Seneca teacher leaves corporate world without looking back

SENECA, Mo. -- Tim Clark, at age 37 and with years of corporate experience behind him, is a first-year vocational agriculture teacher at Seneca High School.

It's a job he wanted so badly that he willingly took a sizable pay cut. He spent the past 15 years working for ConAgra Foods Inc.'s turkey operation. He said he made the change to get away from the pressures of corporate America.

Because he no longer works for the company, he was permitted to become a contract grower for ConAgra and has nine turkey houses that could hold 66,000 turkeys at a time.

Clark says he does not push birds or himself to get maximum production, following a schedule that produces 5 1/2 rather than 6 1/2 flocks a year. But he said he does miss some parts of his former job.

"I have a background in corporate management and miss some of the whirlwind that comes with it," he said. "What encouraged me to leave is what I miss."

But he said he has no regrets about the move to the classroom, which was supported by his wife, Sheila, and sons.

His wife works in a bank less than a block from the vocational agriculture building. "The boys were happy to have me become a teacher and have more time with them," he said.

Dug out plaques

Rather than supervise 150 area turkey growers, he supervises 73 students. And he's back in the same classroom where he was an agriculture student when he was in Jasper High School. He can use his teaching education after 15 years because in 1986 he obtained a lifetime teaching certificate. He is working toward a master's degree in agriculture education at Southwest Missouri State University.

One of the first things he did before facing a high school class was dig out some plaques and trophies earned earlier by agriculture students. He was a member of the district soils judging team that won one of the plaques.

Some students' parents and many graduates of the school are tied to the awards. Two shelves in the trophy case remain empty.

"I cleaned them off and told the freshmen it's up to them to fill these shelves before they graduate," he said.

Tradition is a big part of the program, he said. "We will continue to have our strengths and our weaknesses."

What he brings to the classroom is years of experience working on the farm and with corporate agriculture.

He talks about things such as tax plans, depreciation, management and reality that is often hard to accept.

"Without a lot of resources, you will not be able to go out and start farming unless you or your spouse or both of you have a job in town," he said. "If you want to farm in today's world, you will need the help of a corporation."

His message is to work toward a goal.

The hard way

Clark said he looked for 1 1/2 years before finding what he calls a nonfunctional farm to buy. It came with badly deteriorated poultry houses and thistles.

He said he spent six months, often working until 2 a.m. to install water lines and do other work to get the farm suitable for taking birds. "I did it the hard way," he said.

He advises students to work with a company with good insurance and other benefits and to work hard. "If you have good work ethics and communication skills, you will be a success," he said.

Clark said he wants to teach students that reducing excessive costs means more income. He uses an example of poultry growers who face higher energy bills because they run too many fans in their bird houses. That can cause air to flow through a building before it is heated.

He said upgrading ventilation systems in poultry houses is a way for poultry growers to improve profits.

His experience helped him set ventilation controls in the school's greenhouse, where he teaches a horticulture class.

When the classroom bell rings, Clark is off to the shop where he supervises students working on construction projects ranging from a hay-bale feeder to a grate for a fireplace.

The smile on his face tells the story.