When you think of agriculture, what do you think of? Most people would say plants, but agriculture teacher Russell Jennings has a different perspective. Jennings knew he wanted to teach agriculture early in life. He took an agriculture class in seventh grade and drew a lot of inspiration from his teacher.

“I always knew I wanted to do this,” said Jennings, “and I love my job.”

Jennings has been teaching at FCHS for 13 years, but he still gets a lot of misconceptions about what he teaches.

“I don’t think people realize how much variety agriculture has. I had to learn things like math, chemistry, and statistics in college so I could become an ag [agriculture] teacher,” said Jennings. His Intro to Plants class focuses on more than just Biology. “I recently had to teach chemistry to determine how much fertilizer goes into a five-gallon pot of soil,” he said.

Jennings noted that when he received his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Education, he learned about the seven pathways that can be taken in agriculture. According to ffa.org, the seven pathways of agriculture are: agricultural business, power and technical systems, animals, plants, food production, and environmental systems. Jennings encourages people not to dismiss agriculture based on stereotypes. “I’ve had people think I’m not smart because of what I do,” he said.

When Fluvanna wanted to reinstate an agriculture program in 2013, they brought in Jennings to teach the classes. Some past students say they find his classes a fun way to use what is being learned in class in real-world applications. Jennings also helped bring back the Future Farmers of America (FFA) program to Fluvanna and chaperones trips to FFA conventions.

“When I got here, I had to recruit people to come to FFA camps, since they didn’t know what the program was,” said Jennings, so he said he aims to create a community for students. “[FFA] is a hands-on approach to learning, and gives you an opportunity to apply what you learn in the real world,” he explained.

In his free time, you can find Jennings back at the school working in the greenhouse, or traveling with his wife, FCHS librarian Ann Jennings.

“Last year, we went on three cruises,” said Jennings, “and the furthest we have ever traveled would be either Greece or Istanbul.”

A less well-known fact about Jennings is his love for flowers; his favorite is irises, of which he has over 100 growing in his front yard. “My mother grew them,” he said, “and I guess I sort of inherited them.”