Outstanding Rural Secondary Teacher
John Rummel
Launch the media gallery 1 playerJohn Rummel has been educating young people for the last 22 years, twenty-one of those years in the Stockton R-I School District. Mr. Rummel's teaching experiences have been focused in the area of vocational agriculture. During this time, Mr. Rummel has consistently demonstrated the dedication necessary to make his classes and the Future Farmers of America organization not only the best they can be, but an exemplary model for other teachers to emulate.
John is described by his colleagues as a truly consummate professional, keeping abreast of trends in vocational education and making curricular decisions that best meets the needs of the districts students. He is able to incorporate modern instructional technology with traditional methods of instruction. When someone tries to describe Mr. Rummel to other people words such as "integrity," "responsibility," and "ambition" litter the conversation. During his years of teaching, many students have commented that Mr. Rummel's guidance and their FFA experience have been major influences in their lives and have contributed to their success.
You will find Mr. Rummel's office and room decorated with countless awards, trophies, and plaques recognizing his many successes as a teacher. Over the years, the Stockton FFA has had numerous National Chapter Awards, received superior chapter ratings every single year, and has had hundreds of state and national FFA degree recipients. He has led 231 FFA/Ag teams to qualify for state competitions, which has allowed approximately 950 students the opportunity to compete at the State level. Twelve of those teams qualified for the national competition, allowing over 50 students to compete and receive recognition at the national level.
In addition to his effective teaching skills and content knowledge, John gives of himself outside the classroom. He has been active in many state agriculture committees as well as executive officer responsibilities in the Area 8 FFA Vocational Agriculture Teacher's Association and is currently serving as the Area 10 Treasurer, an office held since 2002. John's public relation skills have contributed to his active involvement in the community and school districts teacher organization.
John Rummel exemplifies all that is right and good about rural education. An excellent organizer, an innovative person, a true visionary, someone not afraid to try new things makes him the Missouri Outstanding Rural Secondary Teacher for 2008.