Greg Curlin, Agricultural Science and Business Educator at Switzerland County High School, is one of only six individuals nationwide who received the 2017 National Association of Agricultural Educators Outstanding Service Citation. He was recognized for his many contributions to the profession at the National Association of Agricultural Educators annual convention in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday, December 8th.
Curlin has been an agricultural educator for the past 26 years, and has become an instrumental voice for agricultural education at the local, state, and national level. As an early adopter of advanced life sciences in agricultural education, he has evolved the topics he teaches as well as his teaching methodologies, and has developed training to help other agricultural educators do the same.
Curlin served as NAAE President in 2009, and has also been a member of the National FFA Board of Trustees. Although he no longer serves in either role, he is still an active advocate for agriculture and agricultural education. He has spoken on numerous panels concerning the need for educators to prepare students for the global needs of agriculture.
Besides conducting a rigorous, science-based academic program, Curlin gives his students opportunities to practice their advocacy and leadership skills. He and his students prepared a classroom lesson and discussion on farm safety for the film ‘Silo’, a documentary about the lives of teens in agriculture and the daily risk of producing food. His students also had the opportunity to participate in a project entitled “My Community, My Vision” with Indiana’s Lieutenant Governor. The project asked students for their perspective on poverty, drug issues, the need for agricultural education, and the development of agricultural tourism in rural communities.
Curlin’s dedication to agricultural education on so many levels has enriched the profession and left a legacy from which generations of students and teachers will benefit.
Curlin, a native of Switzerland County, is a graduate of Purdue University. He and his wife, Becky, live on Tapps Ridge with their two sons: Ethan and Levi.