. He has the great ability to relate to students, identify and build upon their strengths, and push them to achieve their goals. I have benefitted immeasurably from his teaching and guidance and can attribute so much of what I am today from those skills and qualities that were instilled in me at such an impressionable period of my life,” says the younger Maske.

Finally, Allen has been able to make an impression on his own children, as he has had each of his three daughters in class. His oldest daughter, Hannah, is a senior at the U of I majoring in Biology and minoring in Secondary Education. Middle daughter, Rachel, is a sophomore at the U of I majoring in Speech and Hearing Science.

Meanwhile, the youngest daughter, Elizabeth, is a senior at MPHS and she is undecided between the U of I and Purdue for her choice of studies. However, she has decided there are a lot of benefits to having Dad as a teacher. “One of the reasons I am so involved and successful in FFA is because of him. He got me started on the science fair project, record book projects and the various contests. It’s nice to have him at home as well for whenever I have a question or need help with my projects. He has also really encouraged me to start my future career in agriculture. There are so many jobs and opportunities in that field that I would have never known about without the opportunities he has given and shown, not just me, but every student he teaches,” offered Elizabeth.

Maybe someday Ralph will have one more Allen child to teach agriculture to at MPHS. Son Walker is in fourth grade at Carroll Catholic in Lincoln, where mom, Lori, is a Math and Science teacher to fifth through eighth grade students.

It is worth mentioning that for a brief period of time in his teaching career, Allen had left Mount Pulaski to teach at Lincoln Land Community College and then Williamsville before finding his way back to Mount Pulaski. According to his wife, Lori, “He left Lincoln Land Community College because he missed the daily interaction with the high school students.” She went on to say, “Returning to Mount Pulaski was partly due to being able to have his children in class, but also because we love the communities of the Mount Pulaski School District.”

Mr. Allen built the strong Ag program the school needed and students love today to a full-time position. Today, he is sure to go down in school history as one of the best teachers ever. It’s evident the love, respect and admiration for Mr. Allen and his family is mutual.

 

Read all the articles in our new
Spring 2015 Logan County
Farm Outlook magazine

Title
CLICK ON TITLES TO GO TO PAGES
Page
2014 Year in Review 4
The year producers won the battle 7
How GMO regulations affect exports 9
GMOs and Biotechnology: Facts and Fiction 13
What are the impacts of last year? 16
Using corn storage as a hedge 20
Is fall tillage really necessary? 23
The cost of corn-on-corn 30
CASH RENT:  The Great Equalizer 34
Lowering your costs may increase your risks 37
Will lower fuels costs make farming profitable in 2015? 39
Mr. Allen and the Mount Pulaski FFA, a natural fit 40
Ag Scholarships 44
2014 County crop yields 52

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