YODER – Even as government officials and experts across Wyoming debate the future of higher education in the state, one Goshen County teacher is getting back to basics with his students.

Jay Clapper is FFA advisor and agriculture teacher for Southeast Junior and Senior High Schools in Yoder. Every semester, he offers students elective courses under the broad description of agriculture class.

That term doesn’t go far enough to describe what students learn in Clapper’s classes. In the current semester, for example, eight 13- and 14-year-olds are learning the finer points of building a house.

“Definitely, it’s vocational training,” Clapper said. “But I like to think about it as real-world problem solving. 

“Whatever profession you go in to, whether you’re a doctor, a lawyer, whatever profession, you need to know how to solve problems.”

The students are learning advanced construction techniques, from reading architectural plans to computing the pitch on a roof. And they’re finding the concepts they’re learning are helping them in other aspects of their education.

“If I don’t understand something, Mr. Clapper will help me understand it,” said Terra Sanders, 14. “I struggled calculating measurements, but I’m getting better at it. But I’m still working on fractions.”

There’s nothing mystical about the way Clapper is teaching – but he is teaching his students to try and to not be afraid to make mistakes. And the kids are learning things by doing, hands-on, which helps some of them grasp the concepts better and makes them stick.

“It makes it easier to learn,” said Kealy Carson, 14.

“And if we mess up, it’s not as stressful,” said Justin Clayton, 13. “Because we can do it again.”

Clapper teaches his students about working together as a team to accomplish a goal. A self-described story teller, each class session includes some useful tidbit of information couched in a yarn, before the students head into the shop for that day’s work.

“What we hopefully do is, take the academics they learn in school and then apply it,” Clapper said. “We use English out here, we use math and we definitely use a lot of science.”

And the lessons carried through for current SEHS senior Candee Coxbill, who took what she learned in ag class and started her own business, designing and building decorative objects for people’s homes.

“There’s plenty of challenges, but a lot of branching out, too,” Coxbill said. “I’ve learned so many things, even if I don’t stick with agriculture, I can apply it to my daily life.”

One topic of conversation around Wyoming today centers around Gov. Matt Mead’s Economically Needed Diversity Options for Wyoming initiative. Earlier this year, Mead signed an executive order, calling for 67 percent of the state’s population to have some type of post-secondary degree by the year 2025.

But not every student who passes through a Wyoming high school and graduates is necessarily destined for a four-year degree program, Clapper said. He’s not necessarily trying to direct students away from academics – he’s providing exposure to the various options that are available.

“I look at it like a cafeteria with a buffet – you go in there with all these foods and you don’t know what tastes good until you try it,” Clapper said. “I think what happens in high school – and should happen in high school – is kids get to experience many different options and find their way to contribute back to society.”

And the skills he’s introducing his students to – welding, carpentry, etc. – are in high demand. Clapper’s not knocking the students who want to be a doctor or a lawyer – both necessary professions, he said. But, by the same token, plumbing, welding, brick-laying – all are also much-needed professions, and professions which pay well, he said.

“The industry is just crying out for us to be getting students to consider some of these options,” Clapper said. “We need brick layers and carpenters and plumbers and electricians – for the past seven years, they’ve been the most demanded jobs in the United States.

“But the most important thing we need to do is change the perception that these fields are filled with unintelligent people – ‘Vocational’ has been a dirty word,” he said. “But we need to change that perception. To be a master electrician is not an easy task.

“These are very smart, intelligent people, and we need to recognize that it’s an intelligent choice.”