Growing Opportunities: Oskaloosa Welcomes New Agriculture Teacher

Juston Lamb (Image provided by Oskaloosa Community School)

OSKALOOSA, Iowa – After 37 years in the classroom, Juston Lamb thought his days as a full-time agriculture educator were behind him.

Then Oskaloosa called.

Lamb will be Oskaloosa High School’s new agriculture teacher and FFA advisor for the beginning of this year. Pending school board approval. He had retired from a career that included 37 years teaching at Pekin, a semester at Eddyville and time as a substitute teacher. When local farmer Mike Johnson first contacted him about the opening, Lamb admits he was not looking to return to the classroom.

“There’s no way you could talk me into this,” Lamb recalled thinking.

But conversations with Johnson and Superintendent Mike Fisher began to change his mind. Lamb said he could hear their passion for building a strong agriculture program in Oskaloosa. Then he saw the same enthusiasm from parents and community members.

“The passion that the community has,” Lamb said, is what stood out. “I think it’ll be exciting to work with the kids and the staff and the parents and the community. I just think they’re gung ho, and so am I.”

That enthusiasm fits closely with Oskaloosa Schools’ vision culture of Love, Empower and Inspire People. For Lamb, building the agriculture program starts with relationships and creating a classroom where students feel excited to learn, explore and find opportunities that fit their interests.

His first priority is developing a strong foundation.

“Right now, I think it’s really important that we develop a classroom setting that is conducive to learning and wanting to learn,” Lamb said.

FFA and supervised agricultural experience, or SAE, programs will be important pieces of the program, but Lamb believes students first need engaging classes that help them discover what agriculture education can offer.

Lamb brings considerable experience to that work. He grew up near Chelsea, graduated from South Tama High School in 1981, and earned his degree in agricultural education from Iowa State University in 1986. He was also an early adopter of Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education, commonly known as CASE. For seven years, he served as a CASE master teacher, training agriculture educators from across the country.

His experience extends beyond the classroom. During his career at Pekin, Lamb coached football for 33 years and also spent time coaching wrestling and Little League baseball. Those experiences reinforced something he has come to value throughout his career: agriculture education is ultimately about people.

“I don’t know if I enjoy agriculture as much as I enjoy the people that are involved in agriculture,” he said. “That’s what I’m excited about.”

Lamb and his wife, Lori, are both retired and viewed the opportunity in Oskaloosa as a decision they would make together. With a large family and three grandchildren, Lamb said family remains one of the most important parts of his life.

“We thought this was an opportunity for us to give back,” he said.

Now, Lamb has an opportunity to bring decades of experience to a program with room to grow, empowering students to explore new opportunities, inspiring them to discover where agriculture can take them and building relationships that extend beyond the classroom.

For Lamb, that chance to start something new and help transition to a new long-term teacher made coming out of retirement worth it.