Council Directors
Mary Hoffman
Chair
Heath Hornecker
Chair Elect
NAAE Representative
Dr. Robert Torres
Secretary
ACTE AG Ed Division Representative
Dr. Robert “Bobby” Torres was born and raised on a sheep and cattle ranch in northern New Mexico and as a youth, was extensively involved in 4-H and FFA. As a first-generation college student, he graduated from New Mexico State University with his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Agricultural and Extension Education. He taught school-based agricultural education in Arizona, then later obtained his Ph.D. in Agricultural Education at The Ohio State University. He continues to be involved in production agriculture as a grower of soybean, corn, and alfalfa. Today he is Professor and Department Head of Agricultural Education, Technology & Innovation and holds the Neely Family Endowed Professorship in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Arizona. He currently serves on the Arizona Career and Technical Education Quality Skills Commission and is a member of the Arizona Agricultural Education/FFA Foundation Board of Trustees. Dr. Torres is the Past President of the American Association for Agricultural Education and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Association for Career and Technical Education as the Agriculture Division Vice President. Bobby is married to his wife Sara, a career educator in science education. Together they have four children.
Charles Parker
Past Chair
Charles Parker serves as The Council Chair. After graduation from Wasco High School, Charles attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he obtained his BS in Agriculture Science and his teaching credential. He later completed his Master’s in Agricultural Education at Chico State University. In 1980 Charles began what would be 13 years as an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor at Kingsburg High School. In 1993 Charles joined the state staff in California. Charles served as the North Coast Region Supervisor, the Assistant State FFA Advisor, San Joaquin Region Supervisor and is currently serving as the Program Manager for Agriculture Education & Family and Consumer Sciences and the State FFA Advisor.
Dr. Antoine J. Alston
MANNRS Representative
Dr. Antoine Alston, a native of Rocky Mount, NC, is professor and associate dean for academic studies in North Carolina A&T State University’s College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. He received his Bachelor and Master of Science Degrees in Agricultural and Extension Education from NC A&T State University, and Ph.D. in Agricultural and Extension Education from Iowa State University. His work has earned him many honors such as the UNC Board of Governors Award for Teaching Excellence, Honorary FFA American Degree, the National Association of Agricultural Educators Outstanding Contribution to Agricultural Education Award, George Washington Carver Distinguished Service Award from Iowa State University, and the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Teacher Fellow Award. Additionally, he was the first African-American to receive a U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Agriculture Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award.
Deron Erickson
NFRBMEA Representative
Deron Erickson represents the National Farm and Ranch Business Management Education Association (NFRBMEA) on The Council. He has taught Farm Business Management in West Central Minnesota for 22 years. Deron works with approximately 65 families in his program through MN West Technical College. The NFRBMEA is an organization whose mission is to promote and support farm and ranch management education by providing in-service education to our members and by communicating and cooperating with others. Prior to teaching Farm Business Management, he taught High School Agricultural Education in Morris and Hancock, MN for 12 years.
Ronda Hamm
Business/Industry Representative
Dr. Ronda Hamm is passionate about providing enriching science and agriculture experiences for everyone. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture Education at Fresno State University. She taught at Clovis East and Sierra High Schools before starting her graduate education. She received her Master of Science and Doctorate degrees in Entomology at Cornell University. Currently, she is the Global Academic Relations Leader for Corteva Agriscience. In this role, she develops and implements strategies and relationships to promote people and innovations for the future of agriculture. She has previously held roles as a Patent Liaison, Six Sigma Project Leader, and Senior Biologist conducting both laboratory and field research in Urban Pest Management and Northern Crops. At Corteva Agriscience she was a founding member of the Corteva Grows Science Outreach program. This program engages employees and inspires students to enter agricultural science careers, empowers teachers to bring agricultural sciences into their classrooms, and engages adults on the importance of the agricultural industry. In the first five years more than a half million people were impacted by the program’s volunteers, numbers that continue to grow.
Val Aarsvold
Business/Industry Representative
Val Aarsvold serves as the LEAD – Leadership Executives of Agricultural Education/FFA Development representative to the board. Val joined the Minnesota FFA Foundation as the Executive Director in 2001, following seven years as an agricultural education instructor for the communities of Plainview and Willmar, Minnesota. An active FFA member, she served as the Minnesota State FFA Secretary. In addition to her work with the Minnesota FFA Foundation, she serves as a Governor’s appointee on the Minnesota Foundation for Student Organizations board and as a member of the St. Paul School District’s Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources advisory board. Val resides near Plainview, Minnesota with her husband, Paul. They have five children and two grandchildren.
Dr. Amy Smith
AAAE Representative
Email: arsmith@umn.edu
St. Paul, MN
Dr. Smith is an Associate Professor of Agricultural Education at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. Smith teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in Agricultural Education and serves as the Director of Graduate Studies. She is passionate about the preparation of high-quality school-based agriculture teachers and conducts research related to teacher recruitment and retention. Smith is also an advocate for connecting with new and diverse audiences through agricultural and food systems education. Prior to joining the faculty at UM in 2013, Smith served as an Assistant Professor at South Dakota State University and Youth Education Coordinator at the Jefferson Farm and Garden. Smith earned her undergraduate degree (2000) in Agricultural Education at Oklahoma State University. After teaching school- based agricultural education for five years, Smith then completed her Masters (2006) and doctorate (2008) at the University of Missouri.
Dr. Dexter B. Wakefield
HBCU Representative
Alissa Smith
Chief Executive Officer NAAE
Prior to her appointment as CEO, Alissa was NAAE Associate Executive Director with lead responsibilities for NAAE’s professional development initiatives, including but not limited to, the National Agriscience Teacher Ambassadors, Teachers Turn the Key, and eXcellence in Leadership for Retention (XLR8). She also managed most of the NAAE professional staff functions including communications/marketing, meeting planning and membership. A Kentucky native, Alissa earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in agricultural education from the University of Kentucky. Before joining the NAAE staff in July 2006, she taught agriculture for five and one-half years in the Jessamine County Schools in Nicholasville, Kentucky.
Brad Driskill
National PAS Representative
Catie Rowe
NASAE Representative
Jeff Voris
NAAE Representative
Jeff Voris teaches agriculture at Halfway High School, in Halfway, Missouri. He earned his Masters in Secondary Administration from William Woods University. Since 1996, Jeff has been an agriculture educator. During his time in the classroom, he has earned the Honorary American FFA Degree, Missouri Outstanding Agriculture Education Teacher, MVATA Distinguished Service Award , Missouri Soil & Water Conservation Society Educator of the Year, and the Honorary Missouri State FFA Degree. He was elected as the NAAE Region IV Vice President at the 2021 NAAE Convention after serving as the NAAE Region IV Secretary. Outside of the classroom, Jeff owns and operates Voris Farms with his father. Voris Farms is a Century Farm focused on commercial cow/calf, forage production, soybean and small grain production. He and his niece also own VOWA Herefords where they enjoy raising and showing Hereford Cattle across the country.
Dr. Travis Park
Director of Ag Ed
National FFA Advisor & Board Chair
Dr. Park is a professor of the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University. He served as the 1992-93 National FFA president and completed his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in agricultural education from Purdue University in 1996 and 2002. He taught high school agriculture at Tri-County High School in Wolcott, Ind., for nearly six years, where the agriculture program and FFA chapter were recognized for excellence at the state and national levels. In 2005, he earned his doctoral degree in agricultural education from the University of Florida. After graduating, he served as an assistant and associate professor with tenure at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., from 2002 until 2013. In 2013, he relocated to North Carolina State University.
Scott Stump
National FFA Representative
Scott Stump began his career in the classroom, as an agriculture educator in Indiana. He later transitioned to working with the National FFA Organization. From 2007 through 2014, he served as the assistant provost and state director for CTE with the Colorado Community College System. During his CCCS tenure, Stump also served as state FFA advisor, agriculture program director and interim president of Northeastern Junior College. In 2015, Stump was named COO of learning solutions provider Vivayic, Inc. In July 2018, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as the assistant secretary of career, technical and adult education for the U.S. Department of Education, where he served until January. He currently serves as senior advisor with Advance CTE, where he leads and contributes to major initiatives and projects, including Advances CTE’s Postsecondary CTE Leaders Fellowship Program and Advancing the Framework. He also supports their federal advocacy, state policy and technical assistance efforts.
Molly Ball
NFFA Foundation Representative
Cheryl Zimmerman
National FFA Executive Secretary
Melissa Rekeweg
Managing Director
Email: mrekeweg@ffa.org
Indianapolis, IN
Melissa Rekeweg is the Managing Director for NCAE and the Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives for the National FFA Organization. Melissa began her career as an agricultural education teacher and moved on to serve as the Indiana FFA Executive Director and the State Director of CTE and the Asst. Director of College and Career Readiness at the Indiana Department of Education. She also served as the Deputy Director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture and Vice President of Crossroads Bank. Melissa has extensive board experience serving on the AgrIInstitute Board of Directors, Purdue University Extension Board and as a trustee for Ivy Tech Community College. At the state level she served on the Indiana Counter Terrorism Task Force, the Indiana Grown Commission, Indiana State Fair Board and Commission, and chaired the Indiana Land Resources Council. Melissa is lifelong advocate for agricultural education. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Education and a master’s in management and leadership.