Making the Connection
June 3, 2025
Written By Neal Fandek
Aaron Medsker, ag teacher and FFA advisor, probably impacts more students at DeKalb High School, a smaller school in the Buchanan County (Mo.) R-IV School District, than anyone else. Out of about 90 students in total, 51 are in FFA or in his classes.
“He’s a good FFA advisor and does a lot within our chapter,” one student says. “He really helps us out individually as well as the entire group, and he has really made me enjoy my time in FFA.”
“I just had a really good experience with FFA in high school,” says Medsker, who grew up on a farm outside Savannah, Mo. “I really enjoyed the contests, learning about public speaking, and I actually liked helping friends with homework.” So when it was time to go to college, his mother and father encouraged him to do something he liked. “I thought ag education would be a good fit.”
It was. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education from the University of Missouri, then went on to earn a master’s in secondary leadership from Northwest Missouri State University. That latter degree qualifies him to be a principal, if he so wishes. He does not wish, right now, though.
“I enjoy doing what I do,” he says. “I like the variety of teaching ag in a small school like I’m at now. It’s the only place I want to teach. There’s only one ag teacher here, that’s me!
“One hour we’re in the greenhouse propagating plants, the next we could be doing electrical units for ag systems, the next welding and woodworking, and the next animal science. I like the variety, how it’s different every day. And to train students, watching them get better and better and gain confidence, see their excitement, see them be successful in FFA, that makes it all worthwhile.”
He’s been the rock of this FFA chapter for 20 years, having joined DeKalb in 2005. When he accepted the position, the chapter was not in good shape. “Prior to me, we had five different ag teachers,” he says. “It was a revolving door. The facilities were inadequate, the shop small, the classroom tiny. But I stayed, showed my commitment.”
That commitment has earned him the trust of the students, school and community, and in 2015, the district built a new and larger ag building.
“Now we have an amazing shop area, a fantastic greenhouse, a great classroom,” he says. “I have really good facilities, better than a lot of larger schools.”
That greenhouse was partially purchased by a grant from the MFA Oil Foundation, which provides support to nonprofit organizations working to improve communities where MFA Oil has a significant concentration of members and employees. In it, his students raise a variety of vegetables and plants, which are sold to the community.
The year 2024 was exceptional in terms of sales.
“We sold out of everything but vegetables within the first three days,” he says, demonstrating the community’s support.
Medsker adds that greenhouse experience is essential. He knows most of his students do not live on farms and may never have a career in production agriculture.
“That’s where I try to make the connection,” he says. “I try not to forget that the basis of all ag is production. That’s where I can make a connection point. All of us are consumers, so it’s good to know about the production side no matter what. Whenever in doubt, I try to attach (production agriculture) to teaching, to demonstrate that’s how food is grown and how it gets to the dinner plate.”
Medsker is similarly focused in private life. A lifelong runner and former cross-country coach, he joined the Measly Mile Mafia, which is based in and around St. Joseph. The goal of this group is to run one mile or more every day no matter the weather. When interviewed, he was on Day 298. “I have a family (a wife and twins) now, school and FFA, but I still get up at 5:30 in the morning and run a mile,” he says. “It gets my morning off to a good start.”