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Gerald Joseph was recently inducted in the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame for his efforts to educate central Iowa youth about agriculture.

After enjoying taking agriculture classes as a higher schooler in Louisiana, Gerald Joseph headed to Iowa for a teaching job after college. He knew that he wanted to share his knowledge of agriculture with his students, who all lived in Des Moines.

As a middle school teacher, Joseph not only worked up ag curriculum for his students but created numerous hands-on activities for the kids in and out of the classroom, as well as kids in his community.

Joseph’s compelling efforts in educating central Iowa’s youth about agriculture ended up earning him an induction into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame.

He recently relocated to Louisiana, where he has family, and began teaching middle school math and science with the Jefferson Parish. He spent more than three decades in Iowa, however, and felt fortunate to both teach kids and work with those residing in the Oakridge neighborhood of Des Moines, a culturally diverse area.

“This is the first summer in 28 years that I’m not working with a camp. But I plan to make connections and recreate what I did in Des Moines here in Louisiana,” Joseph said.

Joseph was involved with FFA in high school and had never heard of 4-H until he arrived in Iowa. But it became very easy to take his FFA experiences and transition them to 4-H curriculum for the classroom.

“The high school I went to had a horticulture program and then my ag teacher took us up to Southern University in Baton Rouge for more agriculture experiences. I also worked on a farm while in college. I was a city kid who had to learn everything I would’ve learned on a farm,” Joseph said.

As a teacher, Joseph’s goal was to incorporate biology lessons into his middle school curriculum along with ag information.

“Biology is something middle schoolers can understand and relate to. When I would teach the Des Moines kids about the skeletal system, I would go to the processing plant and get the bones to make a skeleton of a cow. I also took my kids on field trips to Iowa State where they got to see the skeletal system of a pig, too,” Joseph said. “I wanted them to be able to relate to what I was teaching them. We hatched chicks and raised them to maturity, which was an awesome experience for the kids. Then they had to write about the birds’ behavior and the changes that happened as they grew.”

It also was important to Joseph to take his students to the Polk County Fair, because many of his kids had never seen a farm animal live and in person.

“Some people would let them touch their animals and even wash them. Then a couple times I would take them to a farm to visit and spend the day. At Oakridge, we set up a farm for the kids to experience,” Joseph said. “Then they brought the farm to the neighborhood. We call it STEM on a Ridge Day.”

The summer program focuses on math, science, engineering and technology. Joseph and another science teacher developed the concept behind the camp where they visit stations and stay there for up to 20 minutes, rotating through them.

“Before COVID we had 300 kids there,” Joseph said. “Even though I’m in Louisiana now, I still have teachers calling and asking me about the event, wanting to participate in it.”

But it wasn’t enough for Joseph to educate the kids about agriculture and STEM. He wanted the students to see people who “looked like them” involved in STEM.

“So I put together activities that the high schoolers could do and pair them up with middle schoolers and kids in the community, like mentors,” Joseph said. “I ended up with middle schoolers who couldn’t wait to go to high school and lead those same activities themselves.”

Another facet of his involvement with the Oakridge neighborhood was to instill after-school and summer 4-H programs at Oakridge. He even started the Oakridge 4-H Club, which drew more than 100 kids.

Joseph also decided that he would award a scholarship out of his own finances to a high school graduate, up to $1,000 for one year of college.

“One time a student graduated with a 4.0 so I gave her an extra $500. You have to uplift them,” he said. “I look at it this way. The Lord blessed me a little bit, and I can do something, too.”

When Joseph learned he had been inducted into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame, he was floored.

“It was flattering,” he said. “I’m passionate about young people and their futures.”