Every dollar you raise, every partnership you build, every boundary you set so you don't quit — it all exists so more kids get to belong to something that changes them. That's the work. Let's build it so it lasts.
"Agricultural programs don't fail because their teachers aren't talented or committed. They fail because we drop good, devoted people into structurally fragile situations — and never teach them how to make the whole thing sustainable."— from Buy the Chickens First
Dr. Amy Paterson has spent her career building agriculture programs from the ground up. At Windermere High School, she earned the program's first-ever National Chapter Award. At Lakeview, she built the program into a Premier Chapter. Along the way, she's developed State FFA Officers and State Officer Candidates, coached students to National Agriscience Fair championships, and grown programs from a handful of students into thriving departments — not through more staff or more budget, but through a strategic, sustainable framework.
Today, she teaches agriculture and advises FFA at Winter Park High School (Orange County Public Schools), where she's building a program from the ground up once again — putting her own framework to work in real time, not just teaching it from a stage.
Her doctorate in Educational Leadership examined Perkins V funding variability and the sustainability of CTE and agricultural education programs across five states — research that became the backbone of her professional development series and her book, Sustaining Agricultural Education.
She sits on the Orange County Agricultural Advisory Board and previously served as FAAE Board Secretary. She is the founder of The Rooted Ag Educator and the author of three books written for agriculture educators at every stage of the journey.
Classroom instruction. Supervised Agricultural Experience. FFA. Most programs print this model on a wall. Dr. Paterson's work is teaching agriculture educators how to actually run all three, at once, without burning out.
Rigorous, hands-on instruction that gives students real tactile skill — the foundation every other part of the program stands on.
Supervised Agricultural Experience that turns classroom learning into real records, real projects, and real workforce-ready experience.
Leadership, competition, and community — the piece that builds State Officers, National Chapter Awards, and kids who don't want to miss school.
Whether Dr. Paterson leads it in person or your district runs it as a self-contained cohort, the goal is the same: a financially sustainable, fully functioning ag program that doesn't burn out the teacher running it.
An in-person professional development day built on Dr. Paterson's doctoral research — practical, funny, and grounded in what actually works in a classroom, not theory. Ideal for district-wide ag or CTE professional development days.
Can't bring her in person? Her cohort framework gives your district the instructions to run four PD sessions plus a year of follow-up planning — building your own financially sustainable, multi-income-stream program model.
One-on-one or small-group consulting for programs that need a real financial breakdown: funding ladders, advisory committees, partnerships before sponsorships, and a plan that doesn't rely on one grant cycle.
The sustainability framework — organized records, structured PD, a real financial model — translates directly to other CTE program areas facing the same funding and burnout pressures.
Tell us a little about your district, your program, or what you're hoping to build — speaking engagement, cohort licensing, or consulting.
Email: rootedageducator@gmail.com
Each book opens with a true story, draws out the lesson it taught, then hands you the tools — the checklists, frameworks, and steps you can use Monday morning.
An honest, funny field guide to the life of an ag teacher — eleven years, three programs, one doctorate, and the real lessons nobody hands you on day one. Not a textbook, not quite a memoir: a friend who's done this job, telling you the truth.
View on Amazon
A year-long budgeting strategy workbook built from doctoral research on Perkins V funding sustainability — the self-contained PD that helps you break down your program's finances and build a model that doesn't rely on one grant cycle.
View on AmazonA student leadership guide built to be a companion to the planner line — real alumni stories, guided reflection, and the grit, work ethic, and belonging that FFA gives kids long after the jacket comes off.
View on AmazonPrint planners built around the three-circle model, each with a free companion app included — because the paper and the app are meant to work together, not compete.
The complete system for classroom, leadership & SAE — weekly agenda, degrees, awards, CTAs/LOAs, budgets.
Lead. Plan. Serve. Grow. Agendas, missions, treasurer & water contests, records.
Plan. Track. Show. Lead. SAE weigh-ins & daily gigs, shows, budgets.
Plan. Grow. Show. Give. A getting-started guide built for younger members' first steps.
Three free web apps, built to run alongside the books — one for the teacher, one for the student, one for the cohort.
Keeps a fully functioning ag program organized around the National Chapter Award all year long — classroom, SAE, and FFA in one place.
planner.rootedageducator.org →Helps students track and organize their own Supervised Agricultural Experience — real records, kept consistently, all year.
studentplanner.rootedageducator.org →The PD tool for districts running the cohort model — fillable worksheets teachers can submit for professional development credit.
cohort.rootedageducator.org →