Former Ag Teacher and FFA Advisor Stacey Kunde announced that she will be leaving the Brillion School District to pursue a career helping with youth apprenticeship programs in local schools. As the Brillion School District says their goodbyes, we caught up with Kunde to talk about her almost six-year career within the school.
Born and raised on a dairy farm in Winnebago County with five siblings, agriculture has always played a huge role in her life. She’s the only ag educator in the family, but she and her siblings all work within the industry in some capacity. Kunde explained that her career with the Brillion School District began in December 2015 after finishing up her student teaching at Wisconsin Rapids, “I remember that day very, very clearly because I started halfway through the school year.” She credits another former Ag Teacher and FFA Advisor from Brillion, Gordy Gasch for helping her through the beginning stages of her career with the district.
Looking back she explained how she’s most proud of her students over the years. For example, she loves seeing the students take what they’ve learned and bringing it to the local community and beyond. “Seeing them help out the Brillion community and take it to their next communities,” Kunde said. “Whether that’s going to the tech schools, or colleges, or going to the workforce and applying what they’re learning here in the classroom and being well-rounded, good citizens.”
One of the toughest parts of leaving the district for her is that she’s watched a lot of these kids grow up from middle school to high school. “It’s amazing to see. Like, I truly feel like their mom at some points.” She went on to explain, “I will miss the fun labs and the field trips, of course too. Seeing the connections from the classroom and helping inspire the kids to look at agriculture from a new light and to maybe look at agriculture as a career pathway as well.”
She said that the day-to-day conversations with her students also make it tough to leave. “Hearing about their weekends or how they got their driver’s license or maybe went in the ditch for the first time and didn’t know what to do,” she said. “Ya know, those little things here and there and just really being a part of their everyday life.”
Kunde also had some advice for the incoming ag teacher. “Don’t sweat the little stuff,” she brought up the fact that in the past, she has thought things were a bigger deal than they really were. “I’ll never forget when we went out and did a lab and I ended up knee-deep in mud, and a kid lost their phone, and it was like all heck went loose.” She said that when you remember days like that, you just have to laugh.
Another important piece of advice from Kunde is to not judge any of the kids instantly. “The kid that’s quiet in the back corner that maybe has their hood on, and doesn’t really want to show any ambition might be the kid that totally surprises you in a horticulture class and absolutely flies.” She explained that the keys to being successful in the position are to come in with an open mind, don’t sweat the little things, smile every day, and have a positive attitude.
At the end of the day, Kunde expressed how thankful she is for everything the Brillion community has done for her over the years. “I just want to thank everybody who has really supported me and my students, and the program at Brillion.” She went on to say, “I can’t say more to the community for everything that they’ve done…Brillion’s a wonderful community and I love it. I’m still going to call it home and it’ll always have a special place in my heart because it is just, it’s a special place, so thank you.”
You can listen to the full interview with Stacey Kunde on our podcast page.
