Arch Insights
Natrona County High School’s Burch
Receives Arch Achievement Award
CHEYENNE,
Wyo. (April 13, 2011) – Teaching is the only
profession Brock Burch ever considered. “I can
remember back to as early as second grade
telling people I was going to be a teacher; and
not just any teacher, but an ‘ag’ teacher,”
recalls the 11-year teaching veteran. “I chose
this occupation because my dad was a teacher,”
he adds. “I had the opportunity to see him
interact with his students on a regular basis,
inspiring and leading them in directions that
would profoundly impact the rest of their lives.
I knew I wanted to positively impact children
about the world of agriculture, just as my
father had been doing for so many years.
“My career as an educator began unofficially
when I was about 12 years old. I began to
facilitate livestock show camps for 4-H and
FFA,” Burch says. “My amateur teaching career
also included coaching my first livestock team
at 18 and continuing to motivate youth about
agriculture through clinics, camps and
conversation. I realized as I got older that,
yes, I was influenced by my dad to become a
teacher, but there was no denying that kids and
agriculture were my true passions. There was not
a better career path for me.”
Today Burch achieved a milestone in that path.
He was among only 10 teachers statewide to
receive a 2011 Arch Coal Teacher Achievement
Award. Arch Coal Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer Steven F. Leer made the announcement
during a presentation ceremony at Carey Junior
High School in Cheyenne. Leer was accompanied by
Wyoming Governor Matt Mead and Wyoming Education
Association (WEA) Executive Director Craig
Williams. This is the 11th year the Arch Coal
Teacher Achievement Awards have been made in
Wyoming.
“Brock Burch considers agriculture to be the
backbone of our country,” says Leer. “He also
believes there is no better industry or
lifestyle and strives to motivate his students
and get them excited about agricultural
careers.”
A Casper resident, Burch teaches agriculture
courses at Natrona County High School in Casper.
“I teach every phase of agriculture in my
classroom, from mechanics to economics and
business relations to animals,” he notes. “I
make students get their hands dirty, and I make
them clean up. We raise chickens in the shop, so
students know what it is to get in the muck and
clean a chicken cage and to feed and care for
animals.
“I believe in a realistic approach to
education,” he adds. “Without hands-on, real
life experiences, students will never come to
see the true value of the agriculture industry.
The experiences I create and facilitate for them
now will fuel their futures in agriculture or
any other career pathway. My classroom is the
place where all students have an opportunity to
excel.”
Burch earned an associate degree at Casper
College and a bachelor’s degree at Oklahoma
Panhandle State University (OPSU), Goodwell. He
continues his professional development through
the Wyoming Vocational Agriculture Teachers
Association (WVATA), for which he serves as
president. He chaired a regional Public Policy
Committee and served on a Strategic Planning
Committee for the National Association of
Agriculture Educators (NAAE). Burch attended a
National AG-Ed Leaders Summit and was among the
first 50 teachers to participate in the National
Quality Program Standards (NQPS) project. He
also represented Wyoming at a National FFA
Handbook Revision meeting. Burch participates in
local development workshops at the high school
and district levels, recently serving on a
district-wide committee to help design programs
and facilities for a new high school. He further
serves his community through FFA
community-betterment initiatives, including a
program through which he and his students donate
blankets to a children’s hospital and local
charities.
Each Teacher Achievement Award recipient
receives a distinctive trophy, a classroom
plaque and a $3,500 personal, cash award.
Nominations of the teachers are made by the
public, and selection is made by a blue-ribbon
panel of the teachers’ peers, all former
recipients of the Arch Coal award.
Longstanding supporters of the program are the
Wyoming Department of Education, the Wyoming
Education Association, the Wyoming library
community, Taco John’s and Loaf ‘N Jug stores.
The Arch Coal Foundation also supports
teacher-recognition and grant programs in West
Virginia, Utah and Colorado, as well as a number
of other education-related causes.
U.S.-based Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) is one of
the largest coal producers in the world, with
more than 160 million tons of coal sold in 2010.
Arch’s national network of mines supplies
cleaner-burning, low-sulfur coal to customers on
four continents, including U.S. and
international power producers and steel
manufacturers. Arch’s Wyoming operations –
Thunder Basin Coal Company’s Black Thunder and
Coal Creek mines and the Arch of Wyoming
operations – have a combined workforce of more
than 1,800.
Information about each of the 10 current
recipients, as well as past recipients, is
posted at archteacherawards.com.