Cabool resident Scott Long was enjoying retirement after a 30-year career in education as a vocational-agricultural instructor and FFA adviser.
But when Houston High School found itself without a person in the position at a late date, Long decided to help by accepting the position for the 2016-2017 school year. It’s his second stint with HHS, as he spent eight years there in the 1990s.
“I actually got a call from a student who was looking for an ag teacher,” Long said. “I said I would try to help find one, so I called some friends of mine who head the ag-ed program at MSU. They said there just wasn’t anybody out there and if Houston was going to have a quality teacher I’d have to be it.
“These kids deserve a quality teacher, so I said ‘all right, I’ll fill in for a year.’ Hopefully they can find some young person to come in next year who can do a great job.”
Long’s teaching career began with eight years in Seymour, and includes four years in Mountain View, two in Mountain Grove and eight in Cabool, as well as eight in Houston.
“I sat with my FFA officers the other day, and I had a connection with all but one from when I taught here before,” he said. “They’re either children of kids I taught or neighbors of mine, or something of that nature.”
Long, 53, is co-owner of Cabool Kountry Meats in Cabool. He and his wife, Sheila, have five children and own a 163-acre tract east of Houston.
Long has been the public address announcer at livestock showing events in Houston for about 20 years, and was at the microphone last week during the Texas County Fair Board’s Texas County Livestock Fair and Junior Livestock Sale.
“Even when I was in Mountain View and Mountain Grove, I still came here and announced for them,” he said.
Long doesn’t foresee making any big changes to Houston’s ag-ed program as he fills in for a year. Next spring, he’ll oversee the Missouri FFA Area 13 Competition that’s annually staged in and around Houston.
“I think the key is to continue keeping kids involved in things,” Long said. “You just have to say, ‘let’s go do this.’ Kind of sadly, I once had an ag teacher ask me ‘how do you get so many kids to go compete?’ I said, ‘by opening the door to the bus, and they get on.’”
Long is a Wright County native who grew up in Manes and went to high school in Hartville. He said he has been in the right place at the right time throughout his lengthy career.
“When I first started teaching, I wondered if that was really my calling,” Long said. “Then after I had been at it a while, it was like, ‘why would I want to do anything else?’ I’ve really been blessed doing this.”
One thing Long has focused on over the years is making sure kids find relevancy in what he teaches.
“I can teach algebra by figuring a ration for a steer that kid might be feeding and it becomes very relevant because they can use it,” he said. “Then they’ll say, ‘now I understand what Miss So-and-so was trying to teach me.’ That’s what makes my job so enjoyable – making things relevant to kids.”
While doing it all again for one more year wasn’t in his plans, Long said it doesn’t sound bad.
“Houston is a great community,” he said, “and some of my best years in teaching were right here. It’s a great place to be, and this place has always been good to me and I think it’s important to give back sometimes.”
“These kids deserve a quality teacher, so I said ‘all right, I’ll fill in for a year.’ Hopefully they can find some young person to come in next year who can do a great job.”
– SCOTT LONG