|
 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.
[to top of second column] |
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.
|
