Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Buddy Carter
If Buddy Carter had to choose something to teach other than agriculture education, his pick would have come quickly.
“I wouldn’t have,” he said, suggesting he would have pursued another line of work.
Two weeks ago in Palouse, on the last day of school, Carter announced his retirement after 18 years at Garfield/Palouse High School as the agriculture teacher. Once he finishes his work later in the summer, it will be the culmination of a 40-year teaching career.
“For us, there will be no one, no one that can fill his shoes,” said Gar-Pal Principal Tim Coles. “That’s what’s sad about it. I feel sorry for who comes in after him, because the bar is so high.”
Coles was on staff at Gar-Pal when Carter arrived in 1994 after nine years at Colville and 13 at Deary, Idaho. Before earning a bachelor of science degree in agriculture education and later a masters in agriculture education from the University of Idaho, Carter spent his childhood on the family farm outside Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho.
In 1967, during his junior year in high school, Carter’s option to continue on the farm began to change.
The federal government planned to buy thousands of acres of land in the Kootenai River Valley which became the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge. Carter’s father’s land was to become part of it.
With it went the last other career option Carter considered.
Carter recalled the influence of his own agriculture teachers as friends of his family growing up as an incentive to become a teacher.
Once Carter’s teaching career began, success came with it.
He took four kids to FFA Nationals competition from Deary, followed by another 10 from Colville and 13 from Gar-Pal, including two Envirothon teams.
All the while, Carter taught the varied skills of agriculture and FFA education, from animal science to greenhouse, soils, agriculture mechanics, public speaking and leadership.
Through the years, he has also worked over summers as an advisor for students’ fair projects, for which he said he’ll conclude for this year about Aug. 1.
After a reception for Carter’s retirement this Sunday (4 to 6 p.m. at the high school), he’ll go to an agriculture teachers’ conference in Spokane next week. In July, he will teach the quality assurance class for the Palouse Empire Fair livestock sign-ups for 4H and FFA.
When the time comes to completely retire, Carter said he will be ready.
“I’m getting up there in age, slowing down a little, I’m not as spry as I used to be,” he said. “But we have a really strong set of FFA officers to carry over to the new teacher.”
Carter and his wife, Marie, have a son and daughter-in-law in Rosalia with two grandchildren.
Son B.J. graduated from Gar-Pal in 1999.
Carter said his plans for the future involve outdoor pursuits with the family.
“We’ll do a little bit more hunting, fishing and camping,” he said.
“God bless him” said Coles. “I hope he has a wonderful retirement. He deserves it. He leaves a gaping hole here the size of Texas.”
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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