page 196 2015 LOGAN COUNTY FAIR LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com August 2-9, 2015
cultivates a
passion for Agriculture
in students at LCHS
Known to her students as “Doc” or Doc Penny,”
Dr. Wittler has been a teacher for several years.
She began her career as a collegiate professor
but felt that she was not really answering her
calling as a teacher and advocate for agriculture.
She wanted to open eyes to the importance of
agriculture, and she wanted to cultivate the
passion she feels for the Ag Sciences in the
students she is teaching. Now, four years into
high school instruction, she feels she has found
the right place, not only on the age level of her
classes but also in the geographic location of
Logan County.
Ag in the classroom is growing in Logan County,
and Wittler is pleased to be a part of that. She
noted that she has approximately 140 classroom
students this year and that approximately 80
percent of those students are also members of
FFA. In some schools, Wittler said it is becoming
a requirement that all Ag students belong to FFA.
She said it makes sense for the students because
the classroom study teaches the sciences, but it is
FFA that incorporates other elements needed for
success, such as leadership skills.
In the classroom, there are six classes students
may take. The Intro to Ag is a freshman class,
and Ag Sciences is a second-year extension
of that class. Other classes available include
Landscaping, Horticulture, and Ag Management.
A new program recently introduced is the
Veterinary Sciences and new for this school year
is a Conservation class.
Wittler said the Veterinary Science class is an
extremely popular one with the students because
many come into it because they have a love
for animals, own animals and are considering
becoming veterinarians. She said that some do
continue to pursue veterinarian medicine in their
higher education, but not all.
As a teacher, Wittler said that working with the
high school students imposes some interesting
and fun challenges. She noted that in FFA
only about ten percent of the students have an
agricultural background.
In the classroom, that equates to two approaches.
She first wants to open the eyes of her
inexperienced students and show them how that
A
t Lincoln Community High School Dr. Penny Wittler will
be starting her fourth year as the Ag Instructor and FFA
Advisor this fall. She recently said this year will be an
emotional one for her personally because it will be the first year she
is graduating students that she has worked with since the beginning
of their high school career.
STORY BY NILA SMITH
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