Ty Neal

Connect Tell us why you became a teacher

I became a teacher as a way to give back to my community. Growing up on an Indian reservation in south central Montana I always had a passion for agriculture and learning. My own agriculture education teacher inspired me to follow that passion and become an educator by making learning fun, and applicable to the real world. I hope that through my teaching I am able to do the same for my own students. Teaching in a rural community has been an amazing experience.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

I have had so many memorable teaching experiences it is hard to pick just one. But I would have to say, during one of my equine science courses I was teaching students how to mount a horse for the first time, we had bought colts, and they did the groundwork, then the day came to step on them for the first time ever. Being able to see all the kids hard work pay off by stepping up on 10 colts at the same time without any wrecks was an unbelievable experience.

What would you do with the $25,000?

With $25,000 I would purchase some new tools for my program, we have a metal shop but are using tools from the 1960’s. I would really like to get the kids a CNC plasma table so our shop can have some updated technology and teach about tools that are used in this century. I would also like to use 10% of the money to give out 5, $500 scholarships to graduating seniors over the next few years. Many times our students don’t feel they are financially able to attend college and every little bit helps.