Education Advisory Committee Spotlight: Randy Tenpas
Farming for the Future Foundation’s education advisory committee is dedicated to teaching young generations about agriculture, food and growers. To help children and families gain a better understanding of food production and meal time, the FFTF education committee is a team of teachers and professionals with experience in school systems who are creating lesson plans and connecting with schools and teachers to integrate engaging agriculture-centered lessons into classrooms.
Get to know Farming for the Future Foundation: Spotlight on Education Advisory Committee Member Randy Tenpas
Randy Tenpas was the first person in his family to pursue post-secondary education. Following a childhood on the dairy farm his family has owned since 1907 and a degree in agricultural engineering technology and agriculture finance from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls, Randy went on to spend the majority of his career in higher education, teaching at Fox Valley Technical College.
Modern farms are hubs of technology, research and innovation. Randy’s combined background in education and agriculture helps students in his classroom gain the knowledge and skill set needed for a meaningful and lucrative career in agribusiness. And just as agriculture has changed over time, so too has its workforce. Over the course of his career, Randy saw the makeup of his class shift from students who had almost exclusively agriculture backgrounds to a diverse array of upbringings and experiences.
“People who don’t have an ag background have a lot to bring to the field,” Randy said. “They see things from a different perspective which can be beneficial. There are a lot of career opportunities in agriculture, and I try to help people outside of the industry understand that a career in farming is not only rewarding, but it can be financially rewarding as well.”
In his retirement, Randy continues to teach part time and has been involved with Farming for the Future Foundation from its inception. As a member of the education advisory committee, Randy hopes to invite more people to the field and help those who are already a part of it understand the full scope of the state’s agriculture industry.
“I have students that have never seen anything other than a dairy, beef or cash crop operation,” said Randy. “Once they realize that we have more diversity in agriculture and they start looking at the potato industry in particular, a lot of students get excited about the technology potato and commercial vegetable farms use and the ways they can pursue their interests in IT, GPS and precision agriculture.”
Randy’s expertise and time in a post-secondary education setting is helping Farming for the Future Foundation provide informative and thought provoking agriculture-centered material for students and future visitors of the Food and Farm Exploration Center of all ages. In addition, Randy’s appreciation of food and perspective on growing as well as consuming and enjoying food is influenced by his wife’s career in the culinary arts. Randy truly understands the full journey of crops from seed to dinner table and his experience in the classroom, field and life will help us share that story with the world.
Thank you, Randy for sharing your time and helping people connect with their food and those who grow it!
A little more about Randy:
Best way to enjoy a potato: Bake Potato
Piece of technology I couldn’t live without: Smart Phone
Favorite place to be: Anyplace with family
Mantra to live by: “One more load… always do more than expected”
