Mrs. Sarah Welty has been the plant and animal science teacher at Oakdale High School for 13 years. Currently, she teaches eight classes: Introduction to Agricultural Science, Horticulture one through three, Small and Large Vet Sciences, Forestry Wildlife, and Career and College Prep.
“I try to make [my classes] applicable to real life, and teach skills that students can actually apply [rather] than only learn it for a test, pass the test, and forget it. So I try to make it real,” Welty describes. Her teaching style is heavily based on getting students ready for working in agriculture.
“[My classes] have a lot of value because in the real world, people don’t really care what grades you have, they care if you have good work habits,” Welty explains, in response to the newly implemented 4-point grading system. “All of those things that the new grading system is gonna evaluate.”
Junior William Blair, a student of Welty’s Intro to Agricultural Science class at Oakdale, has gotten personal experience with her teaching style. He describes her classes as well-paced and really enjoyed working with plants and animals and doing projects based on them. He explains how being able to work with plants and animals and take a lot of knowledge from it has stuck with him very well. “We learned a lot,” Blair states. “She has a way of making things stick because how she teaches.”
Teachers learn many valuable lessons during their time instructing students. For Welty, giving students a safe space has been her biggest lesson. “Sometimes you have to let students vent and ‘get it out of their system’ so to speak,” Welty shares. “So taking the time in a lesson to have a break often times gets you farther ahead than you would’ve if you tried to push through it.”
What Welty learned has taken effect in her class, and those skills she gained are recognized by her students. “If we needed a little longer [on a project], she would give us an extra day to work on it,” Blair expresses. Welty gives a lot of effort to her classes and students, as she mentions it “keeps her busy 12 months of the year” to be able to work with her FFA students.
Mrs. Welty makes her classes applicable to real life with her great instructing style, and the lessons she teaches share important information on agriculture and how we can interact with the environment around us. Oakdale High School is glad to have her on their teaching staff!
