Creating the Preferred Future for Agricultural Education

As the third millennium approaches agricultural educators are being challenged to develop and implement programs to achieve a two-part mission. This new mission focuses on preparing students for career success and creating lifetime awareness of the global agriculture, food, fiber and natural resources systems.

During October 2000, the National Council for Agricultural Education is releasing the National Strategic Plan and Action Agenda for Agricultural Education that was developed through the Reinventing Agricultural Education for the Year 2020 (RAE 2020) project. Later this fall all agricultural education programs will receive a CD-ROM that contains the new strategic plan and action agenda along with a benchmark report developed through the RAE 2020 project.

Many agricultural educators are already aware of the new vision, mission and four goals that resulted from RAE 2020. However, only a few individuals are currently thinking about how to implement the vision of "a world where all people value and understand the vital role of agriculture, food, fiber and natural resources systems in advancing personal and global well-being."

The strategic plan and action agenda provide us with a "road map" for enhancing our position as a premier educational delivery system and aligning our activities and programs with the vision and directives of the stakeholders in the global agriculture, food, fiber and natural resources systems. If we truly aspire to excellence in preparing students for lifelong learning and personal growth, we must strive to accomplish our mission through teamwork that values individual strengths, healthy lifestyles, mutual respect, diversity, integrity, family, local communities, strong partnerships and creative alliances.

As we strive to accomplish our mission of preparing students for successful careers and a lifetime of informed choices in the global agriculture, food, fiber and natural resources systems, we must have effective leadership at the national, state and local levels. Successful implementation of the strategic plan requires trust, teamwork and synergy through an unyielding commitment to communication, cooperation and coordination at all three leadership levels.

Our best hope for ensuring our preferred future lies in our ability to come together as a team to successfully address the challenges and opportunities before our profession. We can individually choose to maintain the status quo or together we can strive to make Team Ag Ed a powerful and effective force for guiding agricultural education to a successful future. It’s your choice—what will you do?