Brittney (Shaull) Goodrich, 2007 MHS Graduate

Brittney (Shaull) Goodrich graduated from Montezuma in 2007, then went on to Iowa State University to earn her Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Mathematics. She moved to Davis, California where she got her Master’s degree and PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics in 2017. After she was done with schooling, her husband, dog, and two rabbits moved to her current location: Auburn, Alabama. Brittney has lived in Auburn for the last year and a half and works at Auburn University as an Assistant Professor and Cooperative Extension Specialist in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology.

She joined FFA her freshman year of high school. Brittney does not specifically recall why she joined, but she thinks it was because ‘her friends were doing it.’ She competed in many CDEs, including Parliamentary Procedure, Floriculture, Ag Issues and Perceptions, Ag Communications, Ag Business, Job Interview, and Soils Judging. Brittney’s favorite contest was floriculture because she loved how practices were making corsages and flower arrangements. She believes she learned the most from was Ag Communications, but enjoyed all of the contests.

Two of the most important skills Brittney learned from her FFA experience are public speaking and dedication. She used to be terrified to talk in front of a group and couldn’t think off of the top of her head in front of a crowd. Now, she has to give presentations to many different audiences, oftentimes with little preparation. Brittney is very thankful for the public speaking experiences FFA provided her. FFA taught her dedication because FFA took time to be good at. She says, “there were times I would be in the ag room before school at 7:30am, again during lunch, and maybe even again after school or volleyball practice. No one was forcing me or my teammates to be there, we wanted to give it our all and represent Montezuma FFA to the best of our abilities.” She also wanted to make Mr. Swenson proud, and I am sure that many Montezuma FFA members can relate to what Brittney stated!

FFA is one of the primary reasons that Brittney is where she is now. CDEs made her realize her love for agriculture and helped her develop many skills that are essential to being successful in her job. Stepping outside of her comfort zone, conquering her fear of public speaking, thinking on the spot, and forming new relationships are just a few of the things Brittney learned through her experience.

She felt a little ashamed to say that she isn’t exactly sure where her Official FFA Jacket is now. Brittney believes that it is in storage at her mom’s or grandparent’s house. She does know that her lucky charm-a Bugs Bunny figurine-is still in the front pocket.

Earlene Taylor, 2004 MHS Graduate

Earlene Taylor graduated from Montezuma High School in 2004 and then proceeded to attend Grinnell College to earn her Bachelor Degree in Psychology. After graduating from Grinnell in 2008, she received her Master’s Degree in Counseling from Indiana University in Bloomington in 2010. She then started teaching at Montezuma High School in the Oasis room, teaching college level psychology courses, and being a secondary guidance counselor. 

She started FFA when she was a freshman in high school, and Earlene joined because she enjoyed the exploratory agriculture class so much. She competed in several CDEs, including Parliamentary Procedure, Floriculture (twice), Ag Issues and Perceptions, Ag Communications, Ag Marketing, and Soils. She said she got a lot out of the contests and still uses the skills in her life. Her favorite contest was soils because, in her words, “nothing perplexes people like a person's ability to name off random plants/flowers-but soils was by far my favorite contest.” She loved Soils because you didn’t have to wear official dress, you got to be outside, and she had wonderful teammates to share adventures with.

Earlene claims that she has never enjoyed speaking in front of people, but FFA made her push herself because her team was also depending on her success. She can now tolerate speaking in front of groups because of her FFA experiences. Earlene also valued working in a team and working with different personalities. As for where her FFA Jacket is now, it is hanging in her closet with all of the pins still attatched.