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Popular agriculture teacher is retiring

Caroline agriculture teacher retiring after 29 years in the county

BY JEFF BRANSCOME

Date published: 4/14/2008

BY JEFF BRANSCOME

For the past 30 years, the world has been Warren Samuel's classroom.

That includes the agricultural camp he has bused his Caroline Middle School students to each summer.

And the 100-year-old pond next to his house where he has let students fish--provided they don't drink or smoke.

It also includes the rest of his Ruther Glen property, where the agriculture teacher recently helped an eighth-grader identify trees.

"Getting in there with them in something other than the classroom, they get to know you in a different light," said Samuel, 55, who has spent all but one year in Caroline County since he began teaching in 1978.

Samuel, who has become something of an institution in the county, will be leaving the classroom after this school year.

"I just want some time for myself before I die," he said.

Though his retirement is imminent, he has made a lasting impression on his students, at least seven of whom became state officers of FFA, formerly called Future Farmers of America. His classroom wall is adorned with plaques won at FFA contests.

MAKING AN IMPACT

For years, Samuel said, his students have beaten area high-schoolers in the forestry competition, in which competitors identify trees and equipment as well as a tree's volume and value.

"It's right involved," Samuel said.

He remembers group chats during FFA camps in Smithfield in which everybody would hold a candle and talk. Some said they didn't think they'd like Samuel's class.

"Then they'd get to talking about how I'd taken them here and done that--changed their life. I mean, it was real moving. I'll never forget that," he said.

Samuel, who sings at funerals and weddings, has even belted out some old Eagles tunes during camp.

"I would tell them, 'You'll have to come to camp to see what I do in the talent show,'" he said with a laugh. He never competed, but sang while the judges decided on winners.

FFA leadership and recreation camps used to last eight weeks, he said, but have declined over the years.

"But we always kept on going," he said. "We had, like, 30 kids and we'd be the only ones there. And really, we'd still have a good time."

"He's one of those teachers that on a daily basis will do anything for any kid, and they know it. You don't ever want to use the word 'irreplaceable' as a manager, but man, those shoes, I don't know if they can be filled." --Caroline Middle School Principal Harold Pellegreen "His genuine love for agricultural education and helping students achieve success is clear in whatever Mr. Samuel is doing, whether it be teaching a student to write a speech or weld a bead, or taking them to summer FFA leadership camp." --Former student Shannon Allen "Everything positive that's happened in my life, I can truly attribute to him. I know that he can't be replaced. He puts in more effort and spends more time with his kids than any FFA advisor that I've ever met." --Former student and FFA State President Todd Sadler

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Date published: 4/14/2008