Trust Builds Your Legacy

What legacy will you leave behind? We sat down with Mr. Blair Orme, long-time FFA Advisor for Rushville Consolidated High School to talk about just that, and much more!

Transcript

I think that, for one thing, the expense of college is keeps some people out of it. And then we're also finding that a lot of the jobs don't require that. I think you'll probably be looking at, like what we just mentioned earlier, a constant. If anybody thinks that, you know, their education is over when they graduate, they're very wrong

Welcome this edition of the Hoel Truth podcast. Today, we have a special guest Mr. Steven Blair Orme I think is your official full name.

But Mr. Orme to me my ag teacher FFA advisor for several years and just wanted to bring you in here. I've only been asking for this for like two and a half years, but now that you're retired, you finally agreed to it. So can you tell us a little bit? You know, how many years you taught and then what your new role is, with the school system right now?

Well, as Bob said, my name is Blair Orme, and I'm married to Natasha. Have three wonderful children. Justin, Calista and Alex. They're all married and have grandchildren. At this point. And, have always I myself have always been a resident of Rush County. And I feel like this is a great place, to not only raise kids, but a community that cares.

And and it has a lot going. How many grandkids you got? Eight. I was going to put you on the spot. See if you were, if you remember it or not. I was trying to count them for you there for a second. So what, what is your new role? Now, with the school that you, since you retired.

Well, there's a lot of different ways to look at the word retirement. I think it's important to be, no matter what you're doing. You want people to know who you are rather than what you have been. The ag position that I had started in 1989. And then, as you mentioned, I retired from that position, in July.

And now I am a part time career coach at Rushville Consolidated High School. So, just, you know, there's going to be people that listen to this and watch this. And, I mean, like, one thing I do, we talk a lot about it, like our legacy. Like I want to be super intentional. Like, what is my legacy look like?

And to me, teachers have one of the biggest opportunities to make a massive impact because, you know, and fortunately, you're one of them teachers that did it for the right reasons. We've all had teachers that mailed it in. They really just did it for a paycheck. But I mean, the amount of effort that you put in time that you put in in the FFA outside of just the AG classes, you know, and then, you know, speaking of your lovely bride, like the amount of sacrifices and your kids made to for you to be around, like, you know, it means a lot to me.

Like your imprint is in this business. This for what you did for for me as an FFA student. So, I guess this kind of talk, put you on a spot here, like, talk about some some of your. And I know you're probably going to watch how you answer this, but some of your achievements as an FFA advisor, because the people that understand the FFA and all that, like we've had a lot of state officers come from Rushville.

And, you know, I remember whenever I was in school, like we were becoming this sound arrogant, a powerhouse with stuff, but it just continued to grow even, you know, even 20 years later, you know, so, there's, you know, I would I would meet people in my job and they're like, you're from Rushville. Like, you guys have won the best FFA program.

So I guess, talk a little bit about that because it I know you're not going to take much credit because you're a humble guy, but you're a huge part of that. Well, I think one of the first things that if you're going to try to have, success is obviously you have to, to build relationships and you have to surround yourself with good people.

And I think that's one thing that, we were able to do in the agricultural department, along with the FFA, is, to surround yourself with some really outstanding people, because you're going to do very few things alone. And you need you need a support cast that's going to make that happen. So I think that's one of the first things, that we were able to do.

I think, the next thing, with FFA, especially in the, I'm trying to think what we actually call the mission statement is premiere leadership, personal growth and career success. Well, it's amazing how we we talk about leadership all the time, but how do you actually teach it and how? And a lot of that is the way you teach it is by modeling it.

So I think the next step was to model leadership, and it was to don't expect anything out of the kids that you don't model yourself or you don't do yourself. So it was important to be one step ahead of them and saying, you know, if I can do this, you can do this. But I never had I never expected students to do anything that I wasn't willing to do myself.

And if that meant we were setting up chairs for a program or activity, then I was setting up chairs with them. And if we were doing something where your hands were getting dirty, my hands were getting dirty with them. And I think that's one of the areas that we had to begin with. And I think from that, you know, you really you really have to do a lot of self-awareness and, and you got to really look at training individuals.

And, and I think a lot of people think, well, that's not me. You know, I am who I am. Well, that's not true. You are who you are because of your influences. And you got to want to be a better person and the only way you're going to do that is to work at that on a daily basis, whether that be, you know, putting a goal on your mirror that says, I'm going to try to achieve this, or you know, you're reading some books by Maxwell or whoever it might be, you have to make an effort to, to change.

And, that's especially true at the high school level. You know, these students, kids have to recognize some of their skills and abilities. And then it's up to us to maximize them and to bring those out and allow them to blossom and find out who they really are. Man, that was that was good. And I guess my next question is like.

How do you do that? Because like, I mean, I'm, I'm in a role as leading a company that, you know, really anybody that wants anybody that cares about the future of our kids, our team, the kids in the high schools, like you literally have to get they have to see that, because, as you know, like if it was just you trying to lead the rest philosophy for the last 35 years, you couldn't have you could only taught 1 or 2 coaching teams not been successful in multiple ones, you know.

So how do you get kids to realize their potential? And what did you do to, because looking back, like, it's just it's it's truly amazing when you run into an FFA kid. And like when you talk to them because they're not doing this all the time, like a lot of the kids are like, they can look you in the eyes and shake your hand.

So I guess, how do you how did you, cultivate that? Well, to back up a little bit, I want to say, or give a little shout out to, Sammy Delay, Carly Yager and Jessica Roberts, who are now running the program, and I think they're doing a great job. And that's just another example of people continuing that legacy that is at Rushville, right.

As far as how do you do that? I think that, it's got to start with relationships and you have to build relationships. And the only way you're going to build relationships is with trust. And trust is the, the biggest, example, that must be in place if you're going to do that. And I think you have to, learn to relate.

I think you have to show, high level of empathy. You have to remember people, and no one else is remembering them. And you have to, to look for ways to help them see the, I guess we want to say the, you know, God don't make no junk, okay? Everybody has a talent. Everybody has a skill, and you just have to work to bring that out in them so that they build confidence in themselves and see that they're capable of it.

Tactically, FFA, you know, we say it's a student led organization, so it's probably one of the best. And letting kids make mistakes, learn from them and then move on. And then grow from that experience. And, you know, we all know that's another example to have. If it don't kill you, it will make you stronger. And I think that another aspect of at least the agriculture and FFA program is typically you're going to have those kids for 4 or 5 years.

So, if you if you consider that they're only 14, 15 years old when you start with them and they're 18 years old when they graduate, that is a huge percentage of their life at that point. And those are also years that they're developing in so many ways. So a high school teacher has a a huge role in who these people are becoming, which is also true of my new position with career counseling.

You know, this this is when, you know, they're really, whether we like it or not is when they're they've got to start making choices as to what maybe they're going to do in their future. Right? Well, I mean, you're exactly right when you talk about, just people in like, you know, the maturity or the age the kids grow up, you know, I mean, there is a lot of, there is a lot to that.

And, you know, another thing that I always enjoy on the state FFA, retiring, officer, are, speeches, state convention. They talk to people. They're always talking about some kind of failure. You know, like they started judging or, you know, and they did horrible and, you know, or they did the Creed speaking contest and they couldn't remember half the words their freshman year.

And then now they're now they're now they just won the state contest, you know, and I, I kind of chuckled at, speaking of the Creed contest, I chat with, you know, many moons ago, like 20, 22, 23 years ago. I remember me and Todd Cameron sit back there with their dads, at, where do we have that atmosphere?

It's in the 201 building now, but they used to cadre right there. Linker bees. Yes, yes. And me and Todd sat there and we repeated the, the Creed the entire time that, I think it was all girls that that did it that year. For some reason, I, I remember like Liz Weaver, I think Natalie Meyer was a couple of them that did it.

And me and Todd sat there and we we recited it word for word. Why they were they were doing it at some of the some of the freshmen were struggling with it. And I thought our dads are going to kick our butts because they were both like, why aren't you guys up there doing it? You know, we were cool.

Freshman's like we were boys, you know, we didn't do that. But, you know, yeah, there's just like I said, there's there's a lot there's a lot of development. And one thing that I've come to realize lately is like, I really feel like, and that's why I'm excited to have Jonathan Halls back on our team. Like, I really feel called to make sure I'm leading these young men that are under me.

Because we have we have the most problems in this country would be fixed, in my opinion, if men would step up and lead, and love their kids, love their spouse, stay faithful to their spouse, and really worry about them and not kind of their childish stuff. So, that's why I, I appreciate what you done in the FFA and you know, I appreciate you giving, the girls a shout out that that took over because I know, I know, you want nothing but success for the program.

You know, I know you want your you want some time. You want you want to enjoy retirement or working a little less what you should, you know, get eight grand babies and whatnot. But, absolutely. I like that's. And what I love the most about it is the group like Jessica stepped up to help. Like, and there's other here there's other community members that want the same thing.

One, they help move the ball forward. You know, you know, with them. So what is and I know, I know, you probably won't want to answer this. What is one of your bigger success stories in like FFA or. I don't know, maybe. Maybe like when did you feel like when did you feel like you really got it going?

You know, that first aid officer or something like that, like any of them stories to share? Oh, you know, that's a that's a really difficult question. And, again, I think that you could easily, I don't know that you really credit any single individual situation that occurred. I think it was just, rolling up your sleeves and hard work, a lot of time, a lot of effort, which is always true of, most success stories.

And I think once, once, people saw the importance of the program and how it could impact them as is really important, I think probably as an ag teacher, one of the things that I found most rewarding was being able to go to, a student's open house and I've people have asked me how many I went to and I'm honestly going to say probably over 500.

If a student asked me to to come to their graduation party. I tried very hard, didn't make them all, obviously, but tried very hard to go. And almost everybody decorates at these open houses. And what meant more to me was when I would go and there would be a table filled with FFA memorabilia is like, that's how I knew we had found success, you know, is when the kids found success and I'm not saying success as a plaque, don't get me wrong, but success is the impact that the organization had on that student, right?

I mean, I there's a guy that's really big in the roofing space, and I shared a picture of the calves on Facebook and, he commented, you know, for H FFA taught me so much that I was like, oh, wow. I mean, that guy runs one of the largest roofing companies out west that I know of, you know.

So, I mean, that's that's that's cool to see, you know, to see that there's a movie several years ago where there I don't remember the name of the movie, but there is a plaque on the wall and it said, you make the, whatever the whatever doesn't make you right. And I think that's very true. Bob Hall makes the FFA.

The FFA doesn't make Bob Hall right. You know, it's it's still all about that particular individual that put that coat on right. You know, the coat didn't make them right. Whatever they became. And then the people then impacted that individual with that coat on. And that's what made the difference. Well, and you know, like I sit there and I reflect like I started livestock judging with Carl Helton when I was in like third grade, which is crazy.

And, you know, then he had to start giving reasons. And now looking back, I realized the one I was, the people I was giving reasons to were the guys that owned the cattle or own the sheep. And, you know, I think, I think what a lot of people I think a lot of people know this, you just don't realize it.

But like, it takes a ton of volunteers. It takes a lot of behind the scenes to, to be successful. Like, I mean, looking back, how many people did it take to set up, you know, that judging event, you know, the judges, the people scoring the cards and all that, and all of them were pretty much volunteers. Like, they weren't there wasn't, you know, a paid staff.

And, you know, I look at it like for like the amount of people that the, you know, filled out raffle that was always in the ring helping when I showed, you know, them kind of people that, you know, they truly did it for the love of, you know, the love of it. And now now I get it with my, my kids starting to show like, you know, it's kind of crazy sometimes to drag a trailer and a couple calves and three young kids to a show, but it's like what they're going to get out of it.

What they're going to remember, you know, is, is completely worth it to me. And, you know, it's it's it's ironic. You bring up, open houses and books because I still have the book that you gave me, and it's a short read by John Maxwell. It's really big words. So it's easier for me to read. But like, I probably read that thing 50 times, and I always say, yeah, Mr. Kim gave me that book and used to all about reading books when I was in high school, and I hated reading.

Now I read every opportunity you, if you recommend the book, like I'm buying and I'm downloading on audio, because truly, to me, that's to me, that's the easiest way to like to be mentored by a John Maxwell or a Dale Carnegie or, you know, a lot of different people. Well, you're not going to learn from yourself, right.

And there's that saying out there, you know, God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason. The only way you're going to actually grow as an individual is either be listening to someone else, or to be reading from somewhere else, but you're probably not going to close the door and just somehow gather useful information that's going to make you, an individual of, of greater, capacity or whatever it may be from yourself just isn't going to happen.

So what is, give me, you know, maybe one of your favorite books that you think you've got the most out of. Well, I think, John Wooden. Anything from him is really good. He's probably one of the few people that doesn't have a back story where after they wrote the book, then they tried to come out and say, well, that person was a terrible individual.

Still, you had to find too many people, that will say anything bad about that man. And heaps. And again, yeah, he won all those national championships. But that's again, when you talk about legacy, that's not really the legacy he left. The legacy left is the way he impacted those players. Whether they won the championship or not. I think the championships just gave them the platform and then the respect, and then he was able to use that.

But I think he's he's obviously one of the top people, that ever coached and, and of course, John C Maxwell has a lot of books out there. And I'm like you, if you, if you are listening to, someone and they say, hey, you should really read this book, I'm going to take a look at that.

And then obviously, the Bible and the verses in it, are nothing but things that will help you grow as an individual. What? And, you know, that's that's kind of, you brought up John Wood and that's kind of cool because I guess that's one thing I've probably learned more in the last few years of being a leader is like, I've got to be a I've got a coach, really.

I'm just a coach, you know? And maybe I don't know if you ever looked at that band and a teacher, if you ever felt like, you know what? What do you what do the good coaches do? Because, like, you know, there has to be a level of respect from a teacher or from a boss, but you you know, you said it early empathy.

You know, you they have to know that you care and you love them, because unfortunately, we've all had to have hard conversations with people that, you know, there has to be that trust level first, you know, and nothing means more to me than here in the last couple months, I've had two people that don't work here anymore.

That's reached out to me for some advice and some help. And that meant a lot to me, because I don't want people to think like, just because you work here anymore. You don't work here anymore. I don't love you. I don't like you, like, you know, sometimes seasons end and I'm completely fine with that. But I don't want to be that guy up there not making me money.

He can't do anything for me. I'm not answering that guy, you know, kind of thing. So, I guess that's one thing that I've probably taken away a lot here in the last couple of years is like coaching. Is there any any lessons, maybe that, something that you got out of a John Wooden book that you, you implemented, you felt like was good?

Well, that's a good question. I think those are also really books that you can revisit, just like the Bible. You know, you go back and you read something in it, you get something out of it that day very different than what you did when you read it five years ago. Know. And I think that's just how life works, because that means you're growing and it means you're being impacted differently than you were the last time you read that passage, or the last time you looked at what that said.

And and then it comes up with a whole new application. And a lot of times that application is, different than the way you used it before, but that's because the person you're using it on is different. And I think that's my role in agriculture, in FFA and my role as a career coach with, career coaching. One thing that I've learned is it's it's not linear at all.

Almost every single situation is different. So there is no blanket method of impacting students. There's no, you know, just surefire does this kind of work. So with with anything that you read or anything, you've got to figure out how to apply it, you know, to that individual. And I think, that's what sets some people apart from others, is just you got to be able to read the room, you got to be able to read, then dividual.

And not everybody has that gift, you know, some and some people just don't don't see that they want to take their way of doing it and just force feed it. And you can't do that. You've got to look at each situation individually. So earlier we were talking a little bit before we started recording about like the different the gen-xers, the millennials, you know, all that kind of, you know, the generations.

What, what are you seeing? You know, so what what generation are we even in right now? Technically. Good question. Are we are we talking in Gen X? Well, as far as at the high school, yes, I guess more are Gen Z. Yeah. Gen Z I think is is the kids right now. So what's it. So it was millennial Gen X.

Now Gen Z sounds right.

What what what are you seeing different there. Because and I'm gonna butcher which generation this is. But I've, I've, I've studied some leadership stuff, and, Dave Ramsey talked about it a lot. There's a generation now that's out there and it's not the newest one, but they would actually each other. They're not as concerned about how much money they make at work.

They're more concerned about what kind of impact. Now, granted, everybody's going to make money. So that's how they pay bills, you know? But, maybe that is maybe it's Gen X, maybe they are. Adam, are you considered a Gen X or a millennial? You're a millennial. Okay. But you're at the end of the millennials though, right? Yeah. Between millennials and Gen Z okay.

So it's Gen Z than Gen. Yeah. According to this Gen Z starts in 95 and millennials is name is 80 to 94. And then Gen X is what we're on now. Any anything any any person born after 2013 is Generation Alpha okay. Generation Alpha okay. So I guess talk a little bit as a career coach. And I mean, you already seen it being an ag teacher like to the differences in the generations.

Maybe over the years. Well, I was at a, teacher meeting or something many years ago. And I think this is fairly true to be said. You you have the same problems. You just have new faces or you have the same problems. You just have new technology. So a lot of the things that you deal with in rearing children, it's the same.

It's it's the same what I want to say here, you're treating the symptoms and not the illness, saying, you know, the the illness is the same the same things that caused the problems don't they're not differ. It's just the the instruments that they utilize, such as cell phones or computers or whatever has changed. So I think that the way to deal with them is still no different than what you did ten years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago.

You're just working with with different, instruments that caused those problems. Seriously, we should still be beating kids. Is that what you're saying? I did not say that. And hopefully, Bob, that will be cut out of the podcast. And so cut anything out of here. To. I'm, saying that we still have to have a nucleus of, of, a good family, and and we have to have, people who care, people that, you know, hold they hold firm.

And their expectations in their classroom or whatever they're doing and are working hard to get results. And that doesn't change. Yeah. And I mean, I know you've seen it at school, like, you know, the there's got to be a good family, good parenting at home. Like, you know, I get that one thing that I always find amazing though, is like, you're really, really, really successful people.

A lot of them, I mean, they come from, like, a lot of, like, brokenness. And, I mean, we all come from brokenness because we live in a broken world, you know? But I was just talking to a friend and a mentor of mine, and he was talking about this billionaire that he knows that grew up on dirt floors.

And he was my age, which is crazy to think that somebody my age grew up on dirt floors, you know, but just, you know, them challenges. But them challenges make us, you know, who we are, shape us, you know, and and into what we do. So I guess I'm gonna, ask you to share, like, you know, how how did you how did you end up teaching?

Like, you know what what what drove you down that path? Well, we'll take this down in my new role as well, if that's okay. Yeah, absolutely. When it comes to success again, I think we live in a world that has many different avenues to find it. So when we talk about how does someone end up in a career, your, your number one influencer is probably going to be parents.

Your second is going to be teachers and counselors. Your third is your peers. But we also have to look at and, and think about, you know, how, how these connections are made to take you from point A to point B, and again, they're not the same for, for anybody. And so for me, you know, I was heavily influenced by my ag teacher, Mr. Bry Schreiber.

And I then, majored in ag education. And I was able to get that position and, and stay in it for 35 years. A lot of people will change careers over, the years. One thing that we're looking at right now is only about 52% of people will go to college after graduation. We're we're getting ready to go to a new diploma system, here in Indiana.

And then of those 52%, we know that they won't all graduate. Then we also know that lots of jobs or careers don't require a college education. So I think that the, the, the high school world is, is trying to maybe become a little more specialized in their course offerings. Mr. Cook and, others are, are working to diversify the offerings, so that people can have more skills when they graduate.

Which I think is going to be important as we move into, the future years. There's some crazy statistics out there, how technology is moving faster now than it ever has. And you know what the world's going to look like, you know, 40 years from now when these kids would be wrapping up their, their, their potential careers.

I mean, it could be so different than what we have right now. A lot of careers aren't even invented yet, right? That they are going to see in their lifetimes. That's always crazy, because I heard a statistic and I can't remember what it was, but that is crazy on, like, what you just said there, where there's so many careers that aren't even invented that high school kids are going to have the opportunity that are going to do well.

And, you know, another saying out there is we've got to find the the best version of you. You know, I think that's what we have to look for when you graduate, when these kids are graduating, you know, we got to get the best version of them ready to to do whatever they're going to do. I mean, that's the ultimate goal, but yeah, they're going to they're going to see a huge, diversity in, in careers and things that they can be involved in.

And they've got to, to be prepared probably to, to make multiple changes, not necessarily in jobs, but in maybe even in the same job. They may be trained multiple times over 20 years, 30 years, you know. You know, when I started teaching, we didn't even have computers in the classroom. You know, they still took attendance on paper.

And and now look at where we are. And you have to keep up with that or you're going to get lost. And so this, this group of kids that are coming up, you know, there'll be multiple changes and in their work environment, over their, their, their years of being in the workforce. So you said 52% of kids are going to college.

Do you know, like, when did that start dropping off? Or do you know what the peak was? Because, I mean, I'll be honest, when I was in school, I felt like if you weren't planning on going to university, the counselors just treated you like dirt. Like just like, oh, you're just not. Yeah, I don't know. It was like.

It was like, oh, you're going to, I mean, I went to community college. Oh, you're going to community. I don't know, it was just like your your university was shoved down your throat so hard. And, I mean, it was my dad. It was like, hey, just go get two year degree and then decide if you want more education, you know?

So I completely agree with what you say on, like, you know, your parents are your biggest influence. But the crazy thing for me is like, I had an I had an instinct, a gut instinct that I wanted to do construction management. And I have zero idea where that came from. Like, because I was never really around construction, you know?

But it was just I really wanted to do that. And my dad convinced me to get a different degree because he was all he was worried I'd go do like, road construction. And he said he wanted to make sure I had a family life, you know, so, you know, the statistics of, like, what it used to be or anything.

Well, first of all, I like to say we have a great group of counselors at, at the high school. Right. And they can't be everything to everybody. Right? Right. And I think sometimes kids think that they can be, I also think that if I'm a high schooler. I, a lot of them want to be able to say, well, I'm going to go to college.

You know, I think there's, there's a, and again, I'm trying to think how to say it, but, I mean, there's a higher status, right? If I say I'm going to college rather than saying, I want to work for Bob Hoel. Right. And I don't mean that disrespectfully at all. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. But I also think that's changing.

I think that, for one thing, the expense of college is keeps some people out of it. And then we're also finding that a lot of the jobs don't require that. I think you'll probably be looking at, like what we just mentioned earlier, a constant. If anybody thinks that, you know, their education is over when they graduate, they're very wrong because they're going to have to constantly be going to workshops and, and things to, to keep them updated on the latest trends.

So, the number has been falling for about ten years. Okay. For people, going to college. Well, and, you know, and also if you look at it like, I mean, you, you hit the nail on the head, like you got to be willing to grow. Like, if you want to grow in your career, you want to grow in your income, then yes, you absolutely got to be able to continue to go to conferences, learn the new trends.

You know, I mean, me, me and Adam, we're just having this conversation yesterday on some things on, you know, marketing and, yeah, I mean, it's just, you know, I do finally feel like that kind of one has swung where it's not looked down upon that if you don't go to college. And like I said, like if you have the financial resources to go.

But like, one thing that always that breaks my heart is like, you know, and we're getting past this now that we're me and Emily's getting a little older, but there's you watch so many girls that would go get 50, 60, 70, $80,000 in student loan debt, have a job for two years, get married, have a kid a year or two later and want to stay home with that kid, to be a stay at home mom.

And then. But they're so strapped in debt that they, you know, they they really financially can't, you know. And Emily tells a story that she felt like when she was in high school, she went to Ivy tech, that she was looked down upon by some of her peers. And once again, you said that's a determining factor of what you do, because she did stay at IV.

You know, she did stay at Ivy tech and didn't go to either. Purdue. And I tell kids all the time, if you want to be a doctor, please go to college. Because if you're going to work on me, I want to make sure, you know, I just I just want I just want to be a voice to kids that, you don't have to go to college, and and I and I hopefully we're getting away from this because, like, ten, 15 years ago, it was like people would go to college and be like, oh, hey, I've got a college degree, Bob.

So you need to pay me X amount of dollars. And, you know, that's the only bad thing is some people don't understand that you're only worth as much to an employer. Certain amount to an employer. It really doesn't matter how many degrees that that you have. Like, you know, Dave Ramsey says is your pay is your pay. Pay raise is effective when you are like as a business owner, if you come to me that I can do more, I can do higher level stuff, then you're worth more money, you know, and and in our business, we cultivate that growth.

We're reading books as a team, you know, that kind of stuff. Because I tell people when they come here, I want you to want to, to grow. I mean, I was just with one of our sales guys last, last night, and I seen his pay stub. He made $113,000 last year. No college education, was working in a factory for 17 bucks an hour a couple of years ago before he started working here.

So, like, it's changed his life, you know? And that's that's what gets me excited, like, to be able to mentor them kind of guys, you know, and girls, you know, it's just, to to me, that's, that's what the leadership, that's what they're growing, you know, is about for us. So what, what is your future plans?

I mean, I know Mr. Cook don't want I know you won't tell me if if this is your only year doing this, but kind of. What do you think? You know, the next few years looks like for Mr. Allen? Well, I think the the career coaching definitely has a place in the high school. We're really just getting it off the ground this year.

It's through a grant. So this is the first year they've had a career coach then? That is correct. Go ahead. It is through a grant. And, Mr. Cook has given me the, giving me a lot of flexibility in trying to develop this program and trying to get it to work. And then, Mr. Stoneman and Mrs. Hornsby have been really good about, helping me find, different activities that will help to develop, the career commons, as it's called.

And so I think it's it's something that's going to grow. It's going to have a place, in the school, especially as we move towards this new diploma, that will affect the eighth graders. Now, they're the first class, I believe that will fall under this new diploma. The new diploma has a lot of technical training to it, along with the the core 40 college aspect of it.

I think on the state level, you know, they're wanting wanting people to actually graduate with skills. Rather than just graduate, if, if they're going to go into the workforce, rather, you know, you're going to look at more certificates and things like that, that, someone can graduate with. So I, I think it's, I think it's something that's important.

And I think it's something we can continue to work on, and I hope I can be a part of that as well as we as we wrap up here. I just want to thank you for, I mean, the 35 years of service that you did for the Rushville FFA. I mean, you impacted a lot of lives. You're a big impact in my life, my my siblings lives, you know, and, like I said earlier, like your legacy lives, your legacy is touched by some.

You've touched so many lives that truly, you know, your legacy is touched tens of thousands of people. You know, at a minimum, because I know there's been several, you know, the Kuhn girls that's went on to be ag teachers and, Quinn Wicker, I think also and I know I'm forgetting some because I'm pulling this out of the air, you know, but, you know, like the, the impact that you've made, your willingness to always support us, reach out, you know, your corny jokes, you know, every once in a while.

But, you know, from from me, just. I want to take this time, you know, thank you for coming on here, because I love leadership. I love, like, success. And at the end of the day, it's the same. Like you. There's not a silver bullet like there. Really? There really isn't. Every day you got to get up. Every day you got to choose to love your wife.

You got to choose to love your team. You got to choose to love the kids, you know? And, kids are harder to choose to love some days because the way they act, you know, but but in the grand scheme that you've done that. So just thank you from us. I'll let you close with any, Mr. Orme wisdom.

Well, and I think I'm stealing this from someone else, but you know what's really original at this point in life? But I think someone once said, how do you want to be remembered? And they said, just that. I just want to be remembered. And I think that's a good way of putting, and I hope I can, just be remembered as someone that had a positive impact in this community.

I hope I still can absolutely, keep having that impact and and to be remembered. Yeah. Thank you.