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Students Received 3rd Place At The 2018 DELO National Tractor Restoration Competition
Pictured left to right are Dan Groene, Don Groene, Dan Brinkmann, Justin Terschluse, Jeff Terschluse,. Kneeling: David Ley,
Logan Brueggemann, Justin Boley, Colton Fischer. Back row: Ron Walkenhorst, Joe Goodmann, Bill Ley, Allen Shepard, Colton Moritz, Alexis Musket, Cathy Kenney.
Photo by John M. LaRose Jr.
ROB MILLS
PERRYVILLE, MO.
If you are one of those individuals who feels today’s youth have their faces buried in Smart Phones 24/7, and have very little future ahead of them, there’s someone who take exception to that attitude.
Dan Brinkmann, a teacher in the Washington, Missouri school system, has had tremendous success teaching young people how to rehabillitate old tractors…and he has national recognition to show for his efforts.
Brinkmann oversees the Four Rivers Nighshift Program, which is based at the Four Rivers Career Center, which is part of the school district’s outreach to the Washington community. He developed a tractor restoration program there, which is open to FFA students Grades 9-12 as well as Career Center students.
Brinkmann says he developed the program as a response to the criticisms that he hears, about today’s young people. “I hear a lot of people fussing about the Gen X’ers and the Millenials. I walk away from those conversations”, he told MAFG. “Kids want to know how to do things. It’s our responsibility to get them that knowledge.”
The tractor restoration program, which has the motto “ Where Old Tractors Build Strong Futures”, took on the project of rehabbing a John Deere Model A Tractor. According to Brinkmann, students put in an estimated 3600-3900 hours of work on the tractor, which saw it’s glory days from the late 1930’s to 1954, when John Deere produced 390,000 of them.
Staff and students were rewarded for their efforts when their work received 3rd place at the 2018 DELO National Tractor Restoration Competition, which was held in Indianapolis., and is sponsored by Chevron. They’ll give it another shot at this year’s event, also in Indianapolis, which will take place in late October, as part of the festivities surrounding the National FFA conference. Winners will be announced at the October 31st awards banquet. First prize is $10,000. Their entry this year is a 1951 Farmall H tractor.
There are 12 finalists, from states including Wisconsin Texas, Michigan, Alabama, California as well as Missouri.
Brinkmann says the program faces challenges at times finding parts for their rehab work, but private donations and the occasional calendar sales enables the program to carry on. Brinkmann’s work hasn’t gone unnoticed. He was awarded the 2018 Award for Educational Excellence, which is given by the WINGS Foundation.
Brinkmann says his work produces a tangible end result in the lives of his students. “I created what I did to give kids a chance to learn a skill so they can make some money later in life.” He concluded by saying “it’s all about investing in kids.”
And have fun doing it. ∆
ROB MILLS: Contributing Writer
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